Karl Marx's Materialistic Interpretation of Ethics A Critical Analytical Study

In Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, there was an intellectual renaissance, led by a group of philosophers, scientists, and literary figures. Its influence continued into the nineteenth century, and Marxism emerged as a prominent modern materialistic ideology. Marx's views on ethics, both in general and as its leader, require examination, particularly his materialistic, dialectical, and historical interpretation. He subjected ethics to the economic materialist factor, which he considered the basis of all existence. The research adopted an integrated methodological approach, incorporating historical, analytical, critical, and comparative analysis, by studying the founder of the ideology, Karl Marx, his partner, and the time period in which they lived, as well as their influences on its events. The study also analyzed the ideology's foundations, namely dialectical materialism and historical materialism, including their concepts, laws, and principles. These concepts and principles form the basis of Marx's general ideology, particularly in the field of ethics, where he interpreted them materialistically, concluding that values are relative and there are no absolute values. The comparative and critical aspect was through comparing the Marxist interpretation of ethics with the Islamic interpretation. The research concluded several results, including that Marx's interpretation of ethics was purely materialistic, ending with the absence of absolute moral values; due to their formation based on the development and change of the economic factor with its productive means and relations. On the other hand, the critical position was presented from an Islamic perspective of ethics, which rejected the relativity of ethics and their constant change without a regulator for their movement, and the necessity of having a constant standard for ethics that unites all concepts, values, and ethics. Islamic ethics have their source in Allah, while desire and moral control have their source elsewhere. The research recommends the necessity of adhering to ethics

Introduction to Friedrich Engels: Marx's partner in the communist ideology: Engels was born on November 28, 1820 in the city of Barmen, in the same province where Marx was born, which is the Prussian Rhine province in Germany.However, Engels' family circumstances differed greatly from those of Marx.He was born into a wealthy industrialist family and saw his father as the heir to his business.Since their meeting in Paris, their relationship strengthened and they began to establish their communist ideology.Engels died in London on August 5, 1895 at the age of 70.Some of Engels' most famous works include "The Condition of the Working Class in England", "Anti-Duhring", "Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy", "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State", as well as "The Communist Manifesto" coauthored with Marx, and the completion of the second and third volumes of "Capital".They both lived through the changes that occurred throughout Europe in the early 19th century as a result of the industrial revolution, the massive industrial change, the victory of huge mechanical industries, the establishment of the global market, and more, all of which formed the European capitalist system at the economic, social, and political levels.These changes paved the way for their communist call-in response to the common and dominant capitalism that they established on three foundations: dialectical materialism, historical materialism, and political economy.All played a role in shaping the values, ethics, and opinions of Marxism in society.

