Islam as I Understand It - Pakistani Diplomat, Writer
07 December 2016By Saeed Qureshi
Let us first of all admit that Islam is a religion just like Christianity and
Judaism; that it is a monotheistic religion like Judaism. That it shares its
divine ancestry with Judaism and Christianity, even if the latter two
religions don't accept it, because they claim to be the forerunners of Islam.
It is in the same way that Judaism doesn't accept Christianity which came much
after Judaism.
Let us also acknowledge that Islam has a rich heritage and culture like other
faiths. The Islamic religio-social traditions and customs teach how to dress
up especially for the women, what to eat (meals from legitimate income and in
case of meat the animals to be slaughtered in a religiously defined way). The
Islamic ethos also spells out the ways to celebrate the religious days and how
to host feasts. It also includes the circumcision and the marriage ceremonies.
Islam does not encourage the kind of music and modes of entertainment that
arouse sexual, carnal and lecherous sentiments.
Islam like other religions has symbols also. These, inter-alia are the mosque,
rosary, holy water (Zam Zam), beard, moon, black stone placed in one of the
walls of the House of the Lord (Khana Ka'ba), the green color, the curved
sword, minarets and turban. Like many other religions, the Muslims too have a
holy book Qur'an. It is our common knowledge that this religion sprouted in
the Arab land whereas the Christianity and the Jewish were born in the North
of the Arab peninsula.
Islam has a package of five basic beliefs. These are: belief in one God or
Allah, belief in Angels, belief in Holy Scriptures (Torah, and Bible), belief
in the apostles or messengers of God, belief in the Judgment Day, belief in
God's omniscience, prior knowledge and determination of all things.
Islam has also five pillars of Observance or obligations. These are Shahada
(declaration of faith) that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the
messenger of Allah. The second is Salat or prayer with face towards Haram
Sharif or Khana Ka'ba five times a day. The third is the Zakat or alms which
ordains giving a percentage of one's income to the poor and underprivileged.
The fourth is Fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan. The fifth is Hajj
or pilgrimage once in life time if possible financially or health wise.
There are two sources of Islamic Sharia or law in Islam. While the Quran is
the primary basis for the Sharia, it is in the second source the Sunna or the
life of the prophet as recorded in the Hadith that has been a major source of
information for the details of the law only hinted or omitted in Koran. The
Sunnah or Hadith of Prophet Muhammad comprises his actions, silent approvals,
decisions, utterances, sayings and edicts. The decisions and sayings of the
four successors of the prophet called caliphs are also used as precedents for
making decisions on matters concerning Muslims or non- Muslims.
Sharia covers the entire body of Islamic law as it developed since the time of
the prophet (six hundred legal references in Koran and Prophet Muhammad's
statements contained in the Hadith). Sharia clarifies if there is confusion on
a certain matter. It interprets rules and regulations, decisions and edicts of
the prophet and Quran.
The constituents of Islamic Sharia are not confined to Quran and Hadith alone.
The other sources are some of the Pagan customs from the Bedouins like Muta
and dowry and also the traditional commercial/agrarian practices. A select
number of Roman and Byzantine laws have also been incorporated in the Islamic
Sharia. For instance, the plaintiff must produce evidence and witnesses
otherwise defendant can swear and clear himself. Jewish, Persian and Greek
traditions and laws also form part of Islamic Sharia.
The Quran narrates parables and stories of the ancient prophets, nations,
societies and civilizations and warns as to why they prospered and why some of
them received divine wrath and vanished. It gives vivid and detailed
information about the life after death, the Day of Judgment and the final
destinations of the Heaven and the Hell.
Islam judges or evaluates the temporal and the ecclesiastical matters and the
deeds of a Muslim faithful through five parameters or commands. These are:
absolute duty, (Fard), commendable (Mustanjab), permissible (Mubah)
reprehensible but without punishment (Makruh) and forbidden (Haram). These
five criteria also fall under Sharia. As already explained, the Sharia that
governs the conduct of a person or group is derived from the text of Qur'an
and also from the practical life of the prophet.
The Islamic state was headed by Prophet Muhammad in the city of Medina in 622
- 632 A D. This was the actual period when the fundamental contours of a
Muslim state were laid down. Since prophet (SAW) himself was the ultimate
authority on all temporal and divine affairs, his words, decisions and
verdicts were unquestionably accepted as the commandments of God conveyed to
him through divine revelation (Wahi).
