The nature of Islamic text as a legal text

Allah (swt) affirmed that the Message of Islam is complete in the following ayahs:

''This day I have perfected your Deen, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen Islam to be your Deen.''[Al-Ma'ida: 3]

''We have revealed to you the Book as an explanation for all matters.''[An-Nahl: 89]

Therefore, Islam has an answer for every action and every issue that human beings will face. Also, Allah (swt) mentioned that He will hold us accountable on the Day of Judgment for everything that we do. If Allah (swt) did not provide an Islamic answer to every action that we do and every issue that we face, then this would mean that Allah (swt) would hold us accountable for certain actions and issues to which He did not provide an answer for, which would indicate that Allah (swt) is unjust. Thus, the completeness of Islam is an issue of Aqeedah because doubting the completeness of Islam would imply that Allah (swt) is not just, or worse, that Allah (swt) lied by affirming that Islam is complete in His Qur'an, when in fact, the Message of Islam is not complete. Such deficiencies cannot be attributed to Allah (swt) the All-Mighty, and none of us wish for ourselves to stand before the Creator on the Day of Judgment with such statements and beliefs to testify against us

The question that arises is: How can a text that is limited in its size provide the solutions for all the issues and problems that humanity will encounter and contain rules to address all of our actions? The fact that the Qur'an and the Sunnah, which are limited in size, are complete enough to address all the issues and problems of human beings is just another proof of the miraculous nature of the Qur'anic text and another proof that the Message of Islam can only emanate from the Creator. The capacity of the text itself to provide solutions to all issues and problems of human beings is in part due to several reasons that relate to the characteristics of the text itself. Following is a brief summary of some of these characteristics:

The Nature of the Islamic Text as a Legal Text

The Islamic text is viewed as a legal text, enabling the Mujtahid to derive rules for issues not mentioned explicitly in the text by using a valid methodology. If the text were viewed in the same manner as the Church views the Bible (as a holy text), then the text would be rigid and its scope would be limited. As a legal text, the Islamic text requires only the mastery of certain tools (such as knowledge of the Arabic language) in order to understand, and the acquirement of these tools is open for any human beings, not restricted to a certain class of individuals. Thus, the manner in which the Islamic text was viewed (as a legal text) helped in abolishing the clergy mentality from Muslims, and enabled the Muslims to connect the text to the issues and problems they encountered.

The Presence of the Illah (legal reason)

Another feature that gives the Islamic text its dynamism is the presence of the Illah, or the legal cause. Sometimes Allah (swt) reveals a rule and provides a legal reason or cause. In this case, when a new situation arises that carries the same Illah, then the original rule can be extended to the new issue. This process of extending the rule to address new issues that carry a common Illah is known as Qiyas and is another source of legislation in Islam. Prophet (saaw) said, ''The Qadi(judge) must not judge while in a state of anger.''. Thus, based on Qiyas, this rule  can be extended to ANY situation (not just anger) that might may clout his judgment, such as hunger, anxiety, or extreme happiness. Thus, Islam makes it clear that a person cannot make a sound judgment or issue decisions if his emotions control him. Also, Allah (swt) prohibited trade during Juma (Friday prayer), and the cause (Illah) for this prohibition is that trade will cause one to miss the attendance of the Juma prayer. Thus, based on Qiyas, this rule can be extended to prohibit ANY ACTIVITY that possesses the same Illah of causing one to miss the Friday (Juma) prayer, such as exercising, meeting friends, working, eating, etc.

Two points must be kept in mind. First and foremost, the Illah, or legal reason, must be a SHARII REASON that is mentioned explicitly or implicitly in the text. The reason (Illah) for a rule cannot be a man-made reason that is derived from human logic or human thinking; rather, the Illah is a divine reason that was revealed by Allah and mentioned in the text as part of the revelation itself. Thus, one cannot say that the Illah for fasting is that it is good for the health, or the Illah for prayer is that it is good exercise, or the Illah for the woman's dress is to protect her modesty. The obligation of fasting, prayer, and the woman's dress have no Illah, and Muslims perform these obligations for one reason alone - because they are Orders from Allah (swt).

Secondly, the Illah must be differentiated from the Hikmah, which is a consequence of the rule. Unlike the Illah, which ALWAYS exists with the rule, the Hikmah is the consequence of a rule, which may or may not exist. For example, Allah (swt) says in the Qur'an that the Salat (prayer) keeps one away from evil, which is a Hikmah that may or may not result from the prayer because many Muslims offer their prayer perfectly but violate the rules of Allah (swt) in other aspects. Thus, prayer, in combination with the correct thoughts and understanding that one must obey Allah (swt) in all aspects of life and refer to the Halal and Haram as the reference in all aspects, is what will most likely keep one away from evil.

The Significance of Illah in the Political Context

1.The objective of Jihad is not ''to die'' or to become a Shaheed  (martyr). The shahada (martyrdom) is a POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCE that may befall an individual, but the objective of Jihad is to achieve TANGIBLE RESULTS IN THIS LIFE. Jihad is the final stage of the Islamic foreign policy that is used to remove any obstacles or barriers, either through diplomacy or material means, that stand in the way of the Islamic Daw'ah from reaching the people of the world, not  to bring doom and destruction to humanity.