The foundations on which Marx based his ethical ideology
The first foundation: Materialist Dialectics Dialectics is a Greek word meaning discussion or debate, because it involves back-and-forth arguments.It is possible for more than one person to participate in a dialectical discussion, although a single person can also pose a question to themselves and answer it.The term was applied to dialectical attempts from Socrates until now (Mahmoud, 1953) Although Marx and Engels were not philosophers in the true sense, they turned to classical German philosophy to find support for their theory of the inevitability of the collapse of the capitalist system and its replacement with a communist system that embodies its values and states, because they believed it was more advanced and suitable for human beings.The direct influence on the formation of their ideology can be traced back to the most famous German idealist philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and his friend and colleague, the materialist philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach, who opposed his teacher Hegel.The former used dialectical logical methods, while the latter focused on materialism, so when we talk about "Marxist philosophy," we immediately think of materialist dialectics and historical materialism (A group of Soviet scholars, 1990) Undoubtedly, (Marx) and (Engels) were influenced by Hegel and Feuerbach and had a strong interaction with them.Dialectical materialism is based on three laws: the unity and struggle of contradictions, the transformation of quantitative changes into qualitative ones, and the negation of negation.These laws are governed by expressions that reflect materialism, such as development, movement, struggle, and dialectics.According to Marx and Engels, these are characteristics of existence itself, and everything in it, including material and intellectual phenomena, is a mere reflection of its self-movement, including ethics (Hawidi, (1974).If thinking process originates in the brain, as in Hegel's philosophy, Marx, on the contrary, did not consider thinking as an ideal or mental thing, but as a material thing transmitted to the human mind and re-formed there (A group of Soviet scholars, n.d.).
Therefore, this dialectical-Hegelian foundation, with its three laws, made Marx not only understand the development of nature according to the laws of motion, but also go beyond it to human history, thought, and its religious, ethical, social, political, and economic values in their development according to the same laws that govern the development of the material world.
Considering that ideal or spiritual phenomena and other opinions and theories are secondary factors arising from material life conditions.The movement implies that everything in this world is material and must have movement and change, from the smallest primary particles to planets.Thus, in his book "Dialectical and Historical Materialism," Stalin said, "Dialectics, unlike metaphysics, does not consider nature as a state of rest and stagnation... but considers it a state of constant movement and change.A state of renewal and development that never stops.In it, something is always born and developed, and something dissolves and disappears." It is impossible for matter to exist without motion, because motion is not a superficial state of matter, nor is it something separate from the properties of material bodies.Things only exist with the accompanying motion.In his book "Anti-Dühring", Engels stated that motion, in the general sense of the word, is a means of the existence of matter, and as a necessary aspect of matter, it undergoes transformations and processes that occur in the universe, starting from simple movements and ending with thinking, based on the fact that it is secondary to matter (Shipatulina, n.d)This statement about motion accompanying matter gave Marx and his colleague the ability to say that everything, including social and economic systems, religious and moral values, is subject to constant change and development.As long as there is motion, development and change are constant.However, if motion is inseparable from matter, which has no existence without motion, then this motion also requires a time for the material to move and a place for it to move through.
Hence, the importance of the statements of time, place, and motion of matter.Based on the dialectical theory of development, Marx applied the continuity of absolute development to everything that exists, from the lowest to the highest, from the simple to the complex, from the old to the new, in an inevitable way independent of human will (Rayan, 1976).
Based on the unlimited nature of matter and other previous principles, Marx emphasized the continuity of change and transformation in things.If forms disappear, they are replaced by another form, and this succession continues even in the creative and religious concepts without permanence to them (Marx, Karl, (n.d.).
Marx and his followers were able to generalize their dialectical approach to existence and the systems established in it, which are subject to a set of interconnected laws.Thus, it is impossible to deviate from them, whether in material or moral and intellectual values.They did not stop at the limit of the material world but extended their influence to the field of thought, knowledge, values, and ethics.

The Second Foundation Is Historical Materialism
Historical materialism, which is merely the application of the concept of dialectical materialism with its fundamental laws and previous principles to human society, its history, political, economic, and social systems, even its ideas, ethical and religious values, considering society as a form of the movement of matter, the origin of existence.
Therefore, dialectical materialism and historical materialism are two sides of the same coin, which is the Marxist communist doctrine.One cannot be understood without the other.In addition, both materialisms share a unified position regarding the relationship between consciousness and matter.Just as dialectical materialism stood with matter against consciousness, historical materialism also stands with matter, but from a social perspective in understanding the relationship between matter and consciousness.
Therefore, historical materialism is concerned with uncovering the laws of mutual connection between social existence and social consciousness, and how they operate within society, governing its function as a particular form of movement (of matter).Marxists see these laws, like the laws of nature, as being of independent interest to dialectics, which applies them to material existence in general.However, they are also careful to differentiate between the concepts of the two.They argue that the laws of nature, which dialectics concerns itself with, reflect the influence of blind, automatic forces in nature, reflecting changes resulting from the collision of an infinite number of these forces.
Conversely, the social laws that historical materialism concerns itself with apply among humans who have specific goals they try to achieve, and they are characterized by independence from their consciousness.These laws govern the effectiveness of their social systems and ultimately form an ideological weapon for effecting changes in social life, transforming it in favor of the working class (Covelluzo & Kelly, 1983 & Shipatulina, n.d.)

