Most people try to tackle questions of this nature by compressing the entire deen of Islam into a few 'general principles' and adding their own details as they wish.So for example some would start by saying that 'Islam is a deen of compassion' and therefore shaking hands between men and women is halal.Others would say 'Islam is a deen of modesty' and shaking hands is forbidden.None of these opinions are considered correct.Because the correctness of an Islamic opinion rests on the correct application of usul ul fiqh which is a systemmatic subject like any other branch of knowledge.For example,the students of mathematics are evaluated based on the correct application of formulae.If they are asked to calculate the area of a rectangle which has a length of 5 and breadth of 4,it is not just enough just to get an answer of 20.But the students are required to prove the correctness of the answer by applying the correct formula,not just any arithmetic operation.

Therefore these general statements about 'deen of compassion' and 'deen of modesty' are not daleel kulli(comprehensive evidences) or Shari Qaida(legal principles).Yes,Islam enjoins modesty and compassion,but its not upto the mind to decide what is modesty or what is compassion.Similarly on the question of whether or not a woman can be the head of a state,one should not start by using a general principle such as a 'Islam is the deen of equality' and therefore men and woman can undertake identical tasks.This approach is wrong. The subject matter has to be studied and the correct process of extracting rules has to applied.

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Series of Thoughts (Dhivehi)