Among the so-called lost icons of modern culture (as Rowan Williams once put it) holiness should be perhaps seen with a particular concern. Christianity has always perceived holiness as a universal calling which Christ’s disciples are never to neglect. The Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer emerges as a signifcant example of radical discipleship in his consistent and faithful pursuit of holiness. The one who believes in Christ is to follow Him not by withdrawing from this world but rather in the midst of the world as Christ himself lived and to „drink the earthly cup to the dregs like Christ himself”. Consequently, „holiness begins and ends with God and moves toward the needy of the world” (A. Lawrence). John Paul II would often stress that holiness is one of those precious signs of the Spirit’s active presence among all Christ’s followers which should play an ever more growing role in the ecumenical exchange of gifts. When Christians base their hope on the Lord’s prayer and not their own strength, they can trust that „the great ecumenism of holiness will not fail, with God’s help, to bring results” (John Paul II).

Like all religions Islam, too, has substantial ethical contents. The unique character of Islamic ethics, however, comes from the fact that it is entirely rooted in religion and so cannot be separated from it. Thus it is formed by the teaching of the Quran, to which the way of life of the Prophet Muhammad (sunnah) offers explanations. Man’s behavior in this sense is an act of either obedience or disobedience to God himself. It is also true that in the Muslim world a philosophical conception of ethics has evolved mainly due to Islam’s encounter with Greek culture. The central concept of Islamic ethics is character (khuluq), which is the state of man’s soul. It is in his character that man develops a tendency to perform either good or bad actions. Such understanding of human dispositions has much to do with Aristotle’s perception of man’s inner state that guides him to good or evil actions. These preliminary basic clarifications on Islamic ethics are then followed by brief accounts of select issues of moral life. Among those there are three main virtues (justice, kindness, charity) and vices (indecency, wickedness, oppression), marriage and the family, or the sanctity of human life (implying an ethical rejection of abortion and euthanasia).