Ethics in Marxism Marxist Interpretation of Ethics
Just as dialectical materialism has basic laws among Marxists, they have also developed fundamental concepts or ideas that have a material and social character in their study of social laws that govern the development of society (formations).They were careful to emphasize that these concepts were far from concepts in natural sciences, on which dialectical materialism is based, because of their inability to perform the task of historical materialism in studying social life.Therefore, their concepts were tinged with the social economic material color (Budostnik & Spraken, 1966).
For example, the mode of production and the relations of production together determine the pattern of people's lives in every form of society from the dawn of history until the expected communist society advocated by Marx.They constitute the economic material basis for every social formation, including its language, science, and ethics.In their view, all phenomena of life are dependent on and conditioned by them (Stalin, n.d. & Atman, n.d.).
Based on the above, we find that the ideas that formed Marxist sociology are represented in the views of Engels and Marx on society, humans, family, women, children, and the state.These views are not imposed on existence from the outside, but emerged as a result of the development of production methods in their inevitable dialectical materialistic form, and therefore they have no stability in any way according to the nature of dialectical materialistic concepts of decline, conflict, process, and development due to the movement of materialism.Society, in essence, is a historical process reflected in the mode of production and in human existence, which exists as a human essence only from social origins and its interaction with them.
On the ethical level, it is not natural in their view, but initially emerged as a false reflection of the forces of production and their relations.It is not imposed on society from the outside but is based fundamentally on the inevitable development of production methods.It represents the oldest forms of social awareness, and therefore, what is recognized as natural in some historical circumstances can be condemned morally in other circumstances.It is influenced by and reflects people's relationships with concepts of good and evil, justice, and injustice.
Ethics, in Marx's view, is also class-based, meaning it is linked to the interests of the owning class and characterized by its nature in every social-economic formation.It was collective in the communal stage because the prevailing relations of production were collective.Similarly, in every historical stage, the faults of this class are hidden, and their demands are perceived as divine commands.
On a moral level, in their view, it is not a natural phenomenon, but rather originated as a false reflection of the forces of production and their relationships.It is not imposed on society from outside, but is based fundamentally on the inevitable development of means of production.
It represents the oldest forms of social consciousness, and thus what is recognized as natural in certain historical circumstances can be seen as immoral in other circumstances.Ethics, in Marx's view, is also class-based, meaning it is linked to the interests of the owning class and is characterized by its features in every social-economic formation.It was collective in the communal stage because the prevailing relations of production were collective, and similarly, in every historical stage, the flaws of this class are hidden, and their demands are envisioned as divine commands, reflecting people's relationships with concepts such as good and evil, justice, and injustice.

Ideal Ethics in Marxism
After being characterized by resentment towards capitalism and glorification of struggle and revolution for the sake of establishing a socialist society and eliminating private property, it becomes glorification of communist ethics that defend the communist future and reflect its development.They say: "Communist ethics, unlike the ethics of exploiters, declare that social property is sacred and must be protected because it represents the interests of the working class (proletariat)" (Marx, n.d., Leninist. M., n.d. & Budostnik, 1966).
Ethics, according to them, are also used to undermine the old exploitative society and unify the proletariat or workers.They instill loyalty to communism and concern for increasing social wealth in them, as well as in the relationship towards work as creativity and as the highest ethical duty of the individual.In the communist society, moral consciousness grows while law gradually disappears, and communist ethics take its place, believing in the values of the hardworking class (Lenin, 1972).
With a brief look at what has been said by the leading scientific socialist figures about ethics, we find a complete exclusion of the ideals and ethics promoted by divine laws.They even strip ethics of their beneficial content and noble goals, which makes ethics, according to their concepts, a corrupt game that destroys the entity of the family and society and makes those who adhere to them the subject of ridicule, backwardness, or ostracism in society.Examples of their statements on this matter include the following A-In the Communist Manifesto issued by Karl Marx, it states: "The laws, morals, and religions are bourgeois illusions that cover their own creation with bourgeois interests."B-In the words of Engels: "We reject all attempts to impose on us morals based on ideals, because we believe that ethics are the product of social conditions, and since social conditions are constantly changing, the ethical concepts we believe in are any actions that lead to the realization of our principles, no matter how contradictory they may be to morals."C-Lenin said: "We must resort to all kinds of tricks, maneuvers, and illegal methods to achieve our communist goals."D-Stalin said: "The righteous ethics in our view are those that facilitate the elimination of the old system and support the communist system, and nothing else can be called virtuous ethics."(Al Midani, 2000).
Marxist-Leninists believe in the principle of "the end justifies the means", so no matter how unethical the means used by the communist may be, they are justified by their communist goal.This is why Lenin said: "The communist fighter must be skilled in all forms of deceit, fraud, and trickery.The struggle for communism justifies any means that achieve it" (Al Midani, 2000).

