For al-Ghazālī, ethics is not a list of social rules.

The real problem of the human being is a sick heart, not occasional bad actions.

Lying, envy, anger, and hypocrisy are not the root causes; they are symptoms of inner illness.

Therefore, ethics is like medicine:

first diagnose the disease of the heart, then treat it at its root.

? Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, Book: The Wonders of the Heart (Sharḥ ʿAjāʾib al-Qalb)