Response to the claim that positive laws are better than the provisions of Islamic law
The claim that positive laws are better than the provisions of Islamic law because they are compatible with modern civilization ( *)
Content of the doubt:
Some skeptics claim that man-made laws are more compatible with the spirit of the age than the provisions of Islamic law ; therefore, they are the most suitable constitution for the modern state. They prove this by the fact that the provisions of Islamic law are fixed and do not change, while man-made laws change with time, place, and circumstances.
They aim to undermine the flexibility of Islamic law on the one hand, and to brand its provisions as rigid and unsuitable for application in contemporary reality on the other hand
. Two aspects of refuting the doubt:
1) Islamic law is divine and is characterized by perfection, sublimity, and permanence. It also has dual characteristics such as stability versus flexibility, and eternity versus development, which makes it suitable for all times and places. Anyone who contemplates this dual characteristic of the law will notice it in this manner:
· Stability in goals and objectives, and flexibility in means and methods.
· Stability in fundamentals and generalities, and flexibility in branches and details.
· Stability in religious and moral values, and flexibility in worldly and scientific affairs.
All this is in contrast to the positive law, which is not suitable even for those who made it.
2) The suitability of Islamic law has been attested to by revelation, history and reality, while positive law always proves its failure, which necessitates its change from time to time. The success of Sharia in achieving good for Islamic society is the best evidence of its superiority and suitability for all times and places.
Details:
First. Between Islamic Sharia and positive laws:
There is no similarity between the provisions of Islamic Sharia and positive laws that would justify anyone balancing between them, let alone asserting the superiority of the latter and calling for its replacement by the former; The Sharia was revealed by the Lord of the earth and the heavens, who knows the secret and what is more hidden, and who alone is able to provide people with the means of goodness and happiness in their lives: “ Does He who created not know, while He is the Subtle, the Acquainted?” (14) ( Al-Mulk).
As for man-made laws , how can they fulfill the needs of all people when some of them have invented them? Should we abandon what the Creator of mankind has legislated for mankind and judge by what mankind has legislated for mankind?! These laws , in their entirety, are incapable of fulfilling the needs of one era in different countries, or one country in different eras.
This is a clear matter that is acknowledged by fair-minded people and supported by reality. As for what some of them have claimed about their suitability to the era more than the rulings of the Sharia , this is a false illusion; because the rulings of Islamic Sharia It has factors of strength, flexibility, breadth and comprehensiveness that make it suitable for all times and places, unlike positive law, which is not suitable even for those who created it. Some of them accused it of stagnation only because their minds are incapable of the divine perfection known in divine laws. However, a serious objective study of the rulings of Islamic law and comparing them with man-made laws confirms the superiority of Islamic law and its distinction over all other laws and laws. It also makes clear - beyond any doubt - that whoever fabricates the claim that Sharia is not suitable for this era, and that man-made laws are better than Islamic law in the modern contemporary state, did not issue those rulings based on an accurate, objective, scientific study, nor were they based on reasonable, convincing, logical evidence. This is what the jurist Abdul Qader Awda - may God have mercy on him - explains when he says: “It has become clear from studying Islamic law that those who say that it is not suitable for the present era do not base their opinion on a scientific study or logical arguments; because scientific study and logic require saying that Islamic law is superior to man-made laws , and that Sharia is suitable for this era and for the eras that will follow it.
Moreover, those who say that Sharia is not suitable for the present era are two groups: a group that has not studied Sharia or law, and a group that has studied law without Sharia. Neither group is qualified to judge the Sharia because they are completely ignorant of its provisions, and whoever is ignorant of something is not qualified to judge it.
The reality is that those who are ignorant of the Sharia base their false belief - that the Sharia is not suitable - on a false analogy, and not on an organized study. This is because they learned that the current positive laws have no connection to the old laws that were applied until the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries AD. They learned that modern positive laws are based on philosophical theories and social and human considerations that did not exist in the old laws . Comparing these two types of laws leads them to believe that the old laws are not suitable for the present age, which is a completely correct belief, but they then fall into error when they compare Islamic Sharia to positive laws. They say: Since the laws that were prevalent until the end of the eighteenth century are not suitable for our present age, so is the Islamic Sharia that was prevalent in the Middle Ages, and many of its provisions remained in effect until the end of the eighteenth century. In this false analogy, their grave error is that it is almost impossible to miss the discerning critic.
The error in this analogy is that they equated The positive laws that were established by humans and the Islamic Sharia that the Creator of mankind undertook to establish, when they compare, they are comparing the earth to the sky and people to the Lord of people, so how can a rational mind compare himself to his Lord and his earth to his sky?
We say: The reason for the error in this comparison is that they equated the Sharia and the law, although they are very different in nature; it is known that there is no comparison between two different things.
If it is true that the Sharia differs from the laws in fundamental differences and is distinguished from them by essential characteristics, then comparison is forbidden; because the rule is that comparison requires the equality of the thing being compared to the thing being compared; if there is no equality, then there is no comparison, or the comparison is invalid.
Since those who say that the Sharia is not suitable for the present age base their opinion on comparing the Sharia to the positive laws, and there is no equality between the Sharia and these laws , then their comparison is invalid, and their claim that the Sharia is not suitable for the present age is a false claim; because it is based on a false comparison, and whatever is based on falsehood is false.
We will present below the origin of law and the origin of Sharia , the differences between them, and the characteristics of each:
The origin of law:
Positive law originates in the group that it regulates and governs, small and limited in its rules. Then the group develops, its rules increase, and its theories become more sublime as the needs of the group increase and diversify, and as the group advances in its thinking, sciences, and literature.
Positive law is like a newborn; it originates small and weak, then grows and becomes stronger little by little until it reaches maturity. It accelerates in development, growth, and elevation as the group it governs develops and gains a share of advancement and elevation, and it slows down in its development and growth as the group is slow in growth and development. The group, then, is the one that creates positive law and makes it in the way that meets its needs and regulates its life. It is subordinate to it, and its progress is linked to its progress.
When scholars of positive law talk about its first emergence, they say: It began to form with the formation of the family and the tribe, and that the word of the head of the family was the law of the family, and the word of the sheikh of the tribe was the law of the tribe, and that the law continued to develop with the group until the state was formed, and that the customs of each family did not agree with the customs of other families, and the traditions of each tribe were not similar to the traditions of other tribes, and that when the state began to form, it unified the customs and traditions and made them a law binding on all individuals, families and tribes within the scope of the state, but the law of each state did not often agree with the laws of the other state.
This disagreement continued until the final stage of legal development began in the aftermath of the eighteenth century, guided by philosophical, scientific and social theories. Positive law has developed greatly since that time until now, and has become based on theories that did not exist in previous eras, and the basis of these modern theories is justice, equality and humanity. The spread of these theories in the world has led to the unification of most legal rules in many countries of the world, but each country has its own law that differs from others. Laws in many details and details.
This is a summary of the origin of law, its development and the stages it went through. It clearly shows that when law was created, it was something completely different from law now, and that it continued to change and develop until it reached its current form, and that it did not reach what it is now except after a long, slow development that lasted thousands of years. The emergence of
Sharia :
If the emergence of positive law, as described by its people - and in the manner we have mentioned - was a gradual process that resembles the stages of growth of children, then Islamic Sharia did not emerge and did not follow this path. Sharia was not a few rules that then increased, nor scattered principles that then gathered, nor initial theories that then refined. Sharia was not born as a child with the Islamic community and then kept pace with its development and grew with its growth, but rather it was born a complete young woman, and it was revealed from God as a complete, comprehensive, comprehensive Sharia in which you see no crookedness, nor do you witness any deficiency. God - the Almighty - revealed it from His heaven to the heart of His Messenger Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - in a short period - not exceeding the period necessary for its revelation - that began with the mission of the Messenger and ended with his death - may God bless him and grant him peace - or ended on the day God - the Almighty - said: “ This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have approved for you Islam as religion ” ( Al-Ma’idah: 3). Sharia
did not come for one group rather than another, or for one people rather than another, or for a state . Without a state, but it came for all people, Arabs and non-Arabs, Easterners and Westerners, with their different backgrounds and varying customs, traditions and history. It is the law of every family, every tribe, every group, and every state. Indeed, it is the universal law that the scholars of positive law were able to imagine, but they were unable to create. The Sharia
came complete, with no deficiency, comprehensive, governing every situation, prohibitive, and no situation deviates from its rule. It includes the affairs of individuals, groups and states. It regulates personal status, transactions and everything related to individuals, and organizes the affairs of government, administration and politics, and other things related to the group. It also regulates the relations of states with each other in war and peace. The Sharia
did not come for one time rather than another, or for one era rather than another, or for one time rather than another. Rather, it is the law of all times, the law of every age, and the law of all time until God inherits the earth and those on it. The Sharia
was formulated in such a way that the passage of time does not affect it, nor does its novelty wear out, nor does it require changing its general rules and basic theories. Its texts were so general and flexible that they governed every new situation, even if it was not possible to anticipate it. Therefore, the texts of the Sharia were not subject to change or alteration, just as the texts of positive laws change and are altered.
The basis of the difference between the Sharia and the law is that the Sharia is from God - the Almighty - and He is the One who says: “ There is no change in the words of God ” (Yunus: 64), and He is the Knower of the Unseen, who is able to establish texts for people that remain valid throughout time. As for Laws are created by humans, and are created to the extent that they meet their temporary needs. To the extent that humans are unable to know the unseen, the legal texts they create fall short of ruling on what they did not expect. The Sharia
came from the day it was revealed with the most recent theories that law has finally reached, even though law is older than the Sharia . In fact, the Sharia came from the day it was revealed with more than what positive law has reached. It is enough for us to know that everything that lawyers today wish to achieve in terms of principles is present in the Sharia from the day it was revealed.
From the above, it is clear that Islamic Sharia differs from positive laws in three fundamental ways:
1. The law is made by humans, while the Sharia is from God, and both the Sharia and the law clearly represent the attributes of their Creator; The law is made by humans and represents the deficiency, helplessness, weakness and helplessness of humans. [1] Hence, the law is subject to change and alteration, or what we call development, whenever the community develops to an unexpected degree or unexpected situations occur. The law is always imperfect and cannot reach the level of perfection as long as its maker cannot be described as perfect and cannot comprehend what will be, even if he can comprehend what was.
As for the Sharia, its maker is God, and it represents the Creator’s power, perfection, greatness and comprehension of what was and what is. Then the All-Knowing, All-Aware formulated it in a way that encompasses everything in the present and the future, as His knowledge encompasses everything. The command of Allah - the Almighty - does not change or alter, and He says: “ There is no change in the words of Allah ” (Yunus: 64). Allah’s law and rulings came in this manner of permanence and stability, because they do not need to be changed or altered, no matter how countries and times change and how man develops.
It may be difficult for some people to believe in this statement, because they do not believe, above all, that the law is from Allah. I do not care - and the words are by Abdul Qader Awda - about the matter of these people except that they believe that the law has the qualities that I mentioned, and that I provide them with evidence of their availability, and it is up to them after that to search, if they wish, for the reason for the availability of these qualities in the law and not in others, and to search for its Creator. Perhaps referring these people to the theories of the law regarding equality, freedom, consultation, the authority of the ruler, proof, contracting, and religion is what invalidates the claim and establishes the evidence; in those constitutional, social, administrative, and civil theories there is what makes referring to it unnecessary without detailing it [2] , provided that The reader should be free of any previous background and seek accuracy, fairness and objectivity!
As for those who believe that the Sharia is from God, it is not difficult for them to believe in the availability of the qualities we mentioned in the Sharia.Even if they did not provide them with material evidence for that, because their logic dictates that they believe in the availability of attributes, whoever believes that God created the heavens and the earth, and the movement of the sun, moon and stars, and subjected the mountains, winds and water, and caused plants to grow, and formed fetuses in the wombs of their mothers, and made for every creature He created, whether animal, plant or inanimate, a permanent system that does not deviate from it, and does not need change, alteration or development. Whoever believes that God established fixed laws that govern the natures of things, their movements and their connections, and that these natural laws have reached a level of magnificence and perfection that man cannot imagine.
Whoever believes in all of this and that God perfected everything He created, it is more appropriate for him to believe that God established Islamic law as a fixed and complete law to organize individuals, groups and countries, to govern their transactions, and that the law has reached a level of magnificence and perfection that man cannot imagine.
2. That the law is temporary rules that the group establishes to organize its affairs and meet its needs, so they are rules that are behind the group, or they are at the level of the group today, and behind the group tomorrow; Because laws do not change as quickly as the community develops, they are temporary rules that are consistent with the temporary state of the community, and require change whenever the state of the community changes.
As for Sharia , it is rules that Allah - the Almighty - has established permanently to regulate the affairs of the community. Sharia agrees with the law in that both were established to regulate the community, but Sharia differs from the law in that its rules are permanent and do not accept change or alteration. This feature that distinguishes Sharia requires, from a logical standpoint:
· That the rules and texts of Sharia be flexible and general, such that they accommodate the needs of the community no matter how long the time, how much the community develops, or how many and varied the needs are.
· That the rules and texts of Sharia be lofty and elevated, such that they cannot be delayed at any time or age from the level of the community.
In fact, what logic requires is available in both aspects in Sharia, and it is the most important thing that distinguishes Islamic Sharia from other laws. The rules and texts of Islamic Sharia are general and flexible to the utmost limits of generality and flexibility, and they have reached a level of loftiness beyond which no loftiness can be imagined. Islamic law
has been around for more than fourteen centuries, during which conditions have changed more than once, ideas and opinions have developed greatly, sciences and inventions have been created that were unimaginable to human imagination, and the rules of the positive laws that were applied when the law was revealed have changed. Despite all this, the rules and texts of the law - which do not accept change or alteration - have remained above the level of groups, more capable of organizing and meeting their needs, closer to their leaders, and more protective of their security and peace of mind.