But when the Muslims in subsequent times, through their conquests and
preaching missions came into contacts with other civilizations and religions,
they faced enormous doctrinal and administrative challenges that had to be
resolved rationally if these did not have the precedents within the Quran or
the life of the founder of Islam. It is in the wake of such intellectual and
doctrinal dilemmas that several schools of jurisprudence for elucidation of
Sharia to the outside world and even to the inquisitive Muslim came into
being.
The four such orthodox schools of Islamic law that dealt with the application
and expansion of Sharia in the subsequent times are:
Abu Hanifa: analogies, parallels or Qiyas gleaned from Quran if there is no
order or injunction in Quran or Sunna.
Imam Malik: His collections of laws relied on local traditions of Prophet
Muhammad and his companions in order to fit into the customary law.
Al Shafi: Stipulates compromise between tradition and independent thought,
restricts use of common sense as done in Imam Abu Hanifa's Qiyas practice. He
founded the science of Muslim jurisprudence
Ibn Hanbal: He was ultra conservative. His legal philosophy is called Nass.
Nass is the binding ordinance explicit in the Quran and Hadith. It means
sanctified opinion derived from only Quran and Hadith and no other source.
While he rejected human reasoning adopted by other three Islamic scholars, he
preferred even Shaky Hadith to determine a law or decision.
These schools operate within the framework of Ijtihad that means
reinterpretation of Sharia or Islamic laws. The decisions arrived at are
ordained to be with Ijma or consensus and not to be a single opinion (Raye) of
an individual.
Besides these schools, the Muslim thinkers also tried to answer many
philosophical contradictions through intellectual scrutiny and rational
explanations. Such questions were about the predestination, the free will,
mysticism, religious truths and intellectual truths, role of reason in
relation to the theological truths and so on.
Apart from these intellectual and religious debates ranging since the passing
away of the prophet till now, the simple principle on which the entire Islamic
religious philosophy and precepts boil down is that man should live like a
servant of God and accept him as the only creator who not only governs the
universe and all the existence but also watches the Muslims in the light of
their good and bad deeds or intentions.
Based upon the nature of a deed in this world, God, on the judgment day, will
give reward and punishment accordingly. The obedience to God has not only to
be professed verbally but practically demonstrated through five times daily
and one time weekly prayers. A faithful's virtuous life and personal good
conduct is also a testimony to his submission to God as his subject.
Thus, Islam wants man to be an embodiment of all positive and good virtues
such as humility, charity, peace, chastity, kindness, tolerance, love for
fellow believers, respect for elders, and women and so on. The crux of all
these noble traits is defined in one phrase that, ''a good Muslim is that
whose tongue and actions are not harmful to others''. Islam means submission
and Muslim means who practices Islam and is unconditionally obedient to God.
Prophet's Muhammad's period of leadership is deemed by the Muslims as the
ideal model both from mundane and spiritual standpoints. To a lesser degree,
the caliphs' life of piety, self-denial and untainted dispensation of justice
is also taken and followed as beacons for Muslims. The Shia sect in Islam
believes only in the spiritual leadership of the fourth caliph Hazrat Ali, who
was the cousin brother and son in law of the prophet also.
The ideological cleavage between the Shias and the Sunnis is the incurable
wound inflicted on the body of Islam. Although, they share major common
elements of faith, yet the Muslim nation is irredeemably and rather
irreconcilably divided into two distinct factions forever. Their mutual
antagonism is as deep rooted and chronically as bitter as the religious
animosity between the Muslims and the non-Muslims. This festering fissure
resulted from the claim of the fourth caliph Hazrat Ali as the rightful
successor of the prophet for the caliphate.
As for fundamental beliefs, Islam brooks no compromise, nor tolerance nor any
deviation. As for the rituals, these are subject to certain conditions that
apply keeping in view the physical, social and financial status of a faithful.
For instance, pilgrimage is essential for those who can afford it monetarily.
The religious tax (Zakat) is also contingent upon the economic position of a
member of Islamic fraternity. The fasting is also not strictly applicable to
those with infirm health, pregnant women or during traveling or for similar
reasons.
Islamic culture goads moderation, sanctity, piety and sobriety. It shuns or
discourages the indecent extravaganza, the morbid exhibitionism, or lewd show
off. For instance, Islam allows feasts on weddings and merry making on joyful
occasions but exhorts serenity and no lavish spending. In matter of dresses or
costumes, it is not necessary to dress up like Arabs by wearing a big long rob
but one is ordained to cover the nakedness of certain parts of the body.