The Marxist Ethics and Islamic Ethics Ethics In Islam Is Sourced From God, Its Standards Are Fixed, And It Is Subject To Reward And Punishment
From an Islamic perspective, Islam has established a fixed human scale for ethics, at a time when the ethical standards before it allowed for jealousy, aggression, the killing of daughters, and the exploitation of women.Its call was for the establishment of a new society based on a balanced social and economic basis, to ensure the implementation of its ethical standards.
God Almighty knows that a society whose economic balance is disrupted cannot maintain its ethics.Therefore, people were encouraged to reach this fixed scale of ethics by adjusting their economic, social, spiritual, and intellectual situations together, not just by adjusting their economic situation alone and wasting ethical values for it.'When values are represented in the highest levels of human behavior, this is evidence that humans have reached the peak of human enlightenment (Al-Bahi, 1980).
Based on the Islamic vision of ethics that prevailed in pre-Islamic Arabia, we can say that when Islam appeared on the Arabian Peninsula, it was in a critical stage of human history, a stage where truth was lost amidst falsehood, and goodness was lost amidst corruption.People's behavior and ethics, or their general actions and customs, did not fall into more than three categories: good ethics and customs, which Islam preserved, supported, emphasized their value and importance, such as maintaining good relations with neighbors, honoring guests.And completely bad ethics and customs, which Islam demolished, warned against, and explained their earthly or heavenly punishment, such as killing baby girls, jealousy, and theft.
There were also ethics and customs in which good and bad mixed, or were overall good, but had flaws in implementation or shortcomings, such as supporting the oppressed, where the principle of pre-Islamic ignorance was to support one's brother, whether oppressor or oppressed.Islam came and defined when support should be given, as stated in a Hadith narrated by Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Support your brother, whether he is an oppressor or oppressed."It was said, "O Messenger of Allah, we help him when he is oppressed, but how can we help him when he is an oppressor?"He said, "By preventing him from wrongdoing" (Ahmed, 2001).
"If Marx and others come and say that ethics can only change by reverting back to the animal stage in humans, then its effects will manifest in their behavior dominated by instinct and desires, in a way that their behavior at that time will not be characterized by progress or advancement, but rather by animality.That is why the claim of a change in ethics is a Marxist deception aimed at promoting moral decay in the communist society that calls for humans to return to animality in order to justify it.Yes, humans themselves evolve and change towards humanity, but values, which are expressions of humanity, remain" (Qutb, 1991).
"Just as Islam emphasizes the truth of the uniqueness of Allah, and if the origin of Islamic ethics is divine, then its essence is justice, benevolence, and mercy.Benevolence is present in every aspect of ethical behavior and is even a characteristic of believers, as stated in the Quran:'' Verily, they were before this Muḥsinūn (good-doers)'' (Azariat:16).
Mercy is the third fundamental principle of Islamic ethics, due to its great importance and extension to include even animals and others."(Mahmoud, n.d. & Qutb, 1992).
"A careful examination of one verse from the Book of Allah reveals three virtues that Islam commands and calls for, and three others that it prohibits and forbids.These six represent the foundation of good and bad ethics.Allah says,'' Verily, Allāh enjoins Al-'Adl (i.e.justice and worshipping none but Allāh Alone slāmic Monotheism) and Al-Iḥsān [i.e. to be patient in performing your duties to Allāh, totally for Allāh's sake and in accordance with the Sunnah (legal ways) of the Prophet e in a perfect manner], and giving (help) to kith and kin (i.e.all) that Allāh has ordered you to give them e.g., wealth, visiting, looking after them, or any other kind of help), and forbids Al-Faḥshā' (i.e all evil deeds, e.g.illegal sexual acts, disobedience of parents, polytheism, to tell lies, to give false witness, to kill a life without right), and Al-Munkar (i.e all that is prohibited by Islāmic law: polytheism of every kind, disbelief and every kind of evil deeds), and Al-Baghy (i.e.all kinds of oppression).He admonishes you, that you may take heed'' [Quran,Annahl:90].
And there are many Islamic moral qualities in the life of the individual and society, as mentioned in the Holy Quran and the Prophetic Sunnah.Islam has outlined the correct path for the individual to be beneficial to oneself, beneficial to one's society, and positive in one's actions in life.Islam has shown individuals how to fulfill their desires and form relationships with others in society, without deviation, falsehood, deception, or violation.Instead, these relationships are based on satisfaction, contentment, and pleasure that surpasses all material pleasures in life, fulfilling personal desires.
Furthermore, Islam has clarified the worldly benefits and the rewards in the Hereafter that come with adhering to good morals, as well as the harms and punishments that come with bad morals.Let us take one example of such morals, which is truthfulness and lying.Abdullah ibn Mas'ud reported that the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, said: " Beware of lying.Lying leads to deviance and deviance leads to the Fire.A man continues to lie until he is written as a liar with Allah.You must be truthful.Truthfulness leads to dutifulness and dutifulness leads to the Garden.A man continues to tell the truth until he is written as a siddiq with Allah " (Ahmad, 2001) This hadith refutes everything that Marxist followers have said about deceit, procrastination, and inconsistency in speech and action, as mentioned in some of their texts.Truthfulness has good consequences in this world and the Hereafter, while lying has bad consequences.
Thus, we find that Islamic ethics come from Allah -exalted be He -while desire and control are the foundations of Marxist ethics.In terms of direction, Islamic ethics are directed towards the well-being of the individual and the community internally by nurturing conscience and moral restraint, and externally by reflecting this conscience and restraint on the behavior and dealings of individuals and those around them.
On the other hand, Marxist ethics only care about increasing production, establishing communist principles, and nurturing animalistic aspects in humans and submitting to their desires, with their ethics subject to the development of means of production.Sometimes capitalist ethics, sometimes socialist, sometimes communist.It has no connection whatsoever with the individual, his conscience, his mind, his religion, his behavior, or his interactions with members of the human community, except on an economic and class basis, and a bloody revolution based on robbery and plunder, then finally a terrible dictatorship that destroys humanity.
"The most important characteristic of ethics in Islam is that it derives its principles and sources solely from the directives of Allah, the Almighty, and thus it is closely related to Islam in all its principles.It is inseparable from the legislation that regulates the lives of Muslims."(Qutb, 1992).