This is the wonderful testimony of history, standing on the side of the law.Islamic, and there is nothing more wonderful than it except the testimony of the texts and their logic, and take for example the saying of God Almighty: ) And their affair is by consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them they spend (38) ( (Shura), or read the saying of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “There shall be neither harm nor reciprocating harm.” [3] These are two texts from the Qur’an and Sunnah that have reached a level of generality, flexibility and ease that cannot be imagined after which generality, flexibility or ease, and they establish Shura as a basis for ruling in a way that does not harm the public order, nor the interest of individuals or the group, and by establishing the principle of Shura in this way, the Sharia has reached its highest level of sublimity that it is unimaginable that humans will ever reach, as they must make their affair by consultation among themselves so that neither harm nor reciprocating harm occurs, and it is unlikely that this will be achieved among people.
If we follow the texts of the Sharia , we will find them similar to the two previous texts in generality, flexibility and sublimity, and it is easy for us to see these features at first glance in any text we review, as all the texts of the Sharia are suitable examples of what we are saying; and it is sufficient for us to cite For the reader, another example is the Almighty’s saying: “ Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best ” (An-Nahl: 125). The wording of this text indicates that it has reached the level of generality and flexibility. As for the principle that the text came with, it did not know that there is anything better than it, and the human mind cannot imagine that there is a way for the proponents of the call to spread their call that is better than the way of calling with wisdom and good instruction, and arguing in a way that is best.
The reader can read the words of Allah the Almighty: “ And no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another ” (Fatir: 18), and the words of Allah the Almighty: “ Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity ” (Al-Baqarah: 286), and the words of Allah the Almighty: “ Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to those to whom they are due, and when you judge between people, to judge with justice ” ( An-Nisa’: 58), and the words of Allah the Almighty: “ And let not the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness ” ( Al-Ma’idah: 8), and the words of Allah the Almighty: “ O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives ” (An-Nisa’: 135). The reader can review these texts and others to see how they have reached the highest level of generality and flexibility, and to see that the principles brought by these texts have reached a level of sublimity beyond which there is no further increase for the seeker of more, or imagination for the imaginary.
3. The group is the one that makes the law and colors it with its customs And its traditions and history, and the origin of the law is that it is established to organize the affairs of the group, and not to direct the group, and therefore the law was behind the group and subject to its development, and the law was made by the group, and the group was not made by the law.
And if this was the origin of the law from the day it existed, then this origin was modified in the current century, specifically after the First World War; so that countries calling for new calls or new systems began to use the law to direct peoples and certain parties, and they also used it to implement certain purposes, and the first countries to adopt this method were communist Russia and secular Turkey.[4] Then Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany followed, and then the rest of the countries adopted this method, so the purpose of the law today became to organize the group and direct it in the directions that the guardians of the affairs see as in the interest of the group.
As for Islamiclaw , we know that it was not created by the group, and that it was not the result of the group’s development and interaction as is the case with positive law, but rather it was created by God who perfected everything He created. the law
was notcreated by the group, then the group itself was created by the law, so the origin ofthe lawwas that it was not established to organize the affairs of the group only as was the purpose of positive law, but rather the purpose ofthe lawbefore anything else is to create righteous individuals and a righteous group, and to create the ideal state and the ideal world, and for this reason its texts came higher than the level of the entire world at the time of its revelation, and they remain so to this day, and it contained principles and theories that the non-Islamic world was not able to know and reach until many centuries later, and that this world has not been able to reach until now.
For this reason, God Almighty took it upon Himself to establish the Sharia and sent it down to His Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, as a model of perfection to guide people towards acts of obedience and virtue, and to urge them to rise above and perfect themselves until they reach or come close to the level ofShariaThe Shariaachievedwhat the All-Knowing, All-Aware wanted for it, so it carried out its message in the best possible way, and made camel herders masters of the world, and ignorant desert dwellers teachers and guides for humanity.The Sharia
has performedits function as long as the early Muslims adhered to it and acted upon its provisions. The early Muslims adhered to it and acted upon it while they were a weak minority, fearing that people would snatch them away. After twenty years, they became the masters of the world and leaders of mankind. There was no voice but theirs, and no word was louder than theirs. What brought them to this thing that resembles miracles was IslamicSharia , which taught them and disciplined them, softened their souls, refined their feelings, made them feel pride and dignity, took them to complete equality and absolute justice, obliged them to cooperate in righteousness and piety, forbade them from sin and aggression, freed their minds and souls from the yoke of ignorance and desires, and made them the best nation brought forth for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in God.
This was the state of the Muslims when they held fast to their legitimacy. When they abandoned it and neglected its provisions, progress left them, they failed to advance, and they regressed to the darkness in which they had been immersed before. They returned weak and enslaved, unable to repel an aggressor or resist an oppressor.
The Muslims imagined - while they were in this state of confusion - that the progress of the Europeans was due to their laws and systems. So they went to receive them and weave on their pattern, forgetting the words of Omar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him: “We are a people whom God has honored with Islam. If we seek honor in anything other than it, God will humiliate us.” [5] And what al-Farouq said happened, for theselawsman-made systems Except for their error upon their error, and their confusion upon their confusion, and their weakness upon their weakness. Rather, it made them parties and sects, each party rejoicing in what they have, and their violence among themselves is severe. You think they are united, but their hearts are diverse.
The Islamic Shari'ah , which came complete and without any defect, carrying within it the means of progress and continuous development of society, is the most suitable Shari'ah for ages of progress and ages of backwardness alike; because in all cases it aims to form a righteous group, and to direct it always towards continuous progress and righteous development, and is not satisfied with anything less than complete perfection.
The history of Muslims is a sign, and a lesson for whoever has a heart, and in it is the decisive evidence that the Islamic Shari'ah is what created the Muslims from nothing, and made them a nation above the nations, and pushed them forward, and gave them authority over the countries of the world, and in it is the decisive evidence that the life of the Muslims, their progress and their advancement depend on the application of the Islamic Shari'ah , for the Muslims are the creation of the Shari'ah; their entity is subordinate to its entity, their existence is linked to its existence, and their authority is subordinate to its authority.
When positive law finally changed from its original origin and became established to guide the group, it adopted in that the theory of Islamic law , which makes the origin of legislation to create the group and guide it, then organize it. Thus, positive law ended up with what the law began with and preceded it fourteen centuries ago. So when the scholars of positive law say: They have arrived at a new theory, we say to them: No, but you are following the path of the law and following its footsteps.
Based on this, we can conclude from the aforementioned basic differences between the law and the law that Islamic law is distinguished from positive laws by three essential features, which are:
· Perfection: Islamic law is distinguished from positive laws by perfection; that is, it has completed all that the complete law needs in terms of rules, principles, and theories, and that it is rich in principles and theories that guarantee meeting the needs of the group in the near present and the distant future.
· Transcendence: Islamic law is distinguished from positive laws by transcendence, that is, its rules and principles are always higher than the level of the group; and that it contains principles and theories that preserve this lofty level for it no matter how high the level of the group.
· Permanence: Islamic law is distinguished from man-made laws by permanence; that is, by stability and constancy. Its texts do not accept amendment or change, and no matter how many years pass and how long the times are, they remain valid in all times and places.
These are the essential features of Islamic law, and despite their multiplicity and diversity, they go back to one origin from which they all emerged, such that each of them is considered an effect of it, and this is that Islamic law From God and His creation. If the Sharia were not from God, it would not have the attributes of perfection, sublimity, and permanence, attributes that are always present in what the Creator creates and none of them are present in what the creature creates [6] .
The jurist Abdul Qadir Awda continues his speech, warning those who believe that the Sharia is not suitable for application in the present age, lest their belief lead them to a doctrinal defect on the one hand, and worldly corruption on the other hand, saying:
“I would like to say to the Muslims who believe - wrongly - that the Islamic Sharia is not suitable for application in our present age, I would like to say to them that this belief does not agree with the belief of Islam that they claim and are keen to adhere to, and that they must remember the words of God Almighty: “ Do you believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in part? Then what is the reward for those who do that among you except disgrace in the life of this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be returned to the severest of punishment. And God is not unaware of what you do” (85) ( Al-Baqarah).
And let these people know that the reason for our backwardness and decline is that we did not apply the Sharia in a fair and complete manner in our dark, late eras, and that our rulers from the Turks and Mamluks ruled according to their whims in everything they cared about, and ruled the Sharia in what did not harm them or benefit them.
And if The reason for our backwardness is the neglect of the Sharia and abandoning its rulings. Adhering to the laws will not benefit us at all, but will only increase our backwardness and decline. Our effective treatment is to eliminate the cause of the backwardness and return to the rulings of the Sharia.
Our fathers applied some rulings of the Sharia and not others, and they believed in some of the Book and disbelieved in some of it. So Allah fulfilled His promise to them - the promise of Allah is true - and disgraced them in the life of this world. We came in their footsteps, following them and believing their belief. So Allah disgraced us as He disgraced them, and He gave us power as He gave power to them, and He made us an example for those of understanding. Allah will not change what is in us until we change what is in ourselves and our hearts, and believe in the entire Book. That is the promise of Allah, and Allah speaks the truth. He said: “ Indeed , Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves ” (Al-Ra`d: 11).
The early Muslims believed and their faith was good, so Allah empowered them on earth. And the One who empowered them despite their small number and weakness is able to empower us on earth if we believe and our faith is good. That is the promise of Allah to His servants in His saying: “ Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors upon the earth, just as He made those before them successors ” ( An-Nur: 55). That is His promise to those who follow His Book and adhere to His Law, the Almighty and Majestic: “ O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture. ” And He pardons much. There has come to you from God a light and a clear Book (15) with which God guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darkness into the light by His permission and guides them to a straight path (16) ( (Al-Ma’idah) [7] .
This, and after the creative presentation by the jurist Abdul Qader Awda about the fundamental differences and essential features that characterize the ShariaUnlike others, which puts it in a position that no one can compare it to positive law. We add to that that the breadth and flexibility that characterises the provisions of Sharia negates its rigidity and unsuitability for this era, as Dr. says. Yusuf al-Qaradawi: “As for what those who claim that Islamic law is its essence is stability, they have made a mistake in it; for Islam, with which God sealed the divine laws and messages, God deposited in it the element of stability and eternity, and the element of flexibility and development together, and this is one of the marvels of the miracles of this religion, and a sign of its universality and eternity, and its suitability for all times and all places.
We can define the scope of stability and the scope of flexibility in Islamic law and its comprehensive and eternal message, and we say that it is:
· Stability in goals and objectives, and flexibility in means and methods.
· Stability in principles and generalities, and flexibility in branches and details.
· Stability in religious and moral values, and flexibility in worldly and scientific affairs.
Perhaps someone might ask: Why was this the case with Islam?! Why did God not deposit in it absolute flexibility, or absolute stability?!
The answer is: Islam is thus consistent with the nature of human life in particular, and with the nature of the great universe in general, for this religion came in keeping with human nature and the nature of existence.
As for the nature of Human life itself, in it there are fixed elements that remain as long as man remains, and flexible elements that are subject to change and development.
If we look at the universe around us, we find that it contains fixed things that have passed thousands of years and thousands of thousands, and they are: earth and sky, mountains and seas, night and day, sun and moon, and stars subject to the command of God, each swimming in an orbit.
It also contains partial elements that change; islands that arise, lakes that dry up, rivers that are dug, water that overwhelms the land, dry land that creeps over the water, dead land that comes to life, barren deserts that become green, countries that are inhabited, cities that are destroyed, crops that sprout and grow, and others that wither and become chaff scattered by the winds.
This is the case of man, and the case of the universe, stability and change at the same time, but it is stability in the whole and the essence, and change in the particles and appearance.
If evolution is a law in the universe and life, then constancy is also a law that exists in them - without a doubt. If some philosophers in the past believed in the principle of becoming and change as the eternal law that prevails over the entire universe, then some of them called for the opposite and considered constancy to be the foundation and the general, comprehensive origin of the entire universe.
The truth is that both principles of constancy and change work together in the universe and life, as is seen and tangible.
It is no wonder that Islamic law is compatible with human nature and the nature of existence, combining the element of constancy with the element of flexibility.
With this advantage, Muslim society can live, continue and advance, steadfast in its principles, values and goals, and developing in its knowledge, methods and tools.
With stability, this society resists the factors of collapse and annihilation, or dissolution into other societies, or disintegration into several societies that contradict each other in reality, even if they remain within one society in form. With stability, legislation is stable, trust is exchanged, and transactions and relationships are built on solid pillars and firm foundations, not blown away by whims and political and social fluctuations from one day to the next. With flexibility, this society can adapt.Himself and his relationships according to the changing times and changing life situations, without losing his own characteristics and components.
There are various manifestations and evidences of stability and flexibility, which you find in the sources of Islam, its law and its history.
This stability is evident in the original, definitive textual sources of legislation from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. The Qur’an is the origin and constitution, and the Sunnah is the theoretical explanation and practical statement of the Qur’an. Both are infallible divine sources, and no Muslim can turn away from them. Allah the Almighty said: “ Say, ‘Obey Allah and obey the Messenger.’ ” ( An-Nur: 54). Allah the Almighty also said: “ The only statement of the believers, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them, is to say, ‘We hear and we obey.’ And those are the successful ones.” (51) ( An-Nur).
Flexibility is evident in the sources of ijtihad, which the jurists of the nation differed in the extent to which they used them as evidence, between broad and narrow, few and many, such as: consensus, analogy, preference, public interest, the sayings of the Companions, the law of those before us... and other sources of ijtihad and methods of deduction.
Looking at the rulings of the Shari’ah [8], we find that they are divided into two prominent sections:
A section that represents stability and eternity.
A section that represents Flexibility and development.
We find stability represented in the five basic beliefs: belief in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, which the Qur’an has mentioned in more than one place, such as the Almighty’s saying: “ Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but righteousness is [in] one who believes in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets ” ( Al-Baqarah: 177), and the Almighty’s saying: “ And whoever disbelieves in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly strayed far astray” (136) ( An-Nisa).
In the five practical pillars: the two testimonies of faith, establishing prayer, paying zakat, fasting Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the Sacred House, which are what the Messenger - may God bless him and grant him peace - has confirmed that Islam was built upon.
