nature of islamic law
Quran is the address of God to mankind and Djinns. Quran is the best organizational psychology and model as well. This speech is formed and uttered by Arabic language as per usage of Arabs at that time, a language which consists of noun, verb and letter. Speech is defined as per Arabic linguists as intentional and meaningful words spoken in Arabic. Speech can be literal or metaphorical. Literal is main usage of word or words for which they have been formed either by people or by lawgiver God. Metaphorical is secondary usage based on the main usage. There are other ways which differentiate between the two. Some words can have multiple literal meanings without a preferred usage. The preferred usage is established by context of usage in Quran, or by Prophet or by Imams of Ahl Bayt and the senior companions. However, these words are rare, and the multiple meanings are clarified by Arabs by their contextual usage, each usage giving a preference of one meaning over other based on context of usage.
Before any further discussion let us make it clear that today there are two interpretive schools of Quran and Islam. The individualist school which focuses on individualism of religiosity, personal rituals and religious minimization from life and society and this school is heavily influenced by western liberalism. The other is the collective school which believes in the superior and essential role of Islam in personal and collective lives of humanity and Muslims through political Islam and governance through Shariah law as was the reality of Prophetic rule. This school believes in accountability of individuals, enforcement of laws and authority of theocracy. The individualist school believes in explaining Islam on western liberalism and have no agenda of changing situation, circumstances and destiny of the people for Islam and by Islam. These liberals or fascists whichever rather than denying (takzeeb) laws of Quran and Sunnah twist and bend (tahreef) it to suit their purpose. For example instead of denying harsh punishment of adultery which is stoning or theft which is cutting of thieves’ hand they will say it was necessary in ancient time so God revealed it for those people not us.
Quranic laws are legal injunctions of Divine origin, both general and specific, regarding various issues of human existence and their behavior. The Divine laws are related to human activities and ideas. These laws are framed in such a way by the rich classical Arabic language that it considers many aspects of human behavior and actions in short expressions. Quran has a general theme of a law and then it has elaborations sometimes scattered all over. These elaborations are features and subsidiary laws of the main law. So, for example performance of Hajj is a main legal injunction but how to perform, it’s features are scattered over many places of both Quran and Sunnah. So, I have mainly discussed the main themes in this writing, and it is up to the Jurists to piece together all the subsidiary features and make a coherent algorithmic system out of a theme for legal adherence. Quranic laws can also describe one another by specification, precision, extension, reconciliation and/or demarcation.
Quranic and Islamic laws can have literal implications of its texts, individually or collectively or through the purposive implications of the texts, also individually or collectively. When analyzing texts all semantic possibilities arising from such should be analyzed and then discarded one by one until the semantic which is supported by Arabic language, prophetic and Ahl Bayt’s explanations, objectives of Islamic law, other texts and/or reason is established.
Imam Jafar Sadiq Pbuh says :
"Tell (the people) what you know, and when you don't know say; `God knows best.' (It happens that) someone singles out a verse from the Quran (interpreting it in isolation from the rest of the Book) deviating in it (from the truth) to an extent greater than the distance between the heaven and the earth."
Quranic laws are prescription of actions and beliefs both collectively and individually as these laws give rise to the concept of jurisdiction and authority. Every law has a scope so that it does not trespass over the scope of other laws. Scope and priority of laws delimitate to what extent laws should be followed. These scope and priority are understood from the laws themselves and the teachings of Prophet, Ahl Bayt, their companions, Arabic language and juristic reasoning. Generally, issue of scope and priority mostly arise in context of multiple laws competing to be applied in same situation and context but not all can be applied, so priority must be ascertained.
Some laws are obligatory on some people (fard kifaya) and some on every person (fard ain). Quranic laws are such that one textual ruling force you to think about many other connected rulings, so you are forced to place the ruling in context of other rulings. This is due to Quran's interconnectedness of laws and beliefs. When the intent of the text is established by the principles of language, tradition and logic then further legal issues arise which may not be mentioned in either Quran or sunnah so other legal tools from jurisprudence are utilized to find the intent of the Divine law giver into the new legal solutions.
