ABSTRACT
It is commonly held that some of the doctrines and issues raised in early Islam, after the first and the second fitna (schisms or civil wars), were closely related to politics and can therefore be considered religio-political doctrines. Yet, it should be emphasized that the subjects of these doctrines were, in themselves, ultimately ethical by nature in that they dealt with the conduct of human beings. Thus it might be argued that the beginnings of al-Kalām, which reflected intellectual activity of Arabo-Islamic society, implied political and social interests expressed within an ethical framework.
