Shoreshthe drift report · all case files
Case file

Islamic ethics

Wikipedia's first sentence called it “finally established by the 11th century”. Today it says “the "philosophical reflection upon moral conduct" with a view to defining "good character" and attaining the "p”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since. Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now. 1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2025

Islamic ethics ( Arabic : أخلاق إسلامية ) is the "philosophical reflection upon moral conduct" with a view to defining "good character" and attaining the "pleasure of God" ( raza-e Ilahi ). It is distinguished from " Islamic morality ", which pertains to "specific norms or codes of behavior". It took shape as a field of study or an "Islamic science" ( ʿIlm al-Akhlaq ), gradually from the 7th century and was finally established by the 11th century. Although it was considered less important than sharia and fiqh "in the eyes of the ulama " (Islamic scholars) "moral philosophy" was an important subject for Muslim intellectuals. Many scholars consider it shaped as a successful amalgamation of the Qur'anic teachings, the teachings of Muhammad , the precedents of Islamic jurists (see Sharia and Fiqh ), the pre-Islamic Arabian tradition, and non-Arabic elements (including Persian and Greek ideas) embedded in or integrated with a generally Islamic structure. Although Muhammad's preaching produced a "radical change in moral values based on the sanctions of the new religion ... and fear of God and of the Last Judgment"; the tribal practice of Arabs did not completely die out. Later Muslim scholars expanded the religious ethic of the Qur'an and Hadith in immense detail.

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1285919411.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “finally established by the 11th century”. Today it says “the "philosophical reflection upon moral conduct" with a view to defining "good character" and attaining the "p”. Read the current article and compare.
201020152020Oct '232025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.

What Wikipedia says this is

Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.

Then

finally established by the 11th century

Now

the "philosophical reflection upon moral conduct" with a view to defining "good character" and attaining the "p

Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.

← back to the drift report