In the certain prohibitions: magic, killing a soul, adultery, consuming usury, consuming the wealth of orphans, accusing chaste believing women of adultery, turning away on the day of battle, usurpation, theft, backbiting, gossiping, and other things that have been proven definitively in the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Among the mothers of virtues: honesty, trustworthiness, chastity, patience, keeping promises, modesty, and other noble morals that the Qur’an and Sunnah considered to be branches of faith. Among
the definitive laws of Islam: in matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance, punishments, retaliation, and similar systems of Islam that are established by texts that are definitive in their establishment and definitive in their meaning; these matters are fixed, mountains move but they do not move, the Qur’an was revealed about them, hadiths were transmitted in succession, and the nation agreed upon them, so it is not the right of any assembly, nor the right of any conference, nor the right of any caliph, or any president, to cancel or suspend any of them; because they are the generalities of the religion, its rules and foundations, or as al-Shatibi said: “An eternal generality upon which the world was established, and through which its interests in creation were established, as induction has shown, and the Shari’ah also came in accordance with that, so that general rule remains until Allah inherits the earth and what is on it.”
In contrast, we find another section, which is represented by flexibility, which is related to the details of the rulings and their practical branches, especially in the field of Islamic politics.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in his book “Igathat al-Lahfan” that the rulings are of two types:
The first: does not change from a single situation that has passed, neither according to times nor places, nor the ijtihad of the imams: such as the obligation of obligations, the prohibition of prohibitions, the limits determined by the Shari’ah for crimes, and the like. This is not subject to change, nor to ijtihad that contradicts what it was established upon.
The second: It is distinguished according to the interest required for it in time, place and situation, such as the amounts of discretionary punishments [9] and their types and descriptions, as the Lawgiver diversifies them according to interest. Ibn al-Qayyim gave several examples of this from the Sunnah of the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - and the Sunnah of his rightly-guided caliphs who came after him, then he said: “This is a broad topic, in which many people have become confused about the fixed and necessary rulings that do not change, with discretionary punishments that are subject to interests in existence or nonexistence.” [10] Second
: Revelation, history and reality have testified to the suitability of Islamic law, unlike positive law: Islamic law
has succeeded in achieving good for Islamic society, and revelation, history and reality have testified to this. Dr. al-Qaradawi presents to us these testimonies, which are:
1. Testimony of revelation:
It is known that God - the Almighty - revealed this law with His knowledge to Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - to establish His justice on earth and to achieve the interests of the servants in this life and the hereafter, as indicated by the induction of the texts of the rulings and their explanations in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and that He, the Almighty, This Sharia was made general and continuous, unlike the previous divine laws.
His wisdom - the Almighty - required that the laws of the messengers who preceded Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - in time be limited and timed laws, for they were for specific peoples, in a specific time period, and this was in accordance with wisdom and interest, as humanity was not in a stage that allowed it to accept a general and eternal Sharia.
For this reason, God - the Almighty - did not guarantee to preserve its sacred sources from loss and distortion, and did not guarantee that He would send in every generation someone who would preserve its book, protect the legacy of its Prophet, and renew its religious affairs.
Hence, the divine books revealed before the Qur’an were distorted verbally and semantically, and their people forgot a portion of what they were reminded of - and this is something that the Noble Qur’an has proven, and induction has indicated with certainty - and the words of God were mixed with the words of humans.
When humanity reached its final stage, and God - the Almighty - knew that it had become suitable for the final general message to be revealed to it, He sent Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - to be a mercy to the worlds, and His Messenger to all people, as He - the Almighty - said, addressing him: “ And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds” (107) ( Al-Anbiya’), as the wisdom of God - the Almighty - required that this Shari’ah be the final Shari’ah, as it abrogates what came before it; as there is no other Book after its Book or Prophet after its Prophet, so the religion was completed and the structure was perfected. God - the Almighty - said: “ This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion” ( Al-Ma’idah: 3), and God - the Almighty - said :(40) ( Al-Ahzab). The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace,
said: “My example and that of the prophets before me is like that of a man who built a building and made it beautiful and perfect except for the place of one brick in one of its corners. The people went around it and marveled at it, saying: Why is this brick not placed? He said: So I am the brick and I am the seal of the prophets.” [ 11] God Almighty promised to preserve the Qur’an, the first source of
the Sharia :
Since God wanted this Sharia to be eternal, God’s will and decree came to guarantee two matters that would ensure the continuity of this Sharia until the Day of Judgment:
God Almighty guaranteed the preservation of its constitution and first source, which is the Noble Qur’an, as He Almighty said: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian. ” (9) ( Al-Hijr). This is a divine promise - confirmed in more than one form - to preserve the Qur’an, meaning the Qur’an, and God’s promise does not fail.
While He did not guarantee the preservation of the books . The previous heavenly laws, but only its people preserved them; because they were the basis for temporary transitional laws, which would be abrogated by other laws, the last of which was the Muhammadan law .
Preserving the Qur’an includes preserving the Sunnah in general, as Imam al-Shatibi explained in his “Al-Muwafaqat”, as the Sunnah is an explanation of the Qur’an, as Allah the Almighty said: “ And We have sent down to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them ” ( An-Nahl: 44), and preserving the one who explains requires preserving the explanation, because it is necessary for it; and for this reason Allah the Almighty has prepared for the Sunnah those who defend it and repel falsehoods from its protection.
o The Islamic nation does not agree on misguidance; rather, a group of it will continue to stand on the truth, and those who oppose them will not harm them, until Allah’s command comes, as His wisdom the Almighty has required that He send at the beginning of every century someone who will renew the matter of this nation’s religion, and that in every era someone who carries the knowledge of the Shari’ah will arise: to deny it the distortions of the extremists, the fabrications of the falsifiers, and the interpretations of the ignorant.
Abu Malik al-Ash'ari narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Allah has protected my nation from agreeing on misguidance" [12] .
This is from the perspective of what Allah has decreed for the permanence and eternity of this Shari'ah .
· Characteristics of the Shari'ah and its entitlement to eternity:
As for what Allah has legislated for this, He has included in it characteristics and advantages that make it suitable for all times and places.
The believer in the perfection of Allah's knowledge - the Mighty and Sublime - and His wisdom, mercy and kindness to His creation cannot imagine that He - the Mighty and Sublime - would close the door of prophethood to them, cut off His revelation to them, and then make them worship a deficient Shari'ah that is suitable for one people and not suitable for others, suitable for one time and not suitable for another, suitable for one country and not suitable for another, even though they are all charged with its rulings, obligated to make lawful what it makes lawful, forbid what it makes unlawful, obey its commands, and refrain from what it prohibits.
Whoever thinks of this has ignored the status of his Lord, and has bad thoughts about Him, and has not appreciated God - the Almighty - as He should be appreciated.
2. The testimony of history:
Whoever is not satisfied with the testimony of revelation on the validity of Islamic law To be applied at all times and places, or the testimony of revelation is sufficient for him, but he wanted to reassure his heart and increase his certainty of that, so let him ask history - the history of the Islamic nation in its various regions and different eras - and he will find from the events of history what will reassure his heart, and increase his faith and certainty in the truth of this issue.
The testimony of history for a system of eternity, and suitability for application at all times and places, is dependent on two matters that complement each other, which are:
· That its theoretical principles have been able to fulfill the treatment of facts and renewed problems throughout different historical stages, and in multiple social and civilizational environments, due to what these principles contain of breadth, flexibility, fertility and intrinsic characteristics.
· The success of this system when applied practically, and its ability to make the groups that rule by it happy, and provide them with justice, security, stability and prosperity.
Both of these matters have been clearly and distinctly achieved by the Islamic Sharia, and the explanation of that is as follows:
· How did the Sharia encompass all environments and civilizations? The Islamic Sharia
has ruled the peoples of the Islamic nation for thirteen centuries, during which it entered various countries, some of which were deeply rooted in civilization, others close to nomadism, and others in between. It faced different systems, financial, administrative, political, and social, as well as strange events and new problems that had no parallel in the era of the Prophet, nor in the land of the Hijaz. The horizon of this Sharia did not narrow from finding appropriate solutions for all those problems and events, derived from its texts and principles, taken from its spirit and general principles, and deduced by the diligent imams from the jurists of the Companions and those who followed them in goodness, and those who followed their guidance from the imams of ijtihad, who filled the regions of the House of Islam, and who agreed - despite their different schools and backgrounds - that every event and every action of those charged with responsibility has a ruling in the Sharia, whether it is right or wrong, and that it is impossible for the texts and rules of this eternal general Sharia to be narrow to a behavior from the behaviors and not issue a ruling on it.
The explanatory memorandum of the decision issued in the “Libyan Arab Republic” to form committees to review legislation and amend it in accordance with the basic principles of Islamic law states: “Islamic jurisprudence, with all its provisions, has lived for long centuries, which no legislation in the world has achieved or even anything close to it. It is known that the jurisprudence of Western legislation in Europe and America is the product of a century or so, since they separated religious matters from worldly matters. As for Russian legislation, it is the product of the last half century; since the Russian communist experiment began after 1917 AD [13] .
As for Islamic jurisprudence, it has been fourteen centuries old, and it has traveled the horizons east and west, north and south, and has settled in plains and valleys, mountains and deserts, and has encountered various customs and traditions, and has moved in all environments, and has witnessed prosperity and hardship, sovereignty and slavery, civilization and backwardness, and has faced events in all these stages, so it has a huge jurisprudential wealth that is unparalleled, and in it every country finds the easiest solutions.” For his problems. Islamic law
has ruled In the worst of times, it has not fallen short of the need nor has it neglected to fulfill any demand, nor has it failed its people at any time…” [14] .
If this is what the Libyan memorandum said based on a comprehensive reading of the provisions of the Sharia, then the words of another reader will not be far from this fair ruling if he investigates and scrutinizes, and we will not deny it, and it is enough for us that our Sharia derives its strength from itself and not from those affiliated with it.
3. The testimony of reality
As for the testimony of reality on the soundness of Islamic Sharia , it is indicated by several matters, including:
The failure of secularists:
The countries that have completely turned away from Sharia
and declared their complete secularism have reaped nothing from that except disappointment, disintegration, and failure in various areas of life. The most prominent example of this is the secular state of Turkey: Ataturk’s Turkey, who stripped the Muslim country of its Sharia with iron and fire, and forced it to follow the path of the West, step by step, and clearly opposed the certainties of Islamic Sharia, so Turkey gained nothing from that except remaining a tail to the Western camp in its legislation and policy. And its economy, after it was a global power with its weight and its danger.
And now it is torn apart by conflicts between the right and the left, and loyalties between the West and the East, and the loyalists among its sons are trying desperately to return their people to what they believe in and what is hidden deep within them, of respect for Islam, love for Islam and the Sharia of Islam.
· Effects of applying the legal punishments:
The most exposed to the attacks of those who attack the Sharia are the punishments that came in the Book of Allah clearly and distinctly, especially the punishment for theft mentioned in the words of Allah the Almighty: “ And as for the thief, male or female, cut off their hands as a punishment for what they have earned, an exemplary punishment from Allah. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise” (38) ( Al-Ma’idah).
But reality shows us with our own eyes how a Muslim country - the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - established this punishment and achieved unparalleled security for the community, to the extent that a man leaves his shop open and goes to his prayers or work without a guard, and nothing is stolen from him, despite what this country itself suffered - before the establishment of the punishments - from terror and insecurity, due to the large number of thieves and highwaymen, and despite the illiteracy that is still widespread, and despite the enormous crowding that this country witnesses during the Hajj and Umrah seasons, and despite the shortcomings in many other teachings of Islam. What is the price of this wonderful security and this unparalleled reassurance?
This price is nothing more than a few hands cut off in implementation of Allah’s command as a punishment for what they have earned, after all the elements of the crime have been fulfilled. All conditions were met, and all suspicions were removed.
A few hands were cut off, and by cutting them off, money and honor were preserved, and blood and lives were lost at the hands of dangerous thieves who do not respect anyone’s honor, and do not care about the injuries and killings they committed, all in order to save themselves from falling under the force of the law.
A few hands were cut off - many times more in traffic accidents or incidents of conflict and strife - and they removed people's fear of attacks by professional thieves, the fear that people complain about everywhere, even in the wealthiest and most civilized country in the world: the United States of America, as everyone who has visited it recently can attest, and as the published figures and statistics express.
A few hands were cut off according to Islamic law, and people were safe in their homes, businesses, lives and money, as can be attested by both enemy and friend.
This is despite the fact that other Islamic countries suffer greatly from the tragedies of thieves and pickpockets known to the government and security agencies, by their persons, names, addresses and previous convictions, but they stand idly by them, completely helpless; because they were punished with prison more than once, and came out of it more ferocious, and more experienced in the arts of robbery, pickpocketing and theft, until the prison became like a special institute prepared to train them at the highest levels and degrees of crime; as a result of the long encounter in which each criminal tells his colleague about his experience.
· The Sharia preceded the most recent legal theories:
The evidence of the immortality and validity of this Sharia is that the legal theories and principles that the modern era boasts about, and that the philosophies and systems of law are proud of, preceded the Sharia and established its foundations, and its jurisprudence, legislation and judiciary were based on that, and its history is full of that.
In this context, we mention in particular the principles of tax justice, which are among the principles or theories that they claimed were the product of the modern era alone, which they call “the principles of tax justice.” We mean by that: the four rules that they attribute their discovery to Adam Smith, which later became “the constitution of tax justice.” These rules are: certainty, suitability, economy, and justice. Islam preceded modern financial and economic experts by twelve centuries, and knew these rules, and applied them in a sound and fair manner.
