Ayse Icoz: ‘Fear of God’ as the Foundation of Morality in the Ethical Writings of Medieval Arabophone Christian Authors

Ethical writings produced by Arabic speaking Christians are intriguing examples of Christian Arabic literature. This paper will examine a common theme in the ethical works of two select medieval Christian authors who were the members of the Church of the East in the late tenth and early eleventh century, namely Elias of Nisibis (d. 1046) and ‘Amr ibn Mattā (c. 1050). Elias of Nisibis’ Kitāb Daf’ al-Hamm (The Book of Elimination of Sorrow) is written to provide a scheme of dealing with unwanted anxiety. The first chapter of this book is entitled as “The Merit of Godliness and the Defect of Impiety”. In this part, he depicts the essence of devoutness as ‘fear of God’ and explains its benefits in detail to achieve a virtuous life. ‘Amr ibn Mattā is the author of the voluminous theological encyclopedia called Kitāb al Majdal (The Book of Tower). The fourth chapter of the Kitāb al-Majdal is divided into seven subsections, each of which deals with a certain spiritual or moral practice. The first section of the fourth chapter in this work is entitled “al-Taqwā” (piety/fear of God) where the author describes ‘fear of God’ as the compulsory element of moral development.Considering both the Islamic intellectual setting and the Christian backgrounds of the authors and focusing on the linguistic features, sources and possible audiences of the texts, this paper will examine how ‘fear of God’ is explained in these two medieval Christian Arabic writings.