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 | Subject: The Top Six Mistakes in Usul  Sun Jul 03, 2011 8:48 am | |
| The Top Six Mistakes in Usul (Parts 4 & 5)
By: Shazia Ahmad
“All Rulings Change according to Circumstances and Context.”
Another mistake people make when considering the rules of Shari’ah (Islamic law) is assuming that they are always subject to change, especially if they seem illogical or inappropriate for one’s personal circumstances or in modern-day settings. While some rulings are contextual and can change with time and place, others are firmly fixed, and remain constant even in varying circumstances. This unique structure of the Shari’ah – in which certain core principles and rulings are unchanging, and others have room for flexibility – is what has allowed Islam to be a viable, vibrant tradition, applied and practiced by people across the spectrum of time, culture, and society. This is also where the pivotal role of scholars can be seen, in terms of navigating the texts and helping people see where lines must be drawn in new and changing circumstances and environments.
While we find this beautiful balance evident in the Shari’ah, we often find laypeople moving to one extreme or the other, in seeking to make the religion overly restricted and rigid, or excessively indulgent in a manner that forsakes the texts and Islam’s foundational principles. In this article, we will focus on addressing the idea that “all rulings of Shari’ah are relative.” (The contentions of the first party, who say the opposite, will be addressed in our next article in this series, insha’Allah.)
There are two major misconceptions related to this idea that need to be clarified. The first is the contention that Islam is a logical religion; therefore, any ruling whose logic cannot be understood or perceived by us in a given circumstance can be altered or annulled. An example of this line of thinking can be found in some people’s belief about the hijab.1 Some people would argue that, from a logical standpoint, it would seem that hijab was ordained as a means of deflecting attention. However, in today’s world, especially in the West, we find that hijab actually draws the eye and attracts people’s attention most of the time. Consequently, they would argue, hijab should no longer be an obligation. Since the wisdom or logical motive that we have assigned to the ruling has changed, they would assert that the ruling itself should also change.
It is true that Islam is a logical religion, which calls on us to use our minds and to worship our Lord with intelligence and knowledge. The rules of Shari’ah we are asked to follow are not arbitrary, but form a comprehensive body of law that functions to bring benefit to human beings, as individuals and societies. There is an underlying rationale for everything Allah decrees, prescribes for us and prohibits us from doing. In fact, the vast majority of scholars agree that every single rule of Shari’ah either works to bring about some benefit or ward away harm.2 However, it is important to note that we may not always be cognizant of the wisdom, or hikmah, behind a given ruling. It may be that the hikmah has not been made clearly evident to us through the texts, that is beyond our comprehension or perception, or that it is something we fail to recognize in a given instance or case.
Since one’s perception of a ruling’s logic or wisdom in a given situation is, by its nature, something subjective, speculative, and in many ways limited, using it as the criterion by which rulings are accepted or rejected is clearly problematic. We must concede that we consider things from the lens of our own experiences, background, and social and cultural realities, and therefore may, in some cases, overlook the wisdom of a certain ruling, or be limited in our ability to see its far-reaching effects and consequences. This is what Allah Most High alludes to in the verse in the Qur’an that says, “It may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.” (Quran, 2:216)
We also find, particularly in matters of worship, that the wisdom behind a ruling may be subtle or somewhat difficult to discern. Why do we pray four raka’at (units of prayer) for Isha and only two for Fajr? Why does sighting the moon of Ramadan compel us to fast? Why does rubbing our hands and faces with dust suffice to make us ritually pure in certain cases (in the act of tayammum3) and not other materials? In such matters there is a certain deference that is required of the believer, in realizing that there are things beyond one’s realm of understanding. This is what Imam al-Ghazali refers to when he says,
“We believe that there is a hidden wisdom which underlies the fact that the number of rak’ahs for the dawn prayer has been set at two, for the sundown prayer three, and for the late afternoon prayer four. That is to say, these set numbers of raka’ahs embody a form of kindness and blessing for human beings which is known to God alone. Hence, we do not seek to understand it, rather, we content ourselves with drinking from the wellsprings He has provided.”4
Even Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, who went to great lengths in his works to identify the wisdoms behind various rulings, stated that, “There are mysteries pertaining to the rulings on the acts of worship which are known to the Lawgiver alone, and which, although they may be grasped in a general sense, cannot be comprehended in detail.”5
From this we can understand that simply because a ruling does not seem logical to us, or does not seem to fulfill the wisdom for which it was established in a given scenario, does not mean that it can automatically be cancelled or changed. Taking the example that was mentioned earlier, we see that the obligation of hijab does not center around one’s perception of its wisdoms being fulfilled in a given case or not. In actuality, its obligatory nature is based on the more objective matter of its clear legislation in the Quran, for Muslim women who have reached the age of legal accountability. When the prerequisites are fulfilled, the obligation comes into effect, independent of whether one feels the wisdom behind it is realized in one’s present circumstances or not. While contextual factors may come into play in the realm of iftaa (personalized rulings that take into account specific circumstances in a person’s life), they do not alter matters that are well established by clear texts (al ma`lumu min ad-deeni bid-darura). Those rulings that can legitimately be changed by context must be assessed in an objective and impartial way by the scholars, who can make determinations with due respect to the intricacy involved in such an endeavor. We as individuals, on the other hand, cannot presume to conjecture in this way based on our personal opinions and feelings, especially in the face of clear textual evidences.