In the rule of “justice,” we mention six basic principles that Islam preceded, which are:
o Equality among those obligated to pay zakat; no individual, class, or gender is exempt from it, as long as they own the minimum amount of zakat according to its conditions.
o Exemption of what is below the nisab, which represents the minimum amount of wealth considered legally.
o Preventing duplication of zakat, as in the hadith: “There is no duplication in charity.” [15] It is not permissible to impose two zakats in one year for one reason, and this principle has various branches and applications in Islamic jurisprudence.
o The amount of zakat varies according to effort, and the clearest example of this is imposing one-tenth on crops and fruits if they are irrigated without a machine, and half of one-tenth if they are irrigated with a machine... This is something that no one has paid attention to - as far as we know - except Islamic law .
o Taking into account the personal circumstances of the owner of the nisab of zakat, and not limiting its focus to the money itself, as finance men and tax collectors did in the past. Hence, the law exempted basic needs from entering the zakat container, or what is now called the minimum standard of living or the subsistence limit, and the same applies to exempting the debtor if his debt takes up the nisab or decreases it, otherwise it is reduced according to the amount of his debt... and other rulings.
o Finally, justice comes in application, by choosing the workers on zakat from the righteous, strong, and trustworthy, and directing them, fortifying them, and supervising them well.
From the branching out of what we have mentioned here: that many of the rulings and theories that this Sharia brought more than fourteen centuries ago, and were at one time the subject of doubt or accusation from the opponents of the Sharia, humanity found no alternative but to resort to them; to achieve justice and remove harm and injustice from individuals and societies, and this confirms its truthfulness and divineness on the one hand, and its suitability and flexibility on the other hand, and the most prominent example of this are two famous principles:
o Divorce: which all Western countries were forced to recognize, the last of which was that ancient Catholic country [16] , which is: Italy, and a conference on private international law was held in "The Hague" in 1986, the eleventh session, and among the research topics was preparing a treaty to recognize divorce and legal separation at the international level, and this means returning to the rule of Islam.
o Usury: which they claimed at one time that the wheel of economic life does not turn without it, until some of the great economists in the West came up with a refutation of the idea of usury from its foundations in the name of science and economics itself, not in the name of religion and faith. Perhaps the most famous name mentioned in this regard is the name of the famous British economist "Keynes", who decided that society does not reach full employment except by eliminating the interest rate [17] .
Dr. Al-Qaradawi adds another matter, which is the success of Islamic law in making happy the societies that adhered to it, worked according to it, and achieved good for them. Under this law - when it had the final say - truth and goodness prevailed, justice and security spread, brotherhood and love became widespread, and prosperity and flourishing became widespread. This is one of the most prominent proofs of the suitability of Islamic law for all times and places.
Under the Sharia of Islam, the “righteous person” arose, who knows the right of his Lord over him, so he worships Him by performing His rituals and implementing His laws, as he worships Him with beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds, and knows the right of himself , so he enjoys it with good things and purifies it with good deeds, and knows the right of his society over him, so he gives to it as he takes from it, and advises it - as he accepts advice from it - to be truthful and patient, and helps it - as he seeks help from it - to be righteous and pious. Islamic Sharia
has guided man to the fact that he has duties as he has rights, and that he has to perform his duty as he has the right to demand his right, and it has focused on the idea of “duties” more than it has focused on the idea of “rights”; because the rights of man are in reality duties upon others, and these rights will not be observed if others do not care about performing their duties. This is why the Islamic society was a society of duties, or in other words, a society of “duties” as Islamic jurisprudence expresses it. All rational people in this society are duty-bound, i.e. responsible and required, and not merely questioners and required, as is the scourge of the modern age, in which every person says: I have such and such and such, and does not say: I owe such and such.
It is no wonder - in a society with such individuals and such as these - that agriculture, industry and trade flourished in the lands of Islam, the land was prosperous, prosperity became widespread, good things increased, and people ate from above them and from beneath their feet.
The historian of civilization, Will Durant, despite his misunderstanding of the position of Islam at times, and his bias at other times, could not help but acknowledge that the first caliphs - from Abu Bakr - may God be pleased with him - to Al-Ma'mun - had established the good and successful systems for Islamic life in a wide area of the world, and that they were among the most capable rulers in all of history. They were able to confiscate everything, or destroy everything as the Mongols, the Hungarians, or the northern Europeans did, but they did not do this. Rather, they were content with imposing taxes. When Amr conquered Egypt, he refused to listen to Al-Zubayr's advice when he advised him to divide its land among the conquering Arabs. The caliph supported him in this opinion, and ordered him to leave it in the hands of the people to tend to it so that it would bear fruit. During the time of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, the lands were surveyed, the government kept their records, a large number of roads were built and maintained, and bridges were built over the rivers to prevent their flooding. Iraq was a barren desert before the Islamic conquest. Its land, which had been a vast garden, and much of the land of Palestine before the conquest was sand and stones, became fertile, rich, and populated.
There is no doubt that the exploitation of the weak and the naive by the skilled and the powerful remained during the era of Islamic governments as it remained during the eras of all governments, but the caliphs largely secured the lives of the people and the fruits of their efforts, and provided opportunities for the talented, and spread prosperity for six centuries, in regions that had never seen such prosperity after their era, and thanks to their encouragement and assistance, education spread, and sciences, literature, philosophy and the arts flourished to a degree that made Western Asia for five centuries the most advanced region in civilization in the whole world.
Justice leading to equality that does not consider differences or recognize classes:
Under the law of Islam, justice prevailed, and all people enjoyed its goodness, as the law of Sharia is binding on everyone subject to the provisions of Islam, and it does not wrong anyone or show favoritism because of his religion or social class, or his family, or his wealth or poverty, or his color or language.
This is because the justice of Islam is the justice of God, and God does not wrong any of His servants, whether individual or group. Rather, He is the just judge. Immortal verses were revealed in the Book of God, defending a Jew who was unjustly accused of a crime of which he was innocent.
The world has never known a judiciary like the Islamic judiciary, before which the Caliph - the Commander of the Faithful - is treated as he treats all the people, and he is subject to what they are subject to. The judge may rule against him in favor of a Jewish or Christian opponent. Rather, this is what the history of Islamic judiciary recorded in various incidents that remain a mark on the brow of time.
Under the law of Islam, people were happy with legal and social equality, the likes of which history has rarely known. Islam abolished all the differences that distinguish between people: race, color, language, lineage, land, class, money, and prestige. It linked this equality to its daily, weekly, and annual rituals, to confirm to people that they are equal like the teeth of a comb, with no superiority of a white person over a black person, and no superiority of a black person over a white person except in piety. For this reason, Islamic society did not know the racial, color, or class discrimination that was known in other Eastern and Western societies.
It is no wonder that we saw Omar - may God be pleased with him - say about Bilal the Abyssinian: “Abu Bakr is our master, and he freed our master,” meaning: Bilal, may God be pleased with him [18] .
And we saw the ruling of the Sharia.It applies to everyone, no noble person is exempted for his nobleness, and no weak person is burdened for his weakness. Rather, the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - said his famous statement: “The people before you were destroyed because if a noble person among them stole, they would leave him alone, but if a weak person among them stole, they would carry out the prescribed punishment on him . By God, if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, stole, I would cut off her hand.” [19]
Gustave Le Bon says in his book “The Civilization of the Arabs,” which is none other than the civilization of Islam: We conclude our discussion of the social systems of the Arabs by mentioning that the Arabs are characterized by a spirit of absolute equality, according to their political systems, and that the principle of equality that was declared in Europe - in word, not in deed - is firmly rooted in the nature of the East, and that Muslims have no knowledge of those social classes whose existence led to the most violent revolutions in the West, and continues to lead. It is not difficult to see in the East a servant who marries his master’s daughter, and to see some of their hired hands who have become notables.
Under the law of Islam and the rule of Islam, comprehensive social solidarity prevailed, which was guarded by the faith of Muslim individuals and the authority of the Muslim state.
Solidarity between members of the family and clan, solidarity between members of the neighborhood, solidarity between members of the same country or region, and a broader and greater solidarity that includes the entire Islamic nation , for it is one nation, some of which support each other, the least of them seeks their protection, and they are a hand against others.
We saw this solidarity during the era of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, when he sent his messengers and workers to all the tribes and countries that Islam had entered, and he ordered them to take zakat from their rich to give it to their poor. The messenger or worker among them would go, collect zakat, then leave it in its place, and not return except with his seat or stick. Tolerance towards those who disagree:
Under
the law of Islam, humanity gained one of the greatest moral principles in human and international relations, which is: tolerance towards those who disagree with religion.
Gustave Le Bon quotes a number of European historians as confirming this historical fact with certainty, saying: Robertson said in his book “The History of Charles V”: “Muslims alone are the ones who combined zeal for their religion with a spirit of tolerance towards followers of other religions, and that while they took up [20] the sword to spread their religion, they left those who did not want it free to adhere to their religious teachings.”
The civilization of science and faith:
Under the law of Islam, a flourishing civilization arose, combining science and faith, and religion and the world.
Science had a prominent place in the civilization, and clear authority, and it did not know what other civilizations knew of the conflict between science and religion. Rather, many of the religious jurists were prominent scholars in the sciences of the universe and life, just as many of the masters of medicine, physics, mathematics, and other great religious scholars were. Were Ibn Rushd and Ibn Khaldun anything but jurists and judges of Islamic law ? [21 ]
From all of the above, it is clear that Islamic law is successful and valid in its practical aspect, as it was in its theoretical aspect. This has been attested to by revelation, history, reality, and fair-minded Western scholars, and supported by observation. Conclusion
: Scientific study and logic require that we say that Islamic law is superior.
On positive laws and their suitability for this era and other eras. The
mistake that these claimants made is comparing positive laws that are made by humans with Islamic law that was established by the Creator of mankind. When they compare, they are comparing the earth to the sky, and people to the Lord of mankind. How can a rational person compare himself to his Lord and his earth to his sky?!
If equality is absent, then there is no comparison, and the comparison is invalid due to the following differences: The law is made by humans, and it represents the deficiency, inability, and weakness of humans; therefore, it is subject to change and alteration. As for
the Shari’ah, its maker is Allah, so it represents the Creator’s power, perfection, greatness, and encompassment of what was and what is; therefore, it is valid for all times and places; because His knowledge encompasses everything. The
law is temporary rules that the community establishes to organize its affairs and meet its temporary needs. It changes and develops with the change in the community’s situation. As for the Shari’ah, it is rules that Allah - the Almighty - established permanently to organize the affairs of the community. Its rules are permanent and do not accept change or alteration, and this is a feature that distinguishes the Shari’ah from a logical perspective; Because its rules are flexible and general enough to accommodate the needs of the group no matter how long the time and how much the group has developed; and because its rules and texts are so sublime and elevated that they cannot be behind the level of the group, its requirements and its needs at any time or age.
The group is the one that makes the law and colors it with its customs and traditions. The law is originally established to organize the affairs of the group and not to direct the group, so the law was behind the group and subject to its development.
As for the Sharia , it is not the creation of the group, but rather it is the creation of God who perfected everything He created; and thus the group itself is the creation of the Sharia; because the purpose of the Sharia before anything else is to create righteous individuals, a righteous group, an ideal state and an ideal world; therefore its texts came above the level of the entire world at the time of its revelation and remain so today, and thus the Sharia achieved what the All-Knowing, All-Aware intended for it, so it carried out its message in the best way, and made camel herders masters of the world, and ignorant desert dwellers teachers and guides for humanity.
· Stability and flexibility are the essence of Islamic law . Islam, with which Allah concluded the divine laws and messages, has placed in it the element of stability and eternity, and the element of flexibility and development together. This is one of the marvels of the miracle of this religion, and its suitability for all times and places. Stability is in the goals, objectives, principles, generalities, religious and moral values, and flexibility in the means and methods, in the branches and details, and in worldly and practical affairs.
· The law is suitable for all times and places, and this has been proven by conclusive evidence from the logic of revelation, the logic of history, and the logic of reality.
· Those who doubt the suitability of the texts of Allah’s law for all times and places must acknowledge that the mind that Allah created for human beings, and the knowledge that He urged them to acquire, are the sameWhich revealed the truth of stability in the essence of man alongside the phenomenon of change that is connected to the incidental aspect of his life, and this is only suitable for Islamic law that is in agreement with the human nature and disposition that God Almighty created him with.
Some skeptics claim that man-made laws are more compatible with the spirit of the age than the provisions of Islamic law ; therefore, they are the most suitable constitution for the modern state. They prove this by the fact that the provisions of Islamic law are fixed and do not change, while man-made laws change with time, place, and circumstances.
They aim to undermine the flexibility of Islamic law on the one hand, and to brand its provisions as rigid and unsuitable for application in contemporary reality on the other hand
. Two aspects of refuting the doubt:
1) Islamic law is divine and is characterized by perfection, sublimity, and permanence. It also has dual characteristics such as stability versus flexibility, and eternity versus development, which makes it suitable for all times and places. Anyone who contemplates this dual characteristic of the law will notice it in this manner:
· Stability in goals and objectives, and flexibility in means and methods.
· Stability in fundamentals and generalities, and flexibility in branches and details.
· Stability in religious and moral values, and flexibility in worldly and scientific affairs.
All this is in contrast to the positive law, which is not suitable even for those who made it.
2) The suitability of Islamic law has been attested to by revelation, history and reality, while positive law always proves its failure, which necessitates its change from time to time. The success of Sharia in achieving good for Islamic society is the best evidence of its superiority and suitability for all times and places.
Details:
First. Between Islamic Sharia and positive laws:
There is no similarity between the provisions of Islamic Sharia and positive laws that would justify anyone balancing between them, let alone asserting the superiority of the latter and calling for its replacement by the former; The Sharia was revealed by the Lord of the earth and the heavens, who knows the secret and what is more hidden, and who alone is able to provide people with the means of goodness and happiness in their lives: “ Does He who created not know, while He is the Subtle, the Acquainted?” (14) ( Al-Mulk).
As for man-made laws , how can they fulfill the needs of all people when some of them have invented them? Should we abandon what the Creator of mankind has legislated for mankind and judge by what mankind has legislated for mankind?! These laws , in their entirety, are incapable of fulfilling the needs of one era in different countries, or one country in different eras.
