There are several sources from which the Islamic community derive their
understanding of what it means to live their lives in submission to Allah.
These sources address issues that are not only religious in nature, but
that cover all human activities, both individual and social.
The Qur’an
The revelation given to the Prophet is called the Qur’an, or literally
‘reading’ or ‘recitation’. It is in the form of a book which consists of
114 chapters called suras. The suras are not chronologically ordered. Muslim
tradition has maintained that Muhammad was illiterate, and that scribes
took down the words of Allah, which Muhammad heard in his experiences,
as he dictated them. Therefore, the Qur’an is the Word of God, uncreated,
direct and unalterable. It was not an interpretation by the prophet. The
prophet was merely the means by which the Word of God was communicated
via the angel Gabriel. The primary message of the Qur’an is the unity of
God and the death and damnation of idolaters.
The Qur’an was committed to memory by many immediate followers of the Prophet and was also written down, though not in the form of a book in the lifetime of the Prophet. The Qur’an was collected in the form of a book two years after the death of the Prophet by his closest followers. A second edition was prepared in the reign of the third caliph, Uthman bin Affan. The text of the Qur’an has remained preserved without any alterations or omissions until today.
Muhammad always intended that the revelation should form a book. According to Muslim tradition, the arrangement of the verses and even the chapters of the Qur’an were part of the divine scheme, which means that the Prophet gave clear instructions to his followers about the ordering of the chapters and verses. The Qur’an as we have it today, is not ordered chronologically, but more or less according to the length of the chapters, in general.
Contrary to popular belief, the Qur’an is not a legal code. Essentially
it is a book of religious and moral principles. Despite this, most of the
basic principles necessary for a healthy civilised society are frequently
mentioned in the Qur’an. Qur’anic legislation is mainly ethical in quality,
and the verses which deals with legal matters do not constitute a large
part of the Qur’an. The legal topic which attracted the attention of the
Qur’an mostly was those verses seeking to improve the role of women.
Hadith
The most important source of guidance for Muslims after the Qur’an
is the Hadith meaning the ‘story’ or ‘tradition’ of the prophet. The Hadith
comprises the sayings, deeds and tacit approvals of the Prophet, and normally
runs as follows;
The Prophet not only transmitted the Qur’an. He put its teachings into practice in all aspects of his life. He founded a state, administered it as his head, led armies, maintained law and order, and legislated in all walks of life. In all of this the Prophet was putting the Qur’anic principles and teaching into practice.
The importance of the Hadith was very clear for the early Muslims. In the first century of Islam, details of the Prophet’s sayings and life began to be collected and transmitted, though this did not occur in a formal or systematic way. In the earliest of these materials, the substance was given much more importance than the Prophet’s precise words, and no special care was taken in transmission. As a result, a large number of forged Hadith attributed to the Prophet came into circulation. These we often written to defend a particular practice or to emphasise a particular point of moral behaviour or doctrine. Within two centuries, methods of control had been instituted so that genuine Hadith could be distinguished from the forgeries. Each Hadith would be classified as ‘sound’, ‘good’, ‘weak’ or ‘forged’.
The first written collections of Hadith were made for legal purposes. However, in the third century AH. the study of Hadith became an independent scholastic discipline. The works of Sahih of Bukhari and Sahih of Muslim which derive from this time are given almost canonical authority, with the Bukhari receiving veneration second only to the Qur’an.
The Shi’ites have their own Hadith collection, repudiating the validity
of the Hadith of the Sunnis. For the Shi’ites, the only valid Hadiths were
those derived from Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, and his supporters.
The Shari’a
Shari’a is the divinely ordained pattern of human conduct by which
all people should live their private and social lives and whose acceptance
and application guarantees a harmonious life in this world and happiness
in the hereafter. The Shari’a indicates which acts or objects are obligatory
such as the five daily prayers, meritorious such as helping the poor, forbidden
such as theft, objectionable like smoking, and indifferent like eating.
Including all human actions under one of these headings, the Shari’a gives
a religious connotation to all activities.
The Shari'a is derived from several sources;
The Qur’an is the basic source of Shari’a. All the principles which are found in the Shari’a are found in the Qur’an. The Hadith is the second basic source of Shari’a. Qur’anic principles were explained and applied in daily life by the Prophet, and his conduct is documented in the Hadith.
The use of analogical reasoning (Qiyas) compliments Qur’an and Hadith, and is used where there is no clear cut and explicit instruction in either of the two main sources. Qiyas is the use of human reasoning to compare an existing new situation with one for which there is legislation in the Qur’an or Hadith.
The use of consensus is also used. Ijma’ is the consensus of all Muslim scholars on some point of law. Ijma’ intervenes more or less decisively in every branch of Islamic doctrine and law. Once a consensus is reached by the scholars on any given point, it became irrevocable. When this occurs, the right of individual interpretation is confined to points on which no agreement has yet been reached. It is important to note that there can be Ijma’ only on points on which there exists an explicit instruction either in the Qur’an or in the Hadith.