Quranic laws have varying degree of expository semantics. Some are clear and precise, but some are just giving a general idea of the issue without precision and demarcation. Nonetheless Sunnah is the second authority for explanation and, Ahl Bayt and senior companions the third. Combined these three, are the interpretive foundations of Shariah Law. It is noteworthy to mention any narration which contradicts Quran is rejected. The contradiction must be evident and against the meaning of the text. It is not a contradiction when a sound and valid narration clarifies, specifies or extends a text’s semantics and scope of application. Also note that when understanding or interpreting Islam “source access” needs to be hierarchical. Many Muslims today first and foremost look to Sunnah or Hadith when discussing Islam. We need to understand the fact that many Sunnah or Hadith has been stated before a certain revelation of Quran in that particular issue, so the Sunnah or Hadith might have been rendered null and void. So, the source access must be in this order: non-abrogated verse of Quran, then explanatory Sunnah or hadith of the non-abrogated verse, then Sunnah or Hadith which is non-abrogated or not contradicted by Quran. The primary tool to understand non-abrogation of both Quran and Sunnah is Ahl Bayt. The general principle is all verses of Quran are authoritative unless evidence suggest otherwise. This can be from Quran itself or from Sunnah and Ahl Bayt or historical date.
Multiple categories of Quranic laws can be embedded in a single verse. This is a richness of Arabic and Arabic rhetoric called Balagah. Therefor I tried to put these laws under different categories so you will see some verses are repeated or parts of it. Quranic laws have embedded principles and legal maxims, which Islamic jurists have extrapolated to maintain the validity and authority of Quran for evolving times and new issues. These principles extend the laws of Quran and thus Islam in matters Quran is directly silent on.
Know that one way of dividing the commands of God in Quran is the following: A retributive command is a command which comes with a form of punishment and/or threat such as spiritual, physical and/or financial. All retributive commands are prohibitions. Then there is continuous command which are done continuously such as command of doing good always. Then there is conditional command which is valid for implementation when the condition of the command is realized, such as oppression begets jihad, or injustice begets justice or Ramadan begets fasting etc. Then there is timed command which takes places in specific times such as prayer, fasting and Hajj for example. Then there is permissive command which allows you to do something, for example God commands in Quran to marry us two, three, four but this does not mean we must marry two, three or four gradually but this means we are permitted to have a maximum number of four wives in any time. These categorizations may exist as hybrid in commands of God. Know that the basic themes of Quran are distributed in the following categories: Stories, biographies and history, threat and punishment, laws and legal principles, creed, future events.
Know that performance of God’s commands, some are detailed by Prophet while some are not. For example, prayer, Hajj, fasting, issues of divorce and marriage etc. have been algorithmically detailed by Quran and Prophet while some other such as jihad, governance etc. have been given general principles with few pivotal specifics and models. It is the duty of Muslims to realize all commands of God in the most efficient and creative ways. Herein lies the need for Islamic governance, legislature and judiciary. The Islamic court under Islamic government must adjudicate on all issues Quran and Sunnah discuss about, even if some of these issues are not directly governed or managed by the Islamic government.
Understand that collective here means the systematic whole and in this the adherence or completion of injunction needs collaboration of many divided duties and responsibilities, while the individual means that one’s certain action or belief is no concern of the systematic whole, while personal means that an injunction can be followed or completed by the personal self. Without an authority to enforce and a jurisdiction to enforce in there is no systematic whole. Without this systematic whole most of Quranic laws become inapplicable and chaotic as people vie for authority against each other and confusion. The Prophet implemented Quran not only personally but also as a leader, judge, general and lawgiver through a system of accountability, responsibility and distributed duties and rights. So, know that every command and guidance of the Quran has two recipients: the individual and the collective.
The collective mostly being the government or Islamic governance. The duty and responsibility of Islamic governance is to ensure compliance, administration, enforcement and facilitation of laws of God by adopting policies, practices and theories while respecting the privacy of its subjects and without being tyrant. So for example the Islamic governance will not spy on Muslims to see if they are praying or fasting or committing adultery but rather it should make sure that prayers and fasting are facilitated and financed or that pathway to adultery is blocked by suppressing pornification, nudity and indecency, and promoting polygamy and early marriage. Islamic governance cannot be a police state for its subjects. As an example, when God commands us to pray there is the individual Muslim who must pray according to the legal rules and also there is the Islamic governance which will ensure prayer is accommodated, facilitated and taught properly in education.
There are scopes for every Quranic and Prophetic command. The first is the command exerts its action on both the individual it addressed to and to others or it only exerts its action to the individual or it exerts its action to others only. Example of the first is command to establish prayer and zakat. Example of the second is command to remember God and example of the third is retributive laws such as punishments of theft, drinking adultery etc. These may be understood by the forms of verbs in Arabic such as mutaddi verb and lazim verb. These scopes thus are addressing the individuals as well as the people of authority such as government, the military etc.