This is a clear matter that is acknowledged by fair-minded people and supported by reality. As for what some of them have claimed about their suitability to the era more than the rulings of the Sharia , this is a false illusion; because the rulings of Islamic Sharia It has factors of strength, flexibility, breadth and comprehensiveness that make it suitable for all times and places, unlike positive law, which is not suitable even for those who created it. Some of them accused it of stagnation only because their minds are incapable of the divine perfection known in divine laws. However, a serious objective study of the rulings of Islamic law and comparing them with man-made laws confirms the superiority of Islamic law and its distinction over all other laws and laws. It also makes clear - beyond any doubt - that whoever fabricates the claim that Sharia is not suitable for this era, and that man-made laws are better than Islamic law in the modern contemporary state, did not issue those rulings based on an accurate, objective, scientific study, nor were they based on reasonable, convincing, logical evidence. This is what the jurist Abdul Qader Awda - may God have mercy on him - explains when he says: “It has become clear from studying Islamic law that those who say that it is not suitable for the present era do not base their opinion on a scientific study or logical arguments; because scientific study and logic require saying that Islamic law is superior to man-made laws , and that Sharia is suitable for this era and for the eras that will follow it.
Moreover, those who say that Sharia is not suitable for the present era are two groups: a group that has not studied Sharia or law, and a group that has studied law without Sharia. Neither group is qualified to judge the Sharia because they are completely ignorant of its provisions, and whoever is ignorant of something is not qualified to judge it.
The reality is that those who are ignorant of the Sharia base their false belief - that the Sharia is not suitable - on a false analogy, and not on an organized study. This is because they learned that the current positive laws have no connection to the old laws that were applied until the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries AD. They learned that modern positive laws are based on philosophical theories and social and human considerations that did not exist in the old laws . Comparing these two types of laws leads them to believe that the old laws are not suitable for the present age, which is a completely correct belief, but they then fall into error when they compare Islamic Sharia to positive laws. They say: Since the laws that were prevalent until the end of the eighteenth century are not suitable for our present age, so is the Islamic Sharia that was prevalent in the Middle Ages, and many of its provisions remained in effect until the end of the eighteenth century. In this false analogy, their grave error is that it is almost impossible to miss the discerning critic.
The error in this analogy is that they equated The positive laws that were established by humans and the Islamic Sharia that the Creator of mankind undertook to establish, when they compare, they are comparing the earth to the sky and people to the Lord of people, so how can a rational mind compare himself to his Lord and his earth to his sky?
We say: The reason for the error in this comparison is that they equated the Sharia and the law, although they are very different in nature; it is known that there is no comparison between two different things.
If it is true that the Sharia differs from the laws in fundamental differences and is distinguished from them by essential characteristics, then comparison is forbidden; because the rule is that comparison requires the equality of the thing being compared to the thing being compared; if there is no equality, then there is no comparison, or the comparison is invalid.
Since those who say that the Sharia is not suitable for the present age base their opinion on comparing the Sharia to the positive laws, and there is no equality between the Sharia and these laws , then their comparison is invalid, and their claim that the Sharia is not suitable for the present age is a false claim; because it is based on a false comparison, and whatever is based on falsehood is false.
We will present below the origin of law and the origin of Sharia , the differences between them, and the characteristics of each:
The origin of law:
Positive law originates in the group that it regulates and governs, small and limited in its rules. Then the group develops, its rules increase, and its theories become more sublime as the needs of the group increase and diversify, and as the group advances in its thinking, sciences, and literature.
Positive law is like a newborn; it originates small and weak, then grows and becomes stronger little by little until it reaches maturity. It accelerates in development, growth, and elevation as the group it governs develops and gains a share of advancement and elevation, and it slows down in its development and growth as the group is slow in growth and development. The group, then, is the one that creates positive law and makes it in the way that meets its needs and regulates its life. It is subordinate to it, and its progress is linked to its progress.
When scholars of positive law talk about its first emergence, they say: It began to form with the formation of the family and the tribe, and that the word of the head of the family was the law of the family, and the word of the sheikh of the tribe was the law of the tribe, and that the law continued to develop with the group until the state was formed, and that the customs of each family did not agree with the customs of other families, and the traditions of each tribe were not similar to the traditions of other tribes, and that when the state began to form, it unified the customs and traditions and made them a law binding on all individuals, families and tribes within the scope of the state, but the law of each state did not often agree with the laws of the other state.
This disagreement continued until the final stage of legal development began in the aftermath of the eighteenth century, guided by philosophical, scientific and social theories. Positive law has developed greatly since that time until now, and has become based on theories that did not exist in previous eras, and the basis of these modern theories is justice, equality and humanity. The spread of these theories in the world has led to the unification of most legal rules in many countries of the world, but each country has its own law that differs from others. Laws in many details and details.
This is a summary of the origin of law, its development and the stages it went through. It clearly shows that when law was created, it was something completely different from law now, and that it continued to change and develop until it reached its current form, and that it did not reach what it is now except after a long, slow development that lasted thousands of years. The emergence of
Sharia :
If the emergence of positive law, as described by its people - and in the manner we have mentioned - was a gradual process that resembles the stages of growth of children, then Islamic Sharia did not emerge and did not follow this path. Sharia was not a few rules that then increased, nor scattered principles that then gathered, nor initial theories that then refined. Sharia was not born as a child with the Islamic community and then kept pace with its development and grew with its growth, but rather it was born a complete young woman, and it was revealed from God as a complete, comprehensive, comprehensive Sharia in which you see no crookedness, nor do you witness any deficiency. God - the Almighty - revealed it from His heaven to the heart of His Messenger Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - in a short period - not exceeding the period necessary for its revelation - that began with the mission of the Messenger and ended with his death - may God bless him and grant him peace - or ended on the day God - the Almighty - said: “ This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have approved for you Islam as religion ” ( Al-Ma’idah: 3). Sharia
did not come for one group rather than another, or for one people rather than another, or for a state . Without a state, but it came for all people, Arabs and non-Arabs, Easterners and Westerners, with their different backgrounds and varying customs, traditions and history. It is the law of every family, every tribe, every group, and every state. Indeed, it is the universal law that the scholars of positive law were able to imagine, but they were unable to create. The Sharia
came complete, with no deficiency, comprehensive, governing every situation, prohibitive, and no situation deviates from its rule. It includes the affairs of individuals, groups and states. It regulates personal status, transactions and everything related to individuals, and organizes the affairs of government, administration and politics, and other things related to the group. It also regulates the relations of states with each other in war and peace. The Sharia
did not come for one time rather than another, or for one era rather than another, or for one time rather than another. Rather, it is the law of all times, the law of every age, and the law of all time until God inherits the earth and those on it. The Sharia
was formulated in such a way that the passage of time does not affect it, nor does its novelty wear out, nor does it require changing its general rules and basic theories. Its texts were so general and flexible that they governed every new situation, even if it was not possible to anticipate it. Therefore, the texts of the Sharia were not subject to change or alteration, just as the texts of positive laws change and are altered.
The basis of the difference between the Sharia and the law is that the Sharia is from God - the Almighty - and He is the One who says: “ There is no change in the words of God ” (Yunus: 64), and He is the Knower of the Unseen, who is able to establish texts for people that remain valid throughout time. As for Laws are created by humans, and are created to the extent that they meet their temporary needs. To the extent that humans are unable to know the unseen, the legal texts they create fall short of ruling on what they did not expect. The Sharia
came from the day it was revealed with the most recent theories that law has finally reached, even though law is older than the Sharia . In fact, the Sharia came from the day it was revealed with more than what positive law has reached. It is enough for us to know that everything that lawyers today wish to achieve in terms of principles is present in the Sharia from the day it was revealed.
From the above, it is clear that Islamic Sharia differs from positive laws in three fundamental ways:
1. The law is made by humans, while the Sharia is from God, and both the Sharia and the law clearly represent the attributes of their Creator; The law is made by humans and represents the deficiency, helplessness, weakness and helplessness of humans. [1] Hence, the law is subject to change and alteration, or what we call development, whenever the community develops to an unexpected degree or unexpected situations occur. The law is always imperfect and cannot reach the level of perfection as long as its maker cannot be described as perfect and cannot comprehend what will be, even if he can comprehend what was.
As for the Sharia, its maker is God, and it represents the Creator’s power, perfection, greatness and comprehension of what was and what is. Then the All-Knowing, All-Aware formulated it in a way that encompasses everything in the present and the future, as His knowledge encompasses everything. The command of Allah - the Almighty - does not change or alter, and He says: “ There is no change in the words of Allah ” (Yunus: 64). Allah’s law and rulings came in this manner of permanence and stability, because they do not need to be changed or altered, no matter how countries and times change and how man develops.
It may be difficult for some people to believe in this statement, because they do not believe, above all, that the law is from Allah. I do not care - and the words are by Abdul Qader Awda - about the matter of these people except that they believe that the law has the qualities that I mentioned, and that I provide them with evidence of their availability, and it is up to them after that to search, if they wish, for the reason for the availability of these qualities in the law and not in others, and to search for its Creator. Perhaps referring these people to the theories of the law regarding equality, freedom, consultation, the authority of the ruler, proof, contracting, and religion is what invalidates the claim and establishes the evidence; in those constitutional, social, administrative, and civil theories there is what makes referring to it unnecessary without detailing it [2] , provided that The reader should be free of any previous background and seek accuracy, fairness and objectivity!
As for those who believe that the Sharia is from God, it is not difficult for them to believe in the availability of the qualities we mentioned in the Sharia.Even if they did not provide them with material evidence for that, because their logic dictates that they believe in the availability of attributes, whoever believes that God created the heavens and the earth, and the movement of the sun, moon and stars, and subjected the mountains, winds and water, and caused plants to grow, and formed fetuses in the wombs of their mothers, and made for every creature He created, whether animal, plant or inanimate, a permanent system that does not deviate from it, and does not need change, alteration or development. Whoever believes that God established fixed laws that govern the natures of things, their movements and their connections, and that these natural laws have reached a level of magnificence and perfection that man cannot imagine.
Whoever believes in all of this and that God perfected everything He created, it is more appropriate for him to believe that God established Islamic law as a fixed and complete law to organize individuals, groups and countries, to govern their transactions, and that the law has reached a level of magnificence and perfection that man cannot imagine.
2. That the law is temporary rules that the group establishes to organize its affairs and meet its needs, so they are rules that are behind the group, or they are at the level of the group today, and behind the group tomorrow; Because laws do not change as quickly as the community develops, they are temporary rules that are consistent with the temporary state of the community, and require change whenever the state of the community changes.
As for Sharia , it is rules that Allah - the Almighty - has established permanently to regulate the affairs of the community. Sharia agrees with the law in that both were established to regulate the community, but Sharia differs from the law in that its rules are permanent and do not accept change or alteration. This feature that distinguishes Sharia requires, from a logical standpoint:
· That the rules and texts of Sharia be flexible and general, such that they accommodate the needs of the community no matter how long the time, how much the community develops, or how many and varied the needs are.
· That the rules and texts of Sharia be lofty and elevated, such that they cannot be delayed at any time or age from the level of the community.
In fact, what logic requires is available in both aspects in Sharia, and it is the most important thing that distinguishes Islamic Sharia from other laws. The rules and texts of Islamic Sharia are general and flexible to the utmost limits of generality and flexibility, and they have reached a level of loftiness beyond which no loftiness can be imagined. Islamic law
has been around for more than fourteen centuries, during which conditions have changed more than once, ideas and opinions have developed greatly, sciences and inventions have been created that were unimaginable to human imagination, and the rules of the positive laws that were applied when the law was revealed have changed. Despite all this, the rules and texts of the law - which do not accept change or alteration - have remained above the level of groups, more capable of organizing and meeting their needs, closer to their leaders, and more protective of their security and peace of mind.
This is the wonderful testimony of history, standing on the side of the law.Islamic, and there is nothing more wonderful than it except the testimony of the texts and their logic, and take for example the saying of God Almighty: ) And their affair is by consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them they spend (38) ( (Shura), or read the saying of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “There shall be neither harm nor reciprocating harm.” [3] These are two texts from the Qur’an and Sunnah that have reached a level of generality, flexibility and ease that cannot be imagined after which generality, flexibility or ease, and they establish Shura as a basis for ruling in a way that does not harm the public order, nor the interest of individuals or the group, and by establishing the principle of Shura in this way, the Sharia has reached its highest level of sublimity that it is unimaginable that humans will ever reach, as they must make their affair by consultation among themselves so that neither harm nor reciprocating harm occurs, and it is unlikely that this will be achieved among people.
If we follow the texts of the Sharia , we will find them similar to the two previous texts in generality, flexibility and sublimity, and it is easy for us to see these features at first glance in any text we review, as all the texts of the Sharia are suitable examples of what we are saying; and it is sufficient for us to cite For the reader, another example is the Almighty’s saying: “ Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best ” (An-Nahl: 125). The wording of this text indicates that it has reached the level of generality and flexibility. As for the principle that the text came with, it did not know that there is anything better than it, and the human mind cannot imagine that there is a way for the proponents of the call to spread their call that is better than the way of calling with wisdom and good instruction, and arguing in a way that is best.
The reader can read the words of Allah the Almighty: “ And no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another ” (Fatir: 18), and the words of Allah the Almighty: “ Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity ” (Al-Baqarah: 286), and the words of Allah the Almighty: “ Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to those to whom they are due, and when you judge between people, to judge with justice ” ( An-Nisa’: 58), and the words of Allah the Almighty: “ And let not the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness ” ( Al-Ma’idah: 8), and the words of Allah the Almighty: “ O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives ” (An-Nisa’: 135). The reader can review these texts and others to see how they have reached the highest level of generality and flexibility, and to see that the principles brought by these texts have reached a level of sublimity beyond which there is no further increase for the seeker of more, or imagination for the imaginary.
3. The group is the one that makes the law and colors it with its customs And its traditions and history, and the origin of the law is that it is established to organize the affairs of the group, and not to direct the group, and therefore the law was behind the group and subject to its development, and the law was made by the group, and the group was not made by the law.
And if this was the origin of the law from the day it existed, then this origin was modified in the current century, specifically after the First World War; so that countries calling for new calls or new systems began to use the law to direct peoples and certain parties, and they also used it to implement certain purposes, and the first countries to adopt this method were communist Russia and secular Turkey.[4] Then Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany followed, and then the rest of the countries adopted this method, so the purpose of the law today became to organize the group and direct it in the directions that the guardians of the affairs see as in the interest of the group.
