Islam and the Cultivation of Character: Ibn Miskawayh's Synthesis and the Case of the Veil

Reading the Islamic veil as part of character formation highlights the gendered assumptions in Islamic virtue ethics, since the specific acts required for men and women to cultivate modesty are different.the pupose of this paper is showing that Ibn Miskawayh’s views open important perspectives on the place of virtue and its cultivation in the Islamic worldview. n particular, they provide a framework within which to revisit the Muslim practice of veiling, thereby allowing us to understand veiling as integral to the development of the virtue of modesty, as well as afford us a nuanced glimpse into Islamic religious theories and practices.
Elizabeth Bucar works within the Islamic and Christian traditions on issues of gender, politics, and emergent technologies (new media and medical advances). Her books include Does Human Rights Need God? (Eerdmans, 2005), Creative Conformity: The Feminist Politics of U.S. Catholic and Iranian Shi’I Women (Georgetown University Press, 2011), and The Islamic Veil: A Beginner’s Guide (Oneworld Publications, 2012). She is currently working on two new comparative projects tentatively titled The Good of Ambiguous Bodies: The Comparative Ethics of Transsexuality and Pious Fashion: The Virtues of Hijabi Fashionistas. She co-chairs the Comparative Religious Ethics Group at the American Academy of Religion and serves on the board of the Society for the Study of Muslim Ethics.