God's commands are a training for mankind. Without habituated adherence people may often do things which they are prohibited to do and thus this will become a trend, only harming mankind's evolution. Quran being a model for the systematic whole thus also includes everyone under it, both Muslims and non-Muslims. Prophet ruled both Muslims and non-Muslims under Shariah law. Islam gives limited freedom of legal system for non-Muslims under its jurisdiction, but non-Muslims should also be under the jurisdiction of the non-faith-based laws of Quran. One such law is Jizya. The general rule is a legal issue of Muslims vs Muslims is judged by Quran, Muslims vs non-Muslims also by Quran but non-Muslims vs non-Muslims can be judged by their laws in limited domains.
Also know that English or any translations of Quran can never be used to deduce laws from Quran. The most sophisticated translation of Quran is that of Marmaduk Pickthall’s and he stated:
“..The Qur'an cannot be translated. ...The book is here rendered almost literally, and every effort has been made to choose befitting language. But the result is not the Glorious Qur'an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy. It is only an attempt to present the meaning of the Qur'an-and peradventure something of the charm in English. It can never take the place of the Qur'an in Arabic, nor is it meant to do so..” (1930).
This arises from certain facts. Classical Arabic is different from translated languages. They have different grammar, syntax, morphology, usage, pragmatics, semantics, sociolinguistics and historical linguistics. Arabic semantics and pragmatics are influenced greatly by the art of Balagah which is non-existent in other languages. One of the biggest differences between translations and Arabic Quran is its power of emotive expression which is unparallel and inexpressible in other languages. Quranic Arabic has also been precisely defined by Prophet and Ahl Bayt at certain times which has no equivalent in other languages. Such as the terms prayer, pilgrimage, fasting etc. have different connotations in Arabic than in English. Religiously, in Arabic these have precise modular meanings unlike the general meanings of English. We often see in Quran’s translations that some of the translations are not done from English equivalence but from Quranic exegesis. This is because an Arabic term might have more than one meaning and usages, while in English there is no equivalent of this. So, translators use a legal meaning depending on their choice of Islamic legal school and use it in their translations. Also, only in classical Arabic the verbs not only have morphological models but also have expressive models depending on morphological models. These, depending on the models, express any of the following: causation, intensity, participation, abundance, acceptance, effort and others. Understanding these is crucial in understanding the intent of God and thus Shariah Law.
Further readings
www.academia.edu/49603558/Essential_Summaries_of_Islam
www.researchgate.net/publication/346934817_Everything_About_The_Shariah_Law
Before any further discussion let us make it clear that today there are two interpretive schools of Quran and Islam. The individualist school which focuses on individualism of religiosity, personal rituals and religious minimization from life and society and this school is heavily influenced by western liberalism. The other is the collective school which believes in the superior and essential role of Islam in personal and collective lives of humanity and Muslims through political Islam and governance through Shariah law as was the reality of Prophetic rule. This school believes in accountability of individuals, enforcement of laws and authority of theocracy. The individualist school believes in explaining Islam on western liberalism and have no agenda of changing situation, circumstances and destiny of the people for Islam and by Islam. These liberals or fascists whichever rather than denying (takzeeb) laws of Quran and Sunnah twist and bend (tahreef) it to suit their purpose. For example instead of denying harsh punishment of adultery which is stoning or theft which is cutting of thieves’ hand they will say it was necessary in ancient time so God revealed it for those people not us.
Quranic laws are legal injunctions of Divine origin, both general and specific, regarding various issues of human existence and their behavior. The Divine laws are related to human activities and ideas. These laws are framed in such a way by the rich classical Arabic language that it considers many aspects of human behavior and actions in short expressions. Quran has a general theme of a law and then it has elaborations sometimes scattered all over. These elaborations are features and subsidiary laws of the main law. So, for example performance of Hajj is a main legal injunction but how to perform, it’s features are scattered over many places of both Quran and Sunnah. So, I have mainly discussed the main themes in this writing, and it is up to the Jurists to piece together all the subsidiary features and make a coherent algorithmic system out of a theme for legal adherence. Quranic laws can also describe one another by specification, precision, extension, reconciliation and/or demarcation.
Quranic and Islamic laws can have literal implications of its texts, individually or collectively or through the purposive implications of the texts, also individually or collectively. When analyzing texts all semantic possibilities arising from such should be analyzed and then discarded one by one until the semantic which is supported by Arabic language, prophetic and Ahl Bayt’s explanations, objectives of Islamic law, other texts and/or reason is established.