As for Islamiclaw , we know that it was not created by the group, and that it was not the result of the group’s development and interaction as is the case with positive law, but rather it was created by God who perfected everything He created. the law
was notcreated by the group, then the group itself was created by the law, so the origin ofthe lawwas that it was not established to organize the affairs of the group only as was the purpose of positive law, but rather the purpose ofthe lawbefore anything else is to create righteous individuals and a righteous group, and to create the ideal state and the ideal world, and for this reason its texts came higher than the level of the entire world at the time of its revelation, and they remain so to this day, and it contained principles and theories that the non-Islamic world was not able to know and reach until many centuries later, and that this world has not been able to reach until now.
For this reason, God Almighty took it upon Himself to establish the Sharia and sent it down to His Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, as a model of perfection to guide people towards acts of obedience and virtue, and to urge them to rise above and perfect themselves until they reach or come close to the level ofShariaThe Shariaachievedwhat the All-Knowing, All-Aware wanted for it, so it carried out its message in the best possible way, and made camel herders masters of the world, and ignorant desert dwellers teachers and guides for humanity.The Sharia
has performedits function as long as the early Muslims adhered to it and acted upon its provisions. The early Muslims adhered to it and acted upon it while they were a weak minority, fearing that people would snatch them away. After twenty years, they became the masters of the world and leaders of mankind. There was no voice but theirs, and no word was louder than theirs. What brought them to this thing that resembles miracles was IslamicSharia , which taught them and disciplined them, softened their souls, refined their feelings, made them feel pride and dignity, took them to complete equality and absolute justice, obliged them to cooperate in righteousness and piety, forbade them from sin and aggression, freed their minds and souls from the yoke of ignorance and desires, and made them the best nation brought forth for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in God.
This was the state of the Muslims when they held fast to their legitimacy. When they abandoned it and neglected its provisions, progress left them, they failed to advance, and they regressed to the darkness in which they had been immersed before. They returned weak and enslaved, unable to repel an aggressor or resist an oppressor.
The Muslims imagined - while they were in this state of confusion - that the progress of the Europeans was due to their laws and systems. So they went to receive them and weave on their pattern, forgetting the words of Omar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him: “We are a people whom God has honored with Islam. If we seek honor in anything other than it, God will humiliate us.” [5] And what al-Farouq said happened, for theselawsman-made systems Except for their error upon their error, and their confusion upon their confusion, and their weakness upon their weakness. Rather, it made them parties and sects, each party rejoicing in what they have, and their violence among themselves is severe. You think they are united, but their hearts are diverse.
The Islamic Shari'ah , which came complete and without any defect, carrying within it the means of progress and continuous development of society, is the most suitable Shari'ah for ages of progress and ages of backwardness alike; because in all cases it aims to form a righteous group, and to direct it always towards continuous progress and righteous development, and is not satisfied with anything less than complete perfection.
The history of Muslims is a sign, and a lesson for whoever has a heart, and in it is the decisive evidence that the Islamic Shari'ah is what created the Muslims from nothing, and made them a nation above the nations, and pushed them forward, and gave them authority over the countries of the world, and in it is the decisive evidence that the life of the Muslims, their progress and their advancement depend on the application of the Islamic Shari'ah , for the Muslims are the creation of the Shari'ah; their entity is subordinate to its entity, their existence is linked to its existence, and their authority is subordinate to its authority.
When positive law finally changed from its original origin and became established to guide the group, it adopted in that the theory of Islamic law , which makes the origin of legislation to create the group and guide it, then organize it. Thus, positive law ended up with what the law began with and preceded it fourteen centuries ago. So when the scholars of positive law say: They have arrived at a new theory, we say to them: No, but you are following the path of the law and following its footsteps.
Based on this, we can conclude from the aforementioned basic differences between the law and the law that Islamic law is distinguished from positive laws by three essential features, which are:
· Perfection: Islamic law is distinguished from positive laws by perfection; that is, it has completed all that the complete law needs in terms of rules, principles, and theories, and that it is rich in principles and theories that guarantee meeting the needs of the group in the near present and the distant future.
· Transcendence: Islamic law is distinguished from positive laws by transcendence, that is, its rules and principles are always higher than the level of the group; and that it contains principles and theories that preserve this lofty level for it no matter how high the level of the group.
· Permanence: Islamic law is distinguished from man-made laws by permanence; that is, by stability and constancy. Its texts do not accept amendment or change, and no matter how many years pass and how long the times are, they remain valid in all times and places.
These are the essential features of Islamic law, and despite their multiplicity and diversity, they go back to one origin from which they all emerged, such that each of them is considered an effect of it, and this is that Islamic law From God and His creation. If the Sharia were not from God, it would not have the attributes of perfection, sublimity, and permanence, attributes that are always present in what the Creator creates and none of them are present in what the creature creates [6] .
The jurist Abdul Qadir Awda continues his speech, warning those who believe that the Sharia is not suitable for application in the present age, lest their belief lead them to a doctrinal defect on the one hand, and worldly corruption on the other hand, saying:
“I would like to say to the Muslims who believe - wrongly - that the Islamic Sharia is not suitable for application in our present age, I would like to say to them that this belief does not agree with the belief of Islam that they claim and are keen to adhere to, and that they must remember the words of God Almighty: “ Do you believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in part? Then what is the reward for those who do that among you except disgrace in the life of this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be returned to the severest of punishment. And God is not unaware of what you do” (85) ( Al-Baqarah).
And let these people know that the reason for our backwardness and decline is that we did not apply the Sharia in a fair and complete manner in our dark, late eras, and that our rulers from the Turks and Mamluks ruled according to their whims in everything they cared about, and ruled the Sharia in what did not harm them or benefit them.
And if The reason for our backwardness is the neglect of the Sharia and abandoning its rulings. Adhering to the laws will not benefit us at all, but will only increase our backwardness and decline. Our effective treatment is to eliminate the cause of the backwardness and return to the rulings of the Sharia.
Our fathers applied some rulings of the Sharia and not others, and they believed in some of the Book and disbelieved in some of it. So Allah fulfilled His promise to them - the promise of Allah is true - and disgraced them in the life of this world. We came in their footsteps, following them and believing their belief. So Allah disgraced us as He disgraced them, and He gave us power as He gave power to them, and He made us an example for those of understanding. Allah will not change what is in us until we change what is in ourselves and our hearts, and believe in the entire Book. That is the promise of Allah, and Allah speaks the truth. He said: “ Indeed , Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves ” (Al-Ra`d: 11).
The early Muslims believed and their faith was good, so Allah empowered them on earth. And the One who empowered them despite their small number and weakness is able to empower us on earth if we believe and our faith is good. That is the promise of Allah to His servants in His saying: “ Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors upon the earth, just as He made those before them successors ” ( An-Nur: 55). That is His promise to those who follow His Book and adhere to His Law, the Almighty and Majestic: “ O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture. ” And He pardons much. There has come to you from God a light and a clear Book (15) with which God guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darkness into the light by His permission and guides them to a straight path (16) ( (Al-Ma’idah) [7] .
This, and after the creative presentation by the jurist Abdul Qader Awda about the fundamental differences and essential features that characterize the ShariaUnlike others, which puts it in a position that no one can compare it to positive law. We add to that that the breadth and flexibility that characterises the provisions of Sharia negates its rigidity and unsuitability for this era, as Dr. says. Yusuf al-Qaradawi: “As for what those who claim that Islamic law is its essence is stability, they have made a mistake in it; for Islam, with which God sealed the divine laws and messages, God deposited in it the element of stability and eternity, and the element of flexibility and development together, and this is one of the marvels of the miracles of this religion, and a sign of its universality and eternity, and its suitability for all times and all places.
We can define the scope of stability and the scope of flexibility in Islamic law and its comprehensive and eternal message, and we say that it is:
· Stability in goals and objectives, and flexibility in means and methods.
· Stability in principles and generalities, and flexibility in branches and details.
· Stability in religious and moral values, and flexibility in worldly and scientific affairs.
Perhaps someone might ask: Why was this the case with Islam?! Why did God not deposit in it absolute flexibility, or absolute stability?!
The answer is: Islam is thus consistent with the nature of human life in particular, and with the nature of the great universe in general, for this religion came in keeping with human nature and the nature of existence.
As for the nature of Human life itself, in it there are fixed elements that remain as long as man remains, and flexible elements that are subject to change and development.
If we look at the universe around us, we find that it contains fixed things that have passed thousands of years and thousands of thousands, and they are: earth and sky, mountains and seas, night and day, sun and moon, and stars subject to the command of God, each swimming in an orbit.
It also contains partial elements that change; islands that arise, lakes that dry up, rivers that are dug, water that overwhelms the land, dry land that creeps over the water, dead land that comes to life, barren deserts that become green, countries that are inhabited, cities that are destroyed, crops that sprout and grow, and others that wither and become chaff scattered by the winds.
This is the case of man, and the case of the universe, stability and change at the same time, but it is stability in the whole and the essence, and change in the particles and appearance.
If evolution is a law in the universe and life, then constancy is also a law that exists in them - without a doubt. If some philosophers in the past believed in the principle of becoming and change as the eternal law that prevails over the entire universe, then some of them called for the opposite and considered constancy to be the foundation and the general, comprehensive origin of the entire universe.
The truth is that both principles of constancy and change work together in the universe and life, as is seen and tangible.
It is no wonder that Islamic law is compatible with human nature and the nature of existence, combining the element of constancy with the element of flexibility.
With this advantage, Muslim society can live, continue and advance, steadfast in its principles, values and goals, and developing in its knowledge, methods and tools.
With stability, this society resists the factors of collapse and annihilation, or dissolution into other societies, or disintegration into several societies that contradict each other in reality, even if they remain within one society in form. With stability, legislation is stable, trust is exchanged, and transactions and relationships are built on solid pillars and firm foundations, not blown away by whims and political and social fluctuations from one day to the next. With flexibility, this society can adapt.Himself and his relationships according to the changing times and changing life situations, without losing his own characteristics and components.
There are various manifestations and evidences of stability and flexibility, which you find in the sources of Islam, its law and its history.
This stability is evident in the original, definitive textual sources of legislation from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. The Qur’an is the origin and constitution, and the Sunnah is the theoretical explanation and practical statement of the Qur’an. Both are infallible divine sources, and no Muslim can turn away from them. Allah the Almighty said: “ Say, ‘Obey Allah and obey the Messenger.’ ” ( An-Nur: 54). Allah the Almighty also said: “ The only statement of the believers, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them, is to say, ‘We hear and we obey.’ And those are the successful ones.” (51) ( An-Nur).
Flexibility is evident in the sources of ijtihad, which the jurists of the nation differed in the extent to which they used them as evidence, between broad and narrow, few and many, such as: consensus, analogy, preference, public interest, the sayings of the Companions, the law of those before us... and other sources of ijtihad and methods of deduction.
Looking at the rulings of the Shari’ah [8], we find that they are divided into two prominent sections:
A section that represents stability and eternity.
A section that represents Flexibility and development.
We find stability represented in the five basic beliefs: belief in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, which the Qur’an has mentioned in more than one place, such as the Almighty’s saying: “ Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but righteousness is [in] one who believes in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets ” ( Al-Baqarah: 177), and the Almighty’s saying: “ And whoever disbelieves in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly strayed far astray” (136) ( An-Nisa).
In the five practical pillars: the two testimonies of faith, establishing prayer, paying zakat, fasting Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the Sacred House, which are what the Messenger - may God bless him and grant him peace - has confirmed that Islam was built upon.
In the certain prohibitions: magic, killing a soul, adultery, consuming usury, consuming the wealth of orphans, accusing chaste believing women of adultery, turning away on the day of battle, usurpation, theft, backbiting, gossiping, and other things that have been proven definitively in the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Among the mothers of virtues: honesty, trustworthiness, chastity, patience, keeping promises, modesty, and other noble morals that the Qur’an and Sunnah considered to be branches of faith. Among
the definitive laws of Islam: in matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance, punishments, retaliation, and similar systems of Islam that are established by texts that are definitive in their establishment and definitive in their meaning; these matters are fixed, mountains move but they do not move, the Qur’an was revealed about them, hadiths were transmitted in succession, and the nation agreed upon them, so it is not the right of any assembly, nor the right of any conference, nor the right of any caliph, or any president, to cancel or suspend any of them; because they are the generalities of the religion, its rules and foundations, or as al-Shatibi said: “An eternal generality upon which the world was established, and through which its interests in creation were established, as induction has shown, and the Shari’ah also came in accordance with that, so that general rule remains until Allah inherits the earth and what is on it.”
In contrast, we find another section, which is represented by flexibility, which is related to the details of the rulings and their practical branches, especially in the field of Islamic politics.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in his book “Igathat al-Lahfan” that the rulings are of two types:
The first: does not change from a single situation that has passed, neither according to times nor places, nor the ijtihad of the imams: such as the obligation of obligations, the prohibition of prohibitions, the limits determined by the Shari’ah for crimes, and the like. This is not subject to change, nor to ijtihad that contradicts what it was established upon.
The second: It is distinguished according to the interest required for it in time, place and situation, such as the amounts of discretionary punishments [9] and their types and descriptions, as the Lawgiver diversifies them according to interest. Ibn al-Qayyim gave several examples of this from the Sunnah of the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - and the Sunnah of his rightly-guided caliphs who came after him, then he said: “This is a broad topic, in which many people have become confused about the fixed and necessary rulings that do not change, with discretionary punishments that are subject to interests in existence or nonexistence.” [10] Second
: Revelation, history and reality have testified to the suitability of Islamic law, unlike positive law: Islamic law
has succeeded in achieving good for Islamic society, and revelation, history and reality have testified to this. Dr. al-Qaradawi presents to us these testimonies, which are:
1. Testimony of revelation:
It is known that God - the Almighty - revealed this law with His knowledge to Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - to establish His justice on earth and to achieve the interests of the servants in this life and the hereafter, as indicated by the induction of the texts of the rulings and their explanations in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and that He, the Almighty, This Sharia was made general and continuous, unlike the previous divine laws.