The second misconception people often have in relation to this issue is assuming that they are somehow personally exempt from clear prohibitions or commands. A person may concede that there is wisdom or benefit in certain guidelines of Shari’ah, but somehow find ways to excuse him or herself from actually applying them in one’s life. One may, for example, recognize the wisdom in the prohibition of an unrelated man and woman sitting together in a private and intimate setting, but when considering one’s own personal circumstances, may find many objections to complying with these rules. “It’s just my brother-in-law,” one may say, or “It’s too extreme to implement in my office.” Similarly, we may hear people say, “I can be modest without wearing hijab,” or, “I remember God throughout the day, I don’t really see the need for ritualized worship.” In a sense, one is stating that the rulings of Shari’ah are so inappropriate or unsuitable for one’s life that one cannot actually apply them. From another perspective, one is asserting by these statements that they are somehow above the rules needed to keep the common people in line. In either case, such statements can often be traced back to a lack of proper understanding about these matters from the Islamic perspective, and at times, may also be symptomatic of an underlying spiritual issue with arrogance. We must remember the verse in the Qur’an in which Allah calls on us to “enter into Islam wholeheartedly” (2:208). Faith is not a mere expression of the tongue, feeling in the heart, or conceptualization in the mind, but a reality that should manifest itself in our lives and by our limbs. The rulings of Shari’ah were sent as a means for us to purify and better ourselves, and not merely to be dissected, intellectualized, or hypothesized over. The most noble and spiritual of people, our beloved Prophet Muhammad, ﷺ (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), was subject to the Shari’ah and sought to implement it to its letter in his own life, though one could argue that his spiritual rank or intellectual station could have excused him from this.
The great scholar Ibn Qudama al Maqdisi describes people who fall into the mistake of feeling personally exempt from Shari’ah in the following way:
“(Such people) roll up and put away the carpet of the Sacred Law, rejecting its rulings and considering the unlawful and lawful to be equal, saying, ‘Allah does not need my works, so why should I bother?’ One of them may say, ‘Outward devotions have no value, only hearts mean anything.’ … They claim to have surpassed the rank of the common people, beyond the need to school the lower self with physical devotions, and that gratifying bodily lusts does not divert them from the path of Allah Most High because of their firmness therein. They exalt themselves above the level of the prophets, upon whom be peace, who used to weep for years over a single mistake.”6
We all have weaknesses, and may be grappling with certain Islamic concepts or some elements of our religious practice. However, we should not let these struggles cause us to lose a sense of humbleness and submission before Allah Most High. In fact, Allah loves the humble, sinful servant of His more than an arrogant worshipper. It is far better to admit that one is personally struggling with a sin, than to try to reconstruct Shari’ah in an attempt to justify one’s behavior to oneself or others.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we must recognize that part of the beauty of the Shari’ah is the constancy of its values, principles, and rulings that provide a framework for how believers should live their lives. In an age in which most everything is considered morally relative, and ethics can be intellectualized into non-existence, these constants can be seen as an anchor that keep us from floating adrift in theory and abstractions, and from interpretations of religion that are more in line with personal desires and inclinations than with sacred truths.
“None of you will be a true believer,” The Prophet ﷺ taught, “until his inclinations and preferences [hawa] are in accordance to what I have brought.”7 May Allah Most High help us reach that station, and live our lives in loving obedience to His law. Ameen.