Imam Jafar Sadiq Pbuh says :
"Tell (the people) what you know, and when you don't know say; `God knows best.' (It happens that) someone singles out a verse from the Quran (interpreting it in isolation from the rest of the Book) deviating in it (from the truth) to an extent greater than the distance between the heaven and the earth."
Quranic laws are prescription of actions and beliefs both collectively and individually as these laws give rise to the concept of jurisdiction and authority. Every law has a scope so that it does not trespass over the scope of other laws. Scope and priority of laws delimitate to what extent laws should be followed. These scope and priority are understood from the laws themselves and the teachings of Prophet, Ahl Bayt, their companions, Arabic language and juristic reasoning. Generally, issue of scope and priority mostly arise in context of multiple laws competing to be applied in same situation and context but not all can be applied, so priority must be ascertained.
Some laws are obligatory on some people (fard kifaya) and some on every person (fard ain). Quranic laws are such that one textual ruling force you to think about many other connected rulings, so you are forced to place the ruling in context of other rulings. This is due to Quran's interconnectedness of laws and beliefs. When the intent of the text is established by the principles of language, tradition and logic then further legal issues arise which may not be mentioned in either Quran or sunnah so other legal tools from jurisprudence are utilized to find the intent of the Divine law giver into the new legal solutions.
Quranic laws have varying degree of expository semantics. Some are clear and precise, but some are just giving a general idea of the issue without precision and demarcation. Nonetheless Sunnah is the second authority for explanation and, Ahl Bayt and senior companions the third. Combined these three, are the interpretive foundations of Shariah Law. It is noteworthy to mention any narration which contradicts Quran is rejected. The contradiction must be evident and against the meaning of the text. It is not a contradiction when a sound and valid narration clarifies, specifies or extends a text’s semantics and scope of application. Also note that when understanding or interpreting Islam “source access” needs to be hierarchical. Many Muslims today first and foremost look to Sunnah or Hadith when discussing Islam. We need to understand the fact that many Sunnah or Hadith has been stated before a certain revelation of Quran in that particular issue, so the Sunnah or Hadith might have been rendered null and void. So, the source access must be in this order: non-abrogated verse of Quran, then explanatory Sunnah or hadith of the non-abrogated verse, then Sunnah or Hadith which is non-abrogated or not contradicted by Quran. The primary tool to understand non-abrogation of both Quran and Sunnah is Ahl Bayt. The general principle is all verses of Quran are authoritative unless evidence suggest otherwise. This can be from Quran itself or from Sunnah and Ahl Bayt or historical date.
Multiple categories of Quranic laws can be embedded in a single verse. This is a richness of Arabic and Arabic rhetoric called Balagah. Therefor I tried to put these laws under different categories so you will see some verses are repeated or parts of it. Quranic laws have embedded principles and legal maxims, which Islamic jurists have extrapolated to maintain the validity and authority of Quran for evolving times and new issues. These principles extend the laws of Quran and thus Islam in matters Quran is directly silent on.
Know that one way of dividing the commands of God in Quran is the following: A retributive command is a command which comes with a form of punishment and/or threat such as spiritual, physical and/or financial. All retributive commands are prohibitions. Then there is continuous command which are done continuously such as command of doing good always. Then there is conditional command which is valid for implementation when the condition of the command is realized, such as oppression begets jihad, or injustice begets justice or Ramadan begets fasting etc. Then there is timed command which takes places in specific times such as prayer, fasting and Hajj for example. Then there is permissive command which allows you to do something, for example God commands in Quran to marry us two, three, four but this does not mean we must marry two, three or four gradually but this means we are permitted to have a maximum number of four wives in any time. These categorizations may exist as hybrid in commands of God. Know that the basic themes of Quran are distributed in the following categories: Stories, biographies and history, threat and punishment, laws and legal principles, creed, future events.
Know that performance of God’s commands, some are detailed by Prophet while some are not. For example, prayer, Hajj, fasting, issues of divorce and marriage etc. have been algorithmically detailed by Quran and Prophet while some other such as jihad, governance etc. have been given general principles with few pivotal specifics and models. It is the duty of Muslims to realize all commands of God in the most efficient and creative ways. Herein lies the need for Islamic governance, legislature and judiciary. The Islamic court under Islamic government must adjudicate on all issues Quran and Sunnah discuss about, even if some of these issues are not directly governed or managed by the Islamic government.