His wisdom - the Almighty - required that the laws of the messengers who preceded Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - in time be limited and timed laws, for they were for specific peoples, in a specific time period, and this was in accordance with wisdom and interest, as humanity was not in a stage that allowed it to accept a general and eternal Sharia.
For this reason, God - the Almighty - did not guarantee to preserve its sacred sources from loss and distortion, and did not guarantee that He would send in every generation someone who would preserve its book, protect the legacy of its Prophet, and renew its religious affairs.
Hence, the divine books revealed before the Qur’an were distorted verbally and semantically, and their people forgot a portion of what they were reminded of - and this is something that the Noble Qur’an has proven, and induction has indicated with certainty - and the words of God were mixed with the words of humans.
When humanity reached its final stage, and God - the Almighty - knew that it had become suitable for the final general message to be revealed to it, He sent Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - to be a mercy to the worlds, and His Messenger to all people, as He - the Almighty - said, addressing him: “ And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds” (107) ( Al-Anbiya’), as the wisdom of God - the Almighty - required that this Shari’ah be the final Shari’ah, as it abrogates what came before it; as there is no other Book after its Book or Prophet after its Prophet, so the religion was completed and the structure was perfected. God - the Almighty - said: “ This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion” ( Al-Ma’idah: 3), and God - the Almighty - said :(40) ( Al-Ahzab). The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace,
said: “My example and that of the prophets before me is like that of a man who built a building and made it beautiful and perfect except for the place of one brick in one of its corners. The people went around it and marveled at it, saying: Why is this brick not placed? He said: So I am the brick and I am the seal of the prophets.” [ 11] God Almighty promised to preserve the Qur’an, the first source of
the Sharia :
Since God wanted this Sharia to be eternal, God’s will and decree came to guarantee two matters that would ensure the continuity of this Sharia until the Day of Judgment:
God Almighty guaranteed the preservation of its constitution and first source, which is the Noble Qur’an, as He Almighty said: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian. ” (9) ( Al-Hijr). This is a divine promise - confirmed in more than one form - to preserve the Qur’an, meaning the Qur’an, and God’s promise does not fail.
While He did not guarantee the preservation of the books . The previous heavenly laws, but only its people preserved them; because they were the basis for temporary transitional laws, which would be abrogated by other laws, the last of which was the Muhammadan law .
Preserving the Qur’an includes preserving the Sunnah in general, as Imam al-Shatibi explained in his “Al-Muwafaqat”, as the Sunnah is an explanation of the Qur’an, as Allah the Almighty said: “ And We have sent down to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them ” ( An-Nahl: 44), and preserving the one who explains requires preserving the explanation, because it is necessary for it; and for this reason Allah the Almighty has prepared for the Sunnah those who defend it and repel falsehoods from its protection.
o The Islamic nation does not agree on misguidance; rather, a group of it will continue to stand on the truth, and those who oppose them will not harm them, until Allah’s command comes, as His wisdom the Almighty has required that He send at the beginning of every century someone who will renew the matter of this nation’s religion, and that in every era someone who carries the knowledge of the Shari’ah will arise: to deny it the distortions of the extremists, the fabrications of the falsifiers, and the interpretations of the ignorant.
Abu Malik al-Ash'ari narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Allah has protected my nation from agreeing on misguidance" [12] .
This is from the perspective of what Allah has decreed for the permanence and eternity of this Shari'ah .
· Characteristics of the Shari'ah and its entitlement to eternity:
As for what Allah has legislated for this, He has included in it characteristics and advantages that make it suitable for all times and places.
The believer in the perfection of Allah's knowledge - the Mighty and Sublime - and His wisdom, mercy and kindness to His creation cannot imagine that He - the Mighty and Sublime - would close the door of prophethood to them, cut off His revelation to them, and then make them worship a deficient Shari'ah that is suitable for one people and not suitable for others, suitable for one time and not suitable for another, suitable for one country and not suitable for another, even though they are all charged with its rulings, obligated to make lawful what it makes lawful, forbid what it makes unlawful, obey its commands, and refrain from what it prohibits.
Whoever thinks of this has ignored the status of his Lord, and has bad thoughts about Him, and has not appreciated God - the Almighty - as He should be appreciated.
2. The testimony of history:
Whoever is not satisfied with the testimony of revelation on the validity of Islamic law To be applied at all times and places, or the testimony of revelation is sufficient for him, but he wanted to reassure his heart and increase his certainty of that, so let him ask history - the history of the Islamic nation in its various regions and different eras - and he will find from the events of history what will reassure his heart, and increase his faith and certainty in the truth of this issue.
The testimony of history for a system of eternity, and suitability for application at all times and places, is dependent on two matters that complement each other, which are:
· That its theoretical principles have been able to fulfill the treatment of facts and renewed problems throughout different historical stages, and in multiple social and civilizational environments, due to what these principles contain of breadth, flexibility, fertility and intrinsic characteristics.
· The success of this system when applied practically, and its ability to make the groups that rule by it happy, and provide them with justice, security, stability and prosperity.
Both of these matters have been clearly and distinctly achieved by the Islamic Sharia, and the explanation of that is as follows:
· How did the Sharia encompass all environments and civilizations? The Islamic Sharia
has ruled the peoples of the Islamic nation for thirteen centuries, during which it entered various countries, some of which were deeply rooted in civilization, others close to nomadism, and others in between. It faced different systems, financial, administrative, political, and social, as well as strange events and new problems that had no parallel in the era of the Prophet, nor in the land of the Hijaz. The horizon of this Sharia did not narrow from finding appropriate solutions for all those problems and events, derived from its texts and principles, taken from its spirit and general principles, and deduced by the diligent imams from the jurists of the Companions and those who followed them in goodness, and those who followed their guidance from the imams of ijtihad, who filled the regions of the House of Islam, and who agreed - despite their different schools and backgrounds - that every event and every action of those charged with responsibility has a ruling in the Sharia, whether it is right or wrong, and that it is impossible for the texts and rules of this eternal general Sharia to be narrow to a behavior from the behaviors and not issue a ruling on it.
The explanatory memorandum of the decision issued in the “Libyan Arab Republic” to form committees to review legislation and amend it in accordance with the basic principles of Islamic law states: “Islamic jurisprudence, with all its provisions, has lived for long centuries, which no legislation in the world has achieved or even anything close to it. It is known that the jurisprudence of Western legislation in Europe and America is the product of a century or so, since they separated religious matters from worldly matters. As for Russian legislation, it is the product of the last half century; since the Russian communist experiment began after 1917 AD [13] .
As for Islamic jurisprudence, it has been fourteen centuries old, and it has traveled the horizons east and west, north and south, and has settled in plains and valleys, mountains and deserts, and has encountered various customs and traditions, and has moved in all environments, and has witnessed prosperity and hardship, sovereignty and slavery, civilization and backwardness, and has faced events in all these stages, so it has a huge jurisprudential wealth that is unparalleled, and in it every country finds the easiest solutions.” For his problems. Islamic law
has ruled In the worst of times, it has not fallen short of the need nor has it neglected to fulfill any demand, nor has it failed its people at any time…” [14] .
If this is what the Libyan memorandum said based on a comprehensive reading of the provisions of the Sharia, then the words of another reader will not be far from this fair ruling if he investigates and scrutinizes, and we will not deny it, and it is enough for us that our Sharia derives its strength from itself and not from those affiliated with it.
3. The testimony of reality
As for the testimony of reality on the soundness of Islamic Sharia , it is indicated by several matters, including:
The failure of secularists:
The countries that have completely turned away from Sharia
and declared their complete secularism have reaped nothing from that except disappointment, disintegration, and failure in various areas of life. The most prominent example of this is the secular state of Turkey: Ataturk’s Turkey, who stripped the Muslim country of its Sharia with iron and fire, and forced it to follow the path of the West, step by step, and clearly opposed the certainties of Islamic Sharia, so Turkey gained nothing from that except remaining a tail to the Western camp in its legislation and policy. And its economy, after it was a global power with its weight and its danger.
And now it is torn apart by conflicts between the right and the left, and loyalties between the West and the East, and the loyalists among its sons are trying desperately to return their people to what they believe in and what is hidden deep within them, of respect for Islam, love for Islam and the Sharia of Islam.
· Effects of applying the legal punishments:
The most exposed to the attacks of those who attack the Sharia are the punishments that came in the Book of Allah clearly and distinctly, especially the punishment for theft mentioned in the words of Allah the Almighty: “ And as for the thief, male or female, cut off their hands as a punishment for what they have earned, an exemplary punishment from Allah. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise” (38) ( Al-Ma’idah).
But reality shows us with our own eyes how a Muslim country - the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - established this punishment and achieved unparalleled security for the community, to the extent that a man leaves his shop open and goes to his prayers or work without a guard, and nothing is stolen from him, despite what this country itself suffered - before the establishment of the punishments - from terror and insecurity, due to the large number of thieves and highwaymen, and despite the illiteracy that is still widespread, and despite the enormous crowding that this country witnesses during the Hajj and Umrah seasons, and despite the shortcomings in many other teachings of Islam. What is the price of this wonderful security and this unparalleled reassurance?
This price is nothing more than a few hands cut off in implementation of Allah’s command as a punishment for what they have earned, after all the elements of the crime have been fulfilled. All conditions were met, and all suspicions were removed.
A few hands were cut off, and by cutting them off, money and honor were preserved, and blood and lives were lost at the hands of dangerous thieves who do not respect anyone’s honor, and do not care about the injuries and killings they committed, all in order to save themselves from falling under the force of the law.
A few hands were cut off - many times more in traffic accidents or incidents of conflict and strife - and they removed people's fear of attacks by professional thieves, the fear that people complain about everywhere, even in the wealthiest and most civilized country in the world: the United States of America, as everyone who has visited it recently can attest, and as the published figures and statistics express.
A few hands were cut off according to Islamic law, and people were safe in their homes, businesses, lives and money, as can be attested by both enemy and friend.
This is despite the fact that other Islamic countries suffer greatly from the tragedies of thieves and pickpockets known to the government and security agencies, by their persons, names, addresses and previous convictions, but they stand idly by them, completely helpless; because they were punished with prison more than once, and came out of it more ferocious, and more experienced in the arts of robbery, pickpocketing and theft, until the prison became like a special institute prepared to train them at the highest levels and degrees of crime; as a result of the long encounter in which each criminal tells his colleague about his experience.
· The Sharia preceded the most recent legal theories:
The evidence of the immortality and validity of this Sharia is that the legal theories and principles that the modern era boasts about, and that the philosophies and systems of law are proud of, preceded the Sharia and established its foundations, and its jurisprudence, legislation and judiciary were based on that, and its history is full of that.
In this context, we mention in particular the principles of tax justice, which are among the principles or theories that they claimed were the product of the modern era alone, which they call “the principles of tax justice.” We mean by that: the four rules that they attribute their discovery to Adam Smith, which later became “the constitution of tax justice.” These rules are: certainty, suitability, economy, and justice. Islam preceded modern financial and economic experts by twelve centuries, and knew these rules, and applied them in a sound and fair manner.
In the rule of “justice,” we mention six basic principles that Islam preceded, which are:
o Equality among those obligated to pay zakat; no individual, class, or gender is exempt from it, as long as they own the minimum amount of zakat according to its conditions.
o Exemption of what is below the nisab, which represents the minimum amount of wealth considered legally.
o Preventing duplication of zakat, as in the hadith: “There is no duplication in charity.” [15] It is not permissible to impose two zakats in one year for one reason, and this principle has various branches and applications in Islamic jurisprudence.
o The amount of zakat varies according to effort, and the clearest example of this is imposing one-tenth on crops and fruits if they are irrigated without a machine, and half of one-tenth if they are irrigated with a machine... This is something that no one has paid attention to - as far as we know - except Islamic law .
o Taking into account the personal circumstances of the owner of the nisab of zakat, and not limiting its focus to the money itself, as finance men and tax collectors did in the past. Hence, the law exempted basic needs from entering the zakat container, or what is now called the minimum standard of living or the subsistence limit, and the same applies to exempting the debtor if his debt takes up the nisab or decreases it, otherwise it is reduced according to the amount of his debt... and other rulings.
o Finally, justice comes in application, by choosing the workers on zakat from the righteous, strong, and trustworthy, and directing them, fortifying them, and supervising them well.
From the branching out of what we have mentioned here: that many of the rulings and theories that this Sharia brought more than fourteen centuries ago, and were at one time the subject of doubt or accusation from the opponents of the Sharia, humanity found no alternative but to resort to them; to achieve justice and remove harm and injustice from individuals and societies, and this confirms its truthfulness and divineness on the one hand, and its suitability and flexibility on the other hand, and the most prominent example of this are two famous principles:
o Divorce: which all Western countries were forced to recognize, the last of which was that ancient Catholic country [16] , which is: Italy, and a conference on private international law was held in "The Hague" in 1986, the eleventh session, and among the research topics was preparing a treaty to recognize divorce and legal separation at the international level, and this means returning to the rule of Islam.
o Usury: which they claimed at one time that the wheel of economic life does not turn without it, until some of the great economists in the West came up with a refutation of the idea of usury from its foundations in the name of science and economics itself, not in the name of religion and faith. Perhaps the most famous name mentioned in this regard is the name of the famous British economist "Keynes", who decided that society does not reach full employment except by eliminating the interest rate [17] .
Dr. Al-Qaradawi adds another matter, which is the success of Islamic law in making happy the societies that adhered to it, worked according to it, and achieved good for them. Under this law - when it had the final say - truth and goodness prevailed, justice and security spread, brotherhood and love became widespread, and prosperity and flourishing became widespread. This is one of the most prominent proofs of the suitability of Islamic law for all times and places.