Contemporary Islamic Thinkers and their Refutation of Marxist Ideas about Ethics
Contemporary Muslim intellectuals did not remain silent in the face of the misguided Marxist ideas and statements about ethics.Rather, they stood as defenders and opponents with convincing responses.Among these are A.
Abbas Al-Aqqad describes Marxist ethics as ethics created to serve the interests of the ruling communist class in societies that have adopted Marxism as their ideology and control the means of production.Therefore, Marxists do not criticize these ethics as long as the production system is successful and organized, even if it has victims who believed in it.Thus, Marxists have no concept of ethical good or evil in human nature, resulting from their denial of the existence of innate or absolute values.There are no values except material values related to the interests of the ruling class.He also denies describing human nature as good or evil except in relation to social relations and common economic transactions among individuals, such as equating humans with animals and inanimate objects.This is because, in any form of society, there must be a force in the individual that is associated with his or her ethics, and this force is the basis for the individual's behavior when his or her common transactions increase in his or her society (Al-Aqqad, n.d.).In another book by Al-'Aqqad, he indicates that some of the ideal virtues that the Holy Quran urged to adopt, and made the entire set of ethics as "those qualities with which the Creator Himself was characterized in His beautiful names, and all of them are what human beings commend themselves to subdue, and seek to obtain the fullest share available to the limited creature except for the qualities that the Creator has reserved for Himself alone" (Al-'Aqqad, 1966).