Understand that collective here means the systematic whole and in this the adherence or completion of injunction needs collaboration of many divided duties and responsibilities, while the individual means that one’s certain action or belief is no concern of the systematic whole, while personal means that an injunction can be followed or completed by the personal self. Without an authority to enforce and a jurisdiction to enforce in there is no systematic whole. Without this systematic whole most of Quranic laws become inapplicable and chaotic as people vie for authority against each other and confusion. The Prophet implemented Quran not only personally but also as a leader, judge, general and lawgiver through a system of accountability, responsibility and distributed duties and rights. So, know that every command and guidance of the Quran has two recipients: the individual and the collective.
The collective mostly being the government or Islamic governance. The duty and responsibility of Islamic governance is to ensure compliance, administration, enforcement and facilitation of laws of God by adopting policies, practices and theories while respecting the privacy of its subjects and without being tyrant. So for example the Islamic governance will not spy on Muslims to see if they are praying or fasting or committing adultery but rather it should make sure that prayers and fasting are facilitated and financed or that pathway to adultery is blocked by suppressing pornification, nudity and indecency, and promoting polygamy and early marriage. Islamic governance cannot be a police state for its subjects. As an example, when God commands us to pray there is the individual Muslim who must pray according to the legal rules and also there is the Islamic governance which will ensure prayer is accommodated, facilitated and taught properly in education.
There are scopes for every Quranic and Prophetic command. The first is the command exerts its action on both the individual it addressed to and to others or it only exerts its action to the individual or it exerts its action to others only. Example of the first is command to establish prayer and zakat. Example of the second is command to remember God and example of the third is retributive laws such as punishments of theft, drinking adultery etc. These may be understood by the forms of verbs in Arabic such as mutaddi verb and lazim verb. These scopes thus are addressing the individuals as well as the people of authority such as government, the military etc.
God's commands are a training for mankind. Without habituated adherence people may often do things which they are prohibited to do and thus this will become a trend, only harming mankind's evolution. Quran being a model for the systematic whole thus also includes everyone under it, both Muslims and non-Muslims. Prophet ruled both Muslims and non-Muslims under Shariah law. Islam gives limited freedom of legal system for non-Muslims under its jurisdiction, but non-Muslims should also be under the jurisdiction of the non-faith-based laws of Quran. One such law is Jizya. The general rule is a legal issue of Muslims vs Muslims is judged by Quran, Muslims vs non-Muslims also by Quran but non-Muslims vs non-Muslims can be judged by their laws in limited domains.
Also know that English or any translations of Quran can never be used to deduce laws from Quran. The most sophisticated translation of Quran is that of Marmaduk Pickthall’s and he stated:
“..The Qur'an cannot be translated. ...The book is here rendered almost literally, and every effort has been made to choose befitting language. But the result is not the Glorious Qur'an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy. It is only an attempt to present the meaning of the Qur'an-and peradventure something of the charm in English. It can never take the place of the Qur'an in Arabic, nor is it meant to do so..” (1930).
This arises from certain facts. Classical Arabic is different from translated languages. They have different grammar, syntax, morphology, usage, pragmatics, semantics, sociolinguistics and historical linguistics. Arabic semantics and pragmatics are influenced greatly by the art of Balagah which is non-existent in other languages. One of the biggest differences between translations and Arabic Quran is its power of emotive expression which is unparallel and inexpressible in other languages. Quranic Arabic has also been precisely defined by Prophet and Ahl Bayt at certain times which has no equivalent in other languages. Such as the terms prayer, pilgrimage, fasting etc. have different connotations in Arabic than in English. Religiously, in Arabic these have precise modular meanings unlike the general meanings of English. We often see in Quran’s translations that some of the translations are not done from English equivalence but from Quranic exegesis. This is because an Arabic term might have more than one meaning and usages, while in English there is no equivalent of this. So, translators use a legal meaning depending on their choice of Islamic legal school and use it in their translations. Also, only in classical Arabic the verbs not only have morphological models but also have expressive models depending on morphological models. These, depending on the models, express any of the following: causation, intensity, participation, abundance, acceptance, effort and others. Understanding these is crucial in understanding the intent of God and thus Shariah Law.
Further readings
www.academia.edu/49603558/Essential_Summaries_of_Islam
www.researchgate.net/publication/346934817_Everything_About_The_Shariah_Law
Proudly powered by Weebly