The purpose is to maintain sanctity of one's body which is more rigid in case
of women for being an object of amorous eyes from the impious or sexually
pervert people. Understandably, such conditions can be met by wearing even
western, Chinese or African dresses if these fulfill the basic criterion of
covering the body and maintaining modesty.
Mindful that the religious teachings and dogmas would not remain rigid for all
times and in different societies, the prophet kept the door for amendments and
changes open in Sharia but without deviation from the main corpus of Islamic
teachings. This is called Ijtihad (literally means exertion). As such, all the
interpretations or alterations in the Sharia worked out by the succeeding
Muslim philosophers and religious scholars were done in the light of that
provision.
When we compare the western democracy with the Islamic political system and
the choosing of the leaders in the primitive Islamic societies with that of
the modern times, we tend to forget that it was only after the Renaissance and
Reformation that the Europe started embarking upon the democratic path.
Otherwise, the Christendom was afflicted with bloodletting conflicts between
old Roman Church and the proponents of reforms throughout the Middle Ages. So,
to paint only Islam as undemocratic is not a pragmatic or truthful approach to
the Islamic system of government.
Democratic system functions in a closely-knit world with fast communications
as we have in the modern times. Otherwise the Greek democracy that was
prevalent even before Christ was confined to the cities. Beyond the city
states, it could not be expanded because an integrated system of voting or
conducting elections in the length and breadth of the vast empire was not
possible. Moreover, those were not the ages of enlightenment and therefore the
true democratic culture even if conceived could not be practically followed
during the present times.
The Sharia that was prevalent during the time of Prophet Muhammad and four
caliphs (632-661) can still be applicable if it is suitably modified to bring
it in conformity with the phenomenally different world of today. The consensus
can be brought about, if the narrow concepts and beliefs affected by sects and
denominations, contrary to the age of prophet, are set aside. Or at best these
sects can still function but the main consensus code should remain supreme.
Which means that the symbols are just a window dressing and have no pronounced
bearing on the life of a Muslim faithful? The rituals are relative and are
strictly obligatory for those who have the capacity to observe them. The
beliefs are confined to the individual and are personal. What matters most is
the resolution or dealing with the crimes, anti-social practices and
destructive actions of the citizens.
Islam presents a general framework for dispensation of justice. The cardinal
principle that Islam lays down is the strict fair play, administering absolute
justice in complete disregard of someone being poor or rich, influential or
obscure, a common man or a man of authority. It should be acknowledged that
the modern judicial system fulfills all these conditions if applied by such a
government that would respect and sincerely promote law and justice.
It means that the punishment to the convict is imperative but the choice of
the punishment and the mode of dispensation can be improved or reformed for
such punishments as beheading with a sword. For instance, the theologians and
Islamic jurists must acknowledge and therefore incorporate it in a new Islamic
code that covering of veil was not possible for women now as was done in
tribal or feudal societies in the past and even now.
It is also essential to change through an agreed Ijtihad process that a rape
female victim instead of being further victimized and brutalized by the
religious laws must be helped against the male rapists. So, such unattainable
or impracticable conditions as to the production of four witnesses must be
discarded because in the present times, the occurrence of rape and the
identity of the rapist can be verified by scientific means such as testing of
DNA.
The Islamic caveat concerning the interest or mark-up has to be modified
because the complexion of the societies and the nature of interest have
undergone a radical change. The Arabian society in the 6th or 7th centuries
was primarily agrarian. The usury or the interest was charged in advance on
cash given to a needful. Now the concept of interest is not like those
primitive societies.
The interest-bearing economy is now profit making economy because the money
remains in circulation. That is how the wealth increases and the economy
grows. The old interest concept which now is rather reinvestment for profit
has to be modified.
Similarly, another issue relating to patrimony or inheritance and alimony
(allowance paid by the husband to divorced wife) has to be redefined in the
modern societies when the civil laws enshrined in the modern jurisprudence,
treat these issues better than the antiquated customs that were derived from
the tribal system. If a reinterpretation is not thought about, still the
parallel legal or economic system cannot be ignored or ruled out. The world
today is interdependent. The Muslims cannot live in isolation.
