Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Ankara Universitesi Ilahiyat Fakultesi Dergisi, cilt.66, sa.2, ss.749-765, 2025 (Scopus, TRDizin)
This article aims to examine Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī’s (d. 672/1273) idea of morality in the center of Divine Love and on the axis of spiritual transformation between theory and practice. According to Mawlānā, morality is a state of religious life in which existence and value are fused by Divine Love. This state of moral life, like the sun, creates a medium through which other things can be seen and reveals the spiritual journey of the soul. Divine Love forms the basis of the horizon of knowing and understanding in Mawlānā’s thought. Attachment to the world is akin to distancing oneself from the original source; therefore, one must turn towards Divine Love. The moral competence of human beings is gained through self-discipline and voluntary choices. According to Mawlānā, the moral journey begins on the axis of an existential and moral question and includes the possibilities of self-transformation of individual consciousness. The main purpose of morality in Mawlānā’s thought is to understand the differences instead of getting lost in the chaos of human values. Divine Love is a transcendent source that reveals the truth and provides certainty in metaphysical matters. While reason alone cannot resolve metaphysical problems, with the support of Divine Love, the ambiguity of existence becomes unified. At this point, common sense is accepted as a ground for mutual conversation and a journey from the sensible realm to the rational realm is proposed. In Mawlānā’s thought, moral consciousness is formed by assuming responsibility rather than a speculative endeavor. Responsibility gains meaning with reference to God. Divine Love represents a quest in which the moral agent confronts the Truth and moral actions manifest themselves in practice. Spiritual transformation takes place through the relationship between theory and practice, and man creates an “art of living,” The transformative effect of any kind of discourse emerges when it becomes operational on the level of material practice. Consequently, in Mawlānā’s thought, morality is understood in the practice of interpersonal relations in the ongoing life accompanied by Divine Love.