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The guidelines for modest dress prescribed in the Quran for Muslim women. ↩
Sa’adatul Wusul ila ‘Ilm al-Usul, by Ustadh Nadheer Adas, p.41. Mahad at-Ta’heeli curriculum at Abu Nour Institute, Damascus, Syria. ↩
Tayammum (تيمم) refers to a dry ablution using sand or dust, which may be performed in place of ablution with water if no clean water is readily available or if using it would be detrimental to one’s health. ↩
Imam al-Shatibi’s Theory of the Higher Objectives and Intents of Islamic Law, by Ahmad al-Raysuni, pp. 180-181. IIIT Publications. ↩
Ibid, p. 183. ↩
Reliance of the Traveler, ‘Book of Delusions’, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, p. 789 (s4.3). Amana Publications. ↩
This hadith can be found in Imam an-Nawawi’s Book of 40 Hadith and Sharh as-Sunnah by Baghawi. ↩
“The rules of Shari`ah should be constant and unchanging.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum are those who believe that the Shariah is a completely static and fixed entity. Such people may scorn the idea of rulings of Shariah changing from one circumstance to another as 'watering down Islam,' or 'changing Allah's religion to please people.' In a desire to protect religious practice from the whims of the lower self or from adulteration by modern-day trends, they may insist on applying the rulings of Shariah in the exact way they were articulated and practiced in the time of the early generations of Muslims, or the era of certain classical scholars and their students. What is often overlooked here is that in one's zeal to shield one's religious practice from inappropriate change, one may actually be closing the doors on changes that the Shariah does in fact condone. In lumping together all the rulings of Islamic law into one monolithic category - that of being fixed, independent of context, and the same through varying times and places - one is making Shariah overly rigid, in a way that is not faithful to its inherently balanced nature. In this article we will discuss some of the means by which rulings of Shariah can legitimately change, seek to differentiate between rulings which are affected by contextual factors and those that are not, and clarify some misconceptions related to these points.
The Role of Culture and Custom in Shariah
Scholars of Usul distinguish between two types of rulings when considering whether cultural factors play a legitimate role in their development. The first type are those rulings of Shariah that are constant, such as acts of worship, like prayer and the rites of Hajj, as well as commands and prohibitions that are clear and well-established by texts (al-m`alumu min ad-deeni bidarura), such as the obligation of mutual consent in contracts, the prohibition of the consumption of alcohol, a husband's financial obligation to his wife, the obligation of hijab, and so on.1 Matters of culture, custom, or factors related to time and place have no influence on the establishment of these rulings and they remain unvarying across history and geography.
The other type of rulings are those that, by their nature, must take into account the normative practices or customs of the people who are seeking to apply them. An example of this can been seen in the rulings related to statements of divorce. Whether a statement would be considered an overt expression of divorce (sareeh) or one that is ambiguous and connotes more than one meaning (kinaya) would depend on the customary usage of certain expressions and phrases in the language of a people. Similarly, muru'ah, or the condition of uprightness necessary for the acceptance of one's testimony, is determined in different ways in different places. A man entering a public setting with his head uncovered would be a sign of immodesty and a lack of muru'ah in many traditional Eastern cultures, while in other places this would not be the case. A third example can be seen in the command for believers to interact with others with ma`ruf, in a manner of goodness and excellence. The exact actions one would commit and the particular words one may say to be considered behaving with ma`ruf would obviously vary, depending on the respective culture and situation. These are all examples of rulings that are related to custom, and what is intended by the axiom that, "Common practices or customs of a people can be used as a legislative source for rulings." (al-`aadatu muhakkamah).
What is important to note here is that the Lawgiver, Allah the Exalted, has linked some rulings to context and situation (manat), and that this naturally leads to different manifestations of these rulings in different scenarios. This does not mean, as some may presume, that one is deviating from the law itself, since these varying configurations are within the legitimate breadth of the original command or prohibition in question. In the same way we find water a legitimate means of purification in some cases, and dust a legitimate means in others (in tayammum3), each depending on the circumstance, so too we find rulings applied in different ways according to context, while still maintaining the underlying directives intended.
In the examples mentioned above, we see that the underlying rules or directives of Shariah are not in any way challenged or altered. The legal consequences of explicit and implicit statements of divorce remain the same. The condition of muru'ah for a witness's testimony remains intact, and the command for acting with ma`ruf remains constant. However, it is in consideration of the relevant culture that a scholar assesses the situation and determines how these rulings can accurately be applied.
