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Introduction

Futuwwah is the Arabic term for practical ethics and altruistic mora-

lity embodied in the lives of the prophets, from Adam (AS) to Prop-
het Muhammad ﷺ, and their followers in all ages. In the Islamic
tradition, it connotes the most wholesome personality (muruwwah)
and the highest level of morality (makārim al-akhlāq) originating from
the teaching and practice of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

There are many definitions of futuwwah with reference to its origin,
method, purpose, and key elements. This is how the early Sufi sage
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (325–412 AH/ 937–1021 C.E.) de-

fines it in the introduction to his Kitāb al-Futuwwah:

[O my son], may Allah accord you His pleasure. You asked about
futuwwah. Know that futuwwah means following the ordinances
of perfect devotion, leaving all evil, and attaining in action and
in thought the best of visible and hidden good conduct. Every
condition and every moment demands from you one aspect of
futuwwah. There is no state or time without that demand. There
is futuwwah fit for your behavior toward God, another toward the
Prophet, and others toward his Companions; yet others toward
the pure ones of the past, your shaykh, your brotherhood, and
the two angels on your shoulders who keep the accounting of
your deeds (al-Sulamī, 1991: 36).

Good conduct, ethics and morality are variably defined in different
cultures, religions and civilizations. Futuwwah is rooted in the Islamic

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