So, it depends upon the governments to apply and enforce laws, otherwise even
the best of rules and caveats fail and remain ineffective. The example is the
multitudinous Islamic caliphates that used Islam to justify their illegitimate
hold on power. They fought each other for power and decimated their rivals to
the last man as exemplified by the power struggle between Umayyad and Abbasid
and later between other Islamic dynasties.
The religion of Islam is patently secular in nature, not in the religious
sense but in terms of its openness, liberalism and accommodation for all
opposing creeds and cultures. The incontrovertible shining example of that is
the Muslim rule in Spain (756-1492), when the Christians and the Jews lived
with the ruling Muslims, enjoying equal rights and in peace and dignity.
In the contemporary times, Malaysia, Indonesia, Tunis, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt
and certain Central Asian states offer examples of enlightened, accommodating,
progressive Islamic polities where minorities live in peace, harmony and
equality along with the Muslim majority. In these countries, the Islamic laws
have been enforced in such a way that these not only fulfill the pristine
spirit of Islamic Sharia, but also meet the requirements of a modern state.
Although polygamy is practically nonexistent for the majority of the Muslims,
yet it is one of the stigmas that Islam suffers from. The polygamy is
prevalent mostly in the Arab lands. In other countries, it is sparingly
practiced in the tribal, feudal and religious classes. But for outsiders this
has invariably, been used as a slanderous tool against the Muslims to prove
that the women folks were sex chattels, were lesser equal and inferior to the
males.
That is true to a degree. In order to deal with this contentious issue, it is
necessary that the Muslim jurists and theologians should sit together and
hammer out a formula that should aim at discouraging the polygamous tendencies
and practices in the Muslim societies. Or it can be declared forbidden through
Ijtihad.
But I strongly reckon that as the societies tend to be more progressive, the
Muslims would themselves abandon the polygamy. As a result, though, the
divorce rate would soar among the Muslims as we can see in the western
societies where polygamy is lawfully banned. Even now the educated and
independent women do not like to marry a person who would be already married.
So, the modernization of the Islamic conservative societies would neutralize
this social slur associated with Islam. The domestic violence should be
sternly dealt by the Islamic governments but it would also be hopefully
outstripped and fade away with the passage of time.
Modernism, liberalism and secularism is the answer to the backwardness,
indolence, underdevelopment and intellectual, economic and social decadence of
the Islamic world. The Jews hammered out a historic compromise in 18th century
when they imbibed and adopted the western ways of life at the behest of the
Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Professor Moses exhorted the Jews to
abandon their rigid fanaticism and Talmud and conform to western culture.
Through a political movement aided by the capitalist Europe and America the
establishment of the state of Israel was made possible in 1948. In the same
way, the Islamic religious fervor has got to be rational and aided by the
political and reformative spirit if the Islamic countries want to be counted
as modern nations in contemporary world.
The first constitution is always vulnerable to further alterations and
amendments. Likewise, the original Islamic ideologies and dogmas that became
controversial, counterproductive and rather unworkable, should be overhauled
while keeping intact their spirit and core philosophy and teachings of Islam.
If Ijtihad started barely 80 years after the demise of the prophet of Islam by
the Muslim reformers, theologians, philosophers and scholars, then such an
endeavor is indispensable in the modern times when the Islamic teachings are
targeted for their irrationality, obscurantism, subjectivity, inconsistencies
and for being out of sync with the rapidly advancing imperatives of a highly
competitive modern world.
In Christendom, after prolonged controversies, debates and bloodshed, the
state finally managed to relieve itself from the influence of papal supremacy
or the domination of the church. Every country established its own church or
denomination in Europe, elsewhere in the world, and of late in the United
States. The Church and state were separated for their respective roles. That
proved to be a blessing in disguise both for the church and the state.
Similarly, in Muslim societies a gigantic effort is needed to harmoniously
blend the Islamic beliefs and religious creed with the dynamics and
progressive spirit of the modern societies without compromising the essential
teachings.
In Islamic states, the state and religion have to function without mutual
conflict and contradiction. There should be no place, for fundamentalism,
sectarianism, fanaticism, or rigid adherence to a creed, that is outdated and
ruinous to the cosmopolitan nature of Islam. An enlightened and updated
fundamentalism (the age of prophet) is the need of the hour for Islamic
societies to move forward and join the comity of modern states in
technological, scientific and in other domains of human and material
advancement
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