B.
Dr. Muhammad al-Bahi believes that the materialistic interpretation of ethics, even if its purpose is to reject capitalist ethics, is not suitable for survival in the labor society because they are class standards and values that reinforce the class system that Marxism claimed its task was to eliminate (Al-Bahi, 1982).

C.
Muhammad Qutb refers to the Islamic interest in cultivating human willpower and the resulting conscious conscience, which indicates the keenness and concern of Islam for crucial differentiation.He made the willpower responsible for regulating oneself, one's feelings, thoughts, and desires and thus differentiating humans from animals that cannot control their impulses and desires.He cited the Quranic verse: " Verily, the worst of (moving)living creatures with Allāh are the deaf and the dumb, who Not understand.(i.e. the disbelievers" ( Al Anfal:22).

D.
Looking at the practical reality of Marxism, we find that the Grand Imam Dr. Abdel Halim Mahmoud criticizes the ethical level of the Communist Party members in the former Soviet Union during the communist rule.He went on to say that a quick glance at this reality shows how it is based on utilitarianism, opportunism, and materialism, immersed in animosity and stubbornness, without assuming any value for the eternal divine law that makes souls great (Mahmoud.n.d.) Therefore, it can be said that the Islamic stance towards the material interpretation of ethics, as mentioned above, establishes the strength of human will that affects individual ethics and what should prevail between them and members of their society.This stance is not based on production relations, methods, and the social relations formed by them.There is a big difference between linking ethics to economic factors and stating that there are no innate ethics, as Marxists claim.
The first statement implies that there are no individual ethics at all, while they acknowledge the existence of ethics but claim that they can only be influenced by economic factors.They cannot reconcile these two contradictory claims except by recognizing the existence of innate ethics in every social class or formation throughout history.
We do not deny the impact of economic factors on ethics, but it is not the only factor.Social, political, and religious factors also have an impact.Therefore, it is not acceptable to concede that society, with its economic relations, determines or shapes individual morality.Rather, it is the humanity that God Almighty has granted to individuals that determines their moral values.This is based on His saying: "And indeed We have honoured the Children of Adam, and We have carried them on land and sea, and have provided them with Aṭ-Ṭayyibāt (lawful good things), and have preferred them to many of those whom We have created with a marked preferment" (Surat Alisra':70) Thus, it can be said that Islamic ethics are human ethics that are based on the Holy Quran in a clear balance between different aspects of human beings, placing each in its proper place.The will and conscience are the evaluators overseeing this organization without any psychological coercion from ideological concepts or material coercion from economic factors or otherwise.This is completely and partially contradictory to the Marxist materialistic interpretation of ethics, whether in terms of source or direction.

Results
Several results can be extracted from this research, including the following • Marxism does not see a specific ethical means to achieve its goal of revenge against capitalism and glorifying concepts of conflict and revolution in order to spread its communist ideology and eliminate private property, except by considering actions tainted with strikes, bloody riots, treachery, and sabotage as all legitimate from the Marxist ethical perspective.

•
Claiming that Marx's interpretation of ethics was a material interpretation based on dialectical and historical materialist laws and principles is a fallacy, which leads to the mistake of claiming that ethics evolve inevitably and are inherently linked to the means of production in their development.

•
We agree that ethics change, but not as a value concept in itself, as is the case with Marx; rather, by considering the human being who possesses them and fluctuates in them between moral ascent and decline.At the same time, we reject the claim that there are no absolute values, and that ethics are relative and constantly changing without a constant regulator, but rather there must be a fixed standard for ethics towards which all concepts, values, and ethics converge based on religion.
• Social, economic, and political development is closely related to material development, yet it is independent of it and can exist without its interference.Ethical change and the relationship between ethics and means of production are the weakest relationships associated with material development at all.

•
There should not necessarily be an impact of economics on ethics, whether the impact is individual or joint.
• Islamic ethics have their source in Allah Almighty, while desires and control are the sources of Marxist ethics -and in terms of direction, we also find that Islamic ethics aim at the well-being of the individual and society, while Marxist ethics are only concerned with increasing production, establishing communist principles, and subjecting ethics to the development of means of production.