Clarifying the relationship between zuhd (asceticism) and ethics, as well as identifying the position of zuhd among moral virtues, is among the issues that—despite its significance in presenting Islamic intellectual heritage—has received relatively little attention in ethical research. Explicating this relationship and elucidating the place of zuhd in the history of moral thought can play a substantial role in the revival of ethical theories within the Islamic tradition. This article, through an analytical approach, aims to examine the prominent conceptions concerning the nature of zuhd and its relationship to ethics. The findings of the study indicate that three general types of relationship between zuhd and ethics can be discerned in the history of Islamic ethics, each of which gives rise to distinct conceptions of zuhd. In the first type, zuhd is regarded as equivalent to the entirety of ethics. Since it manifests in fundamental components such as detachment from all other than God, disinterest in worldly matters, and as a comprehensive moral lifestyle, it gives rise to three distinct interpretations. In the second type, zuhd is viewed as a subset of ethics. In the third type, zuhd is considered unrelated to ethics and, to some extent, contrary to moral virtue. Accordingly, a total of seven interpretations of the relationship between zuhd and ethics can be identified in the history of Islamic ethical thought, each supported by relevant textual or historical evidence.