The validity of the first two sources is accepted by all Muslim schools of law. However, the Shi’ites reject both Qiyas and Ijma’ as sources of law. They hold that as the whole of the law is implicit in the Qur’an and their own Hadith, no other source is required. The interpretation of the law then becomes the duty of the Imams, whose role is to preside over mosque communities and lead the prayer sessions on Fridays. Shi’ite Islam places more importance on the Imam than Sunni Islam. They maintain that there is an infallible imam for every generation of Muslims. Since the disappearance of the twelfth imam, the ulema (an educated body of men who are deemed to have superior knowledge of the Qur’an) have taken over this role until the imam returns as the Mahdi. In Iran, an ayatollah or ‘sign of Allah’ is the one who takes the place of the Mahdi for the present time. Within Sunni Islam, there were many different legal opinions, with the differences coming from various ways of interpreting the Qur’an and the Hadith. Four major schools became prominent; Hanafi and Hanbali coming out or Iraq, the Makiki school coming of Hijaz, and the Shafii school which can be traced back to Egypt. Sunni and Shi’ite laws are very similar to each other, with their main differences being in theological issues.
Exercise: Please turn to the article Modern Qur’anic Exegesis by
Helmet Gatji. This article exegetes a famous passage in the Qur’an which
has been used to support polygamy. Take note of
1. Under what circumstances is polygamy permissable?
2. Was there a stage in which polygamy was a very good thing? Whose
benefit did it work towards?
3. When polygamy goes wrong, whose fault is it considered to be?
Why?
4. On the basis of Sura 4:3 and it’s exegesis, do you think that
Islam supports polygamy? On what basis?
The Articles of Belief
Islam’s followers are united in a faith which has six main articles
of belief.
1. Allah is the one and only God. The shahadaic expression ‘There is no god but Allah’ expresses that God is one in his person, one in his attributes and one in his works. His oneness in his person means that there is neither a plurality of gods, or a plurality of persons in the Godhead. His oneness in works means that nothing other than God possesses one or more divine attributes in perfection. His oneness in works means that no one can do the works which God has done or may do. The greatest sin a Muslim could commit is shirk, which means assigning a partner to Allah.
2. A belief in angels. There are created spiritual beings who are obedient to Allah, and which are used by him as his messengers for important communications with humans. Other duties of angels include supporting and strengthening the believers, praising and glorifying God and recording the deeds of humans. Muslims also believe in spirits, some good and some bad called djinn. Evil djinn are depicted as being part of the army of Satan who revolted against Allah at the beginning of time.
3. Books of Revelation. From time to time, Allah has dictated to humans his message. The Hebrew Bible was given to the Jews through successive prophets and the Gospels to Christians through Issa, or as we know him, Jesus. Specific scriptures mention by name in the Qur’an are Injil (scripture of Jesus), Zabur (scripture of David), Taurat (scripture of Moses) and the scripture of Abraham. However, these books have gradually become distorted and their message garbled.
4. God has sent prophets or messengers to humanity. There messengers
were the great figures of Jewish history, such as Noah, Abraham, David,
Solomon John the Baptist etc., culminating in Issa. The last and greatest
of the prophets was Muhammad. The religion propagated by the all the prophets
was Islam. They all taught a message of submission to God. Islam was not
a religion preached by the prophet Muhammad alone, but by all the prophets,
in that their basic call was one.
Muslims totally reject any belief that Jesus was God. That would be
shirk. They do believe that he was a great man, a true Muslim, who was
taken down from the cross while he was still alive. Thereafter he ascended
into heaven and will return again at the end of the world.
5. A day of Judgment. A day will come when Allah will bring the world to its end and will judge the good and the evil after they have been resurrected from the dead. The sinners and unbelievers will face a grievous penalty in hell, and the righteous will be given eternal happiness and peace in paradise.
6. Divine decree. The belief that the determination of all good
and evil is from God is an important belief in Islam. This does not mean
belief in predestination. Rather, it emphasises the omnipotence of God
coupled with individual responsibility. If people are absolutely free,
the God’s omnipotence is compromised, but to remove freedom of choice would
suggest predestination, which is not a tenet of Islam. The Qur’an attempts
to balance the omnipotence of God and individual responsibility.
Other related issues.
The role of Man
Mankind is created by God for a special purpose.
Humans are granted revelations to guide them, reason to distinguish
between good and bad, and freedom of choice in their actions. These three
gifts help them to rise from their existing moral state to a much higher
moral level to achieve a relative perfection. For these reasons, they are
made responsible for their actions.
Sin
In Islam, sin is any act, thought or will that is deliberate, defies
the law of God, violates the right of God or the right of man, is harmful
to the soul or body, and is normally avoidable. It is the deliberate and
conscious violation of unequivocal Law of God. Some of the major sins mentioned
in the Qur’an are: associating gods with God, failure to perform any religious
obligation such as prayer, committing robbery, adultery, fornication, murder,
gambling, cheating, breaking treaties and covenants, false testimony, backbiting
and unkind treatment of orphans and parents.
Islam teaches that sin is not hereditary. When a person is born, they
are in a natural state of purity. Whatever a person’s ancestors may have
done or committed, this has nothing to do with the child. What happens
after birth is due to external factors, such as the family, the home, friends,
and the like, as the socialisation process plays a decisive role in the
development of moral character and a person’s personality. Though people
sin, they have the capacity to reform. Therefore, committing a sin, whatever
it may be, does not mean damnation. God is merciful and forgiving. He hears
all the calls from his sincere believers and accepts their repentance.
Direct contact with God is possible; an intermediary is not necessary.