The Role of Maslaha in Shariah
A second means by which rulings may be subject to change or new rulings may be established is related to the concept of maslaha, or consideration of public interest. Scholars may seek to establish a ruling with the objective of securing the well-being of a people, either by promoting some benefit for them or protecting them from some type of harm.
This method of legislation is limited to matters of ijtihad, and excludes devotional matters (`ibadat) and issues that have been definitively established by authentic texts (qat`iyat). Establishing this type of ruling also has certain conditions. It must be in line with the objectives of the Lawgiver, have a realistic probability of bringing about the benefit intended to the general population, and be corroborated in some way by a definitive text or scholarly consensus.5 Some scholars, particularly of the Maliki and Hanbali schools, state that such a ruling would have proper grounds for legislation even if no indication about it exists in Shariah, as long as it does not conflict with any of the Shariah's established values and principles.6 This is because the texts we have available to us are limited and fixed in number, while the varying and evolving situations of people are virtually limitless.
We find examples of this consideration of maslaha in the practice of even the earliest generations of Muslims, including the companions of the Prophet . Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) authorized the compilation of the Quran into one volume during his rule - something that was not done in the time of the Prophet - after concern for its preservation intensified with the death of many of those who had memorized it. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) suspended the prescribed punishment for theft in a year of famine out of consideration for those who may have felt compelled to steal out of duress. He intensified the punishment for drinking alcohol when many of the companions became concerned about its widespread acceptance, due to the influence of Persian culture. He also ruled that three statements of divorce in one sitting would count as three separate divorces, in order to lay emphasis on the seriousness of such pronouncements. These were unprecedented rulings that were not seen in the earlier rule of Abu Bakr or the time of the Prophet. Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) ruled that if a husband irrevocably divorced his wife on his deathbed with the intent of barring her from inheritance, she would still be granted her rightful share of the inheritance. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) would hold craftsmen and traders responsible for the loss of goods that were placed in their custody, in order to ensure greater care in safeguarding others' property.9 A later example can be seen in the issue of accepting financial compensation for teaching Quran or acting as an imam or muezzin. While Imam Abu Hanifa and his students Abu Yusuf and Shaybani prohibited people from doing so, later Hanafi scholars allowed it as a means to help preserve the Quran, and because such people were no longer provided for from the treasury of the Islamic state. When the circumstances changed, we find that the ruling changed as well.
From these points we can see that even in the earliest generations of Muslims, scholars had an interest in and sensitivity to the current trends and issues that were affecting their communities, and would issue their rulings in consideration of them. The task of the scholar was not only to accurately derive rulings from textual sources, but to determine the best method of their application in a given situation, community, and culture, that would bring about the most benefit and minimize harm. Such a task required sound knowledge not only of sacred texts, but also of context.
The Dilemma of Importing Fatwas
In light of the above, we can see why dependence on fatwas from abroad or from ages-old texts could, in some cases, be quite problematic. A thorough understanding of the normative culture of a people is very important, particularly in matters of marriage, divorce, and other social issues. While rulings on matters of ritual purification, prayer, fasting, and so on may be independent of context and therefore legitimately gleaned from qualified scholars in any locality or from any time period, this is not the case for many matters that we find pressing in our communities and families. It is for this reason that the development of an indigenous scholarship in our times, that has a strong grounding the Islamic sciences as well as a deep and nuanced understanding of the environment in which their rulings will be applied, is vital. An Arabic expression states, "the people of Mecca are most knowledgeable about its hills and valleys" - meaning that those who are native to a land are the most familiar with it and the best able to navigate its territory. Similarly, scholars who are indigenous to a land and are currently living in it would be most adept at addressing its people's concerns, problems, and issues.
The Question of Minority Fiqh (Fiqh al-Aqalliyat)
Minority fiqh, or fiqh al-aqalliyyat, has been criticized by some as a means of illegitimately changing rulings to accommodate living in a non-Muslim environment. While the term itself is relatively new, the concept of certain religious rulings changing according to context and environment is not something novel to Islamic jurisprudence, as we have clearly shown. Having a category in fiqh that expressly relates to the concerns, questions, needs and difficulties that Muslims face as a minority - issues that are often not found in the traditional lands of Islam - should be seen as a specialization, and not a deviation. http://www.suhaibwebb.com/islam-studies/the-top-six-mistakes-in-usul-part-5/ | |
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