Under the Sharia of Islam, the “righteous person” arose, who knows the right of his Lord over him, so he worships Him by performing His rituals and implementing His laws, as he worships Him with beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds, and knows the right of himself , so he enjoys it with good things and purifies it with good deeds, and knows the right of his society over him, so he gives to it as he takes from it, and advises it - as he accepts advice from it - to be truthful and patient, and helps it - as he seeks help from it - to be righteous and pious. Islamic Sharia
has guided man to the fact that he has duties as he has rights, and that he has to perform his duty as he has the right to demand his right, and it has focused on the idea of “duties” more than it has focused on the idea of “rights”; because the rights of man are in reality duties upon others, and these rights will not be observed if others do not care about performing their duties. This is why the Islamic society was a society of duties, or in other words, a society of “duties” as Islamic jurisprudence expresses it. All rational people in this society are duty-bound, i.e. responsible and required, and not merely questioners and required, as is the scourge of the modern age, in which every person says: I have such and such and such, and does not say: I owe such and such.
It is no wonder - in a society with such individuals and such as these - that agriculture, industry and trade flourished in the lands of Islam, the land was prosperous, prosperity became widespread, good things increased, and people ate from above them and from beneath their feet.
The historian of civilization, Will Durant, despite his misunderstanding of the position of Islam at times, and his bias at other times, could not help but acknowledge that the first caliphs - from Abu Bakr - may God be pleased with him - to Al-Ma'mun - had established the good and successful systems for Islamic life in a wide area of the world, and that they were among the most capable rulers in all of history. They were able to confiscate everything, or destroy everything as the Mongols, the Hungarians, or the northern Europeans did, but they did not do this. Rather, they were content with imposing taxes. When Amr conquered Egypt, he refused to listen to Al-Zubayr's advice when he advised him to divide its land among the conquering Arabs. The caliph supported him in this opinion, and ordered him to leave it in the hands of the people to tend to it so that it would bear fruit. During the time of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, the lands were surveyed, the government kept their records, a large number of roads were built and maintained, and bridges were built over the rivers to prevent their flooding. Iraq was a barren desert before the Islamic conquest. Its land, which had been a vast garden, and much of the land of Palestine before the conquest was sand and stones, became fertile, rich, and populated.
There is no doubt that the exploitation of the weak and the naive by the skilled and the powerful remained during the era of Islamic governments as it remained during the eras of all governments, but the caliphs largely secured the lives of the people and the fruits of their efforts, and provided opportunities for the talented, and spread prosperity for six centuries, in regions that had never seen such prosperity after their era, and thanks to their encouragement and assistance, education spread, and sciences, literature, philosophy and the arts flourished to a degree that made Western Asia for five centuries the most advanced region in civilization in the whole world.
Justice leading to equality that does not consider differences or recognize classes:
Under the law of Islam, justice prevailed, and all people enjoyed its goodness, as the law of Sharia is binding on everyone subject to the provisions of Islam, and it does not wrong anyone or show favoritism because of his religion or social class, or his family, or his wealth or poverty, or his color or language.
This is because the justice of Islam is the justice of God, and God does not wrong any of His servants, whether individual or group. Rather, He is the just judge. Immortal verses were revealed in the Book of God, defending a Jew who was unjustly accused of a crime of which he was innocent.
The world has never known a judiciary like the Islamic judiciary, before which the Caliph - the Commander of the Faithful - is treated as he treats all the people, and he is subject to what they are subject to. The judge may rule against him in favor of a Jewish or Christian opponent. Rather, this is what the history of Islamic judiciary recorded in various incidents that remain a mark on the brow of time.
Under the law of Islam, people were happy with legal and social equality, the likes of which history has rarely known. Islam abolished all the differences that distinguish between people: race, color, language, lineage, land, class, money, and prestige. It linked this equality to its daily, weekly, and annual rituals, to confirm to people that they are equal like the teeth of a comb, with no superiority of a white person over a black person, and no superiority of a black person over a white person except in piety. For this reason, Islamic society did not know the racial, color, or class discrimination that was known in other Eastern and Western societies.
It is no wonder that we saw Omar - may God be pleased with him - say about Bilal the Abyssinian: “Abu Bakr is our master, and he freed our master,” meaning: Bilal, may God be pleased with him [18] .
And we saw the ruling of the Sharia.It applies to everyone, no noble person is exempted for his nobleness, and no weak person is burdened for his weakness. Rather, the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - said his famous statement: “The people before you were destroyed because if a noble person among them stole, they would leave him alone, but if a weak person among them stole, they would carry out the prescribed punishment on him . By God, if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, stole, I would cut off her hand.” [19]
Gustave Le Bon says in his book “The Civilization of the Arabs,” which is none other than the civilization of Islam: We conclude our discussion of the social systems of the Arabs by mentioning that the Arabs are characterized by a spirit of absolute equality, according to their political systems, and that the principle of equality that was declared in Europe - in word, not in deed - is firmly rooted in the nature of the East, and that Muslims have no knowledge of those social classes whose existence led to the most violent revolutions in the West, and continues to lead. It is not difficult to see in the East a servant who marries his master’s daughter, and to see some of their hired hands who have become notables.
Under the law of Islam and the rule of Islam, comprehensive social solidarity prevailed, which was guarded by the faith of Muslim individuals and the authority of the Muslim state.
Solidarity between members of the family and clan, solidarity between members of the neighborhood, solidarity between members of the same country or region, and a broader and greater solidarity that includes the entire Islamic nation , for it is one nation, some of which support each other, the least of them seeks their protection, and they are a hand against others.
We saw this solidarity during the era of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, when he sent his messengers and workers to all the tribes and countries that Islam had entered, and he ordered them to take zakat from their rich to give it to their poor. The messenger or worker among them would go, collect zakat, then leave it in its place, and not return except with his seat or stick. Tolerance towards those who disagree:
Under
the law of Islam, humanity gained one of the greatest moral principles in human and international relations, which is: tolerance towards those who disagree with religion.
Gustave Le Bon quotes a number of European historians as confirming this historical fact with certainty, saying: Robertson said in his book “The History of Charles V”: “Muslims alone are the ones who combined zeal for their religion with a spirit of tolerance towards followers of other religions, and that while they took up [20] the sword to spread their religion, they left those who did not want it free to adhere to their religious teachings.”
The civilization of science and faith:
Under the law of Islam, a flourishing civilization arose, combining science and faith, and religion and the world.
Science had a prominent place in the civilization, and clear authority, and it did not know what other civilizations knew of the conflict between science and religion. Rather, many of the religious jurists were prominent scholars in the sciences of the universe and life, just as many of the masters of medicine, physics, mathematics, and other great religious scholars were. Were Ibn Rushd and Ibn Khaldun anything but jurists and judges of Islamic law ? [21 ]
From all of the above, it is clear that Islamic law is successful and valid in its practical aspect, as it was in its theoretical aspect. This has been attested to by revelation, history, reality, and fair-minded Western scholars, and supported by observation. Conclusion
: Scientific study and logic require that we say that Islamic law is superior.
On positive laws and their suitability for this era and other eras. The
mistake that these claimants made is comparing positive laws that are made by humans with Islamic law that was established by the Creator of mankind. When they compare, they are comparing the earth to the sky, and people to the Lord of mankind. How can a rational person compare himself to his Lord and his earth to his sky?!
If equality is absent, then there is no comparison, and the comparison is invalid due to the following differences: The law is made by humans, and it represents the deficiency, inability, and weakness of humans; therefore, it is subject to change and alteration. As for
the Shari’ah, its maker is Allah, so it represents the Creator’s power, perfection, greatness, and encompassment of what was and what is; therefore, it is valid for all times and places; because His knowledge encompasses everything. The
law is temporary rules that the community establishes to organize its affairs and meet its temporary needs. It changes and develops with the change in the community’s situation. As for the Shari’ah, it is rules that Allah - the Almighty - established permanently to organize the affairs of the community. Its rules are permanent and do not accept change or alteration, and this is a feature that distinguishes the Shari’ah from a logical perspective; Because its rules are flexible and general enough to accommodate the needs of the group no matter how long the time and how much the group has developed; and because its rules and texts are so sublime and elevated that they cannot be behind the level of the group, its requirements and its needs at any time or age.
The group is the one that makes the law and colors it with its customs and traditions. The law is originally established to organize the affairs of the group and not to direct the group, so the law was behind the group and subject to its development.
As for the Sharia , it is not the creation of the group, but rather it is the creation of God who perfected everything He created; and thus the group itself is the creation of the Sharia; because the purpose of the Sharia before anything else is to create righteous individuals, a righteous group, an ideal state and an ideal world; therefore its texts came above the level of the entire world at the time of its revelation and remain so today, and thus the Sharia achieved what the All-Knowing, All-Aware intended for it, so it carried out its message in the best way, and made camel herders masters of the world, and ignorant desert dwellers teachers and guides for humanity.
· Stability and flexibility are the essence of Islamic law . Islam, with which Allah concluded the divine laws and messages, has placed in it the element of stability and eternity, and the element of flexibility and development together. This is one of the marvels of the miracle of this religion, and its suitability for all times and places. Stability is in the goals, objectives, principles, generalities, religious and moral values, and flexibility in the means and methods, in the branches and details, and in worldly and practical affairs.
· The law is suitable for all times and places, and this has been proven by conclusive evidence from the logic of revelation, the logic of history, and the logic of reality.
· Those who doubt the suitability of the texts of Allah’s law for all times and places must acknowledge that the mind that Allah created for human beings, and the knowledge that He urged them to acquire, are the sameWhich revealed the truth of stability in the essence of man alongside the phenomenon of change that is connected to the incidental aspect of his life, and this is only suitable for Islamic law that is in agreement with the human nature and disposition that God Almighty created him with.
( * ) Islamic Criminal Legislation Compared to Positive Law, Abdul Qader Awda, Al-Risala Foundation, Beirut, 8th ed., 1406 AH/1986 AD.
[1] Tricks: the plural of trick, which is a noun from deception, and it is that which turns a person from what he hates to what he loves. It is originally: an action by which its doer turns from one state to another, then its use became prevalent in the hidden ways by which a person reaches his goal, such that people do not realize his goal except with some intelligence and cleverness.
What is meant by forbidden tricks are actions that are permissible in themselves if a person does them to invalidate a legal ruling, such as someone who gives his money before the end of a year to someone he trusts will return it to him, in order to avoid the obligation of zakat on him.
[2] For more details on this matter, see: Islamic Criminal Legislation Compared to Positive Law, Abdul Qader Awda, Al-Risala Foundation, Beirut, 8th ed., 1406 AH/1986 AD, Vol. 1, p. 25: 62.
[3] Authentic: It was included by Ahmad in his Musnad, Musnad Bani Hashim, Musnad Abdullah ibn Abbas, may God be pleased with them both, (2867), and by Ibn Majah in his Sunan, Book of Rulings, Chapter on the one who has something built on his property that harms his neighbor (2341), and it was authenticated by Al-Albani in Irwa’ Al-Ghaleel (896).
[4] Secularism: It is said that its correct translation is “irreligious” or “worldly,” and it is a call to establish life on positive science and reason and to take into account the interest away from religion. The agreed-upon meaning of secularism means isolating religion from the state.
[5] Authentic: It was included by Al-Hakim in his Mustadrak, Book of Faith, (1/130). It was authenticated by Al-Albani in As-Silsilah As-Saheehah (51).
[6] Islamic Criminal Legislation Compared to Positive Law, Abdul Qader Awda, Al-Risala Foundation, Beirut, 8th ed., 1406 AH/1986 AD, Vol. 1, p. 13:25, with some modifications.
[7] Islamic Criminal Legislation Compared to Positive Law, Abdul Qader Awda, Al-Risala Foundation, Beirut, 8th ed., 1406 AH/1986 AD, pp. 62, 63.
[8] By Sharia here we mean something more general than the “legal aspect” of the message of Islam. Rather, what is meant is what God sent Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, with in terms of beliefs, worship, dealings, morals, and other things, as Al-Tahnawi defined them in his book “Kashaf Istilahat Al-Ulum wa Al-Funun” (Dr. Al-Qaradawi).
[9] Ta’zir: is a discipline that is not prescribed by the Sharia, and it is a punishment that is not determined by Sharia, and it is in the hands of the ruler to make it an appropriate punishment for every crime that does not have a punishment prescribed by Sharia according to the rules of ta’zir.
[10] Introduction to the Study of Islamic Law , Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Wahba Library, Cairo, 5th ed., 1426 AH/2005 AD, pp. 243-248, with some modifications.
[11] It was narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of Virtues, Chapter on the Seal of the Prophets, may God bless him and grant him peace (3341), and by Muslim in his Sahih, Book of Virtues, Chapter on the fact that he, may God bless him and grant him peace, is the Seal of the Prophets (6101), and the wording is his.
[12] Hasan: It was included by Ibn Abi Asim in As-Sunnah (79), and authenticated by Al-Albani in As-Silsilah As-Sahihah (1331).
[13] The communist experiment ended in failure and was liberated from its yoke after only seventy-three years of living it, that is, in the year 1990 AD; because it was against human nature and his love of living in the shadow of dignity and freedom and caring for innate motives and human rights.
[14] Islamic law is applicable at all times and in all places, Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Wahba Library, Cairo, Egypt, 5th ed., 1417 AH/1997 AD, pp. 11:17, with some modifications.
[15] It was included by Al-Qasim bin Salam in the Book of Money (781).
[16] Catholics: The largest Christian church in the world, it claims to be the mother of all churches and their teacher, and it is said that its founder was the Apostle Peter, and it is represented by several churches that follow the Western or Latin Church, due to its influence extending to the Latin West in particular.
[17] Islamic law is applicable at all times and in all places, Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Wahba Library, Cairo, Egypt, 5th ed., 1417 AH/1997 AD, pp. 57: 63, with some modifications.
[18] It was narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of the Virtues of the Companions, Chapter on the Virtues of Bilal ibn Rabah, the Freedman of Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with them both (3544).
[19] It was included by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of the Prophets, Chapter: “ Or do you think that the Companions of the Cave and the Inscription ( Al-Kahf: 9)” (3288), and in other places, and by Muslim in his Sahih, Book of Punishments, Chapter: Cutting off the hand of the noble thief and others, and the prohibition of intercession in matters of punishments (4505).
[20] To steal: to steal and kidnap.
[21] Islamic law is applicable at all times and in all places, Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Wahba Library, Cairo, Egypt, 5th ed., 1417 AH/1997 AD, pp. 18: 36, with some modifications.
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