2.Likewise we have to work to establish the Islamic system not because it will increase our livelihood, provide full employment, or any other benefit, but because it is an order of Allah. The possible benefits resulting from the implementation of Islam is the hikmah of the perfect system revealed by Allah, not the REASON (Illah) for working to implement it. This is further evident from the fact that the Prophet (saw) and the Sahabah who undertook the task of establishing the Islamic system did so on the basis that Islam is the correct deen with conclusive intellectual proofs and it is obligatory to implement it. There was no material gains which could have driven them to undertake this task because we know from the Seerah that the prophet (saw) and the sahabah were wealthy and had social status. The sahabah did not join the ''political party'' of the prophet (saw) because they were ''poor'' ,were of ''short-tempered type'', or because some of them had a ''history of being tortured'' by the Quraish ruling clan and wanted revenge. Rather the Sahabah believed in the existence of Allah, were convinced that Quran is the speech of Allah, and Prophet Muhammad was the messenger to emulate. And therefore when Allah commanded (through the Prophet) to change the existing status quo, they obeyed him (saw) immediately. Also, when they launched the intellectual battle against the Quraish they were calling for ISLAM and at no point, they succumbed to emotions and blurted out emotional one-liners and mumbo jumbo at the Quraish figureheads because they realised their society was not a 'holier than thou' one and  mere removal of the individual rulers wouldn't suffice. Hence they worked for the complete transformation of the entire society.  The point of all this is to illustrate that CAUSE for working to establish Islam must be only one reason - It is an Order of Allah. Therefore we should not equate ''working for Islam'' as a  reaction to some partial issues like ''high electricity bills',''high rent''..etc. If we start jumping back and forth to each symptom like animals, we will only build a brief momentum and eventually burn out ourselves when our immediate needs are resolved. This point is helped by asking ourselves a very simple question: Let us suppose a ruler provided material prosperity, full employment, housing, cheap electricity, did not torture the people, but he legislated many kufr rules which WERE NOT CONNECTED TO LIVELIHOOD - Will the masses account this ruler ? Will there be blood boiling shouting contests ? Will the masses shout for ''our rights'' ? Given the level of our thinking, the masses will remain heedless even if the rulers ruled by kufr legislations because this ruler has provided material prosperity and those kufr legislations did not affect their livelihood. However it is a completely different scenario if their livelihood or material well-being is affected. We should adhere to the standard given to us by Allah (swt)

''The shirk is a great oppression.'' [ 31:13]

The physical or instinctive feeling may cause the person to sense the physical oppression which deprives their basic rights or abuses them. However, Allah (swt) in this ayah is directing the Muslims to look to things from the Islamic perspective, which would lead to the realization that associating anything with Allah (swt) in any aspect of Tawheed, whether in the creation, in obedience, or in submission, is far greater than any other type of physical or instinctive oppression. Only Muslims who believe in Islam can feel the seriousness of this type of oppression. Allah (swt) says:

''Beautified for men is the love of things they covet: women, children, much of gold and silver (wealth), branded beautiful horses, cattle and well-tilled land. This is the pleasure of the present world's life; but Allah has the excellent return with Him.'' [ 3:14]

3.It should not be assumed that reason (Illah) for not partaking in shouting contests is because that might ''affect tourism''. This is absolutely wrong. The only reason (Illah) for distancing ourselves from these shouting contests is because we are restricted by our ideology in terms of WHAT we can call for, and the manner in we call for it. Economic factors such as the decline in tourism may be the possible consequences of it.

The Significance of differentiating Illah and Hikmah

Differentiating Hikmah and Illah is an extremely important issue because Illah is one of the features that gives dynamism to Islamic jurisprudence. If a rule is associated with a reason (Illah), then the presence of the rule and absence of the rule will depend upon the presence and  absence of the reason (Illah). For example if we assume that fornication is forbidden in Islam because it might cause unwanted pregnancies, then this prohibition does not apply if unwanted pregnancy can be prevented or does not occur. The fact is, fornication is forbidden because Allah prohibited it - end of story. Hence fornication is forbidden even if pregnancy does not occur. The effects  such as family breakdown, unwanted pregnancies are the possible consequences (hikmah) of fornication or adultery.

The method of extracting the Illah (legal reason) is done using a specific methodology with definite parameters and we should not be in the business of inventing our own reasons based on our emotions and interests. If  start assuming the reasons behind the Islamic rules, the results will be disastrous. For example some might consider fornication as evil, but flirting and dating is considered ''cool''. The cause of this contradictory behaviour is because we have started inventing our own reasoning behind the rules.


Mantuq and Mafhoum

Yet another feature of the Islamic text that gives it the quality of comprehensiveness is the capacity of the text to be understood directly from the uttered words of the text as well as indirectly/implicitly from the meaning of the text  - what is known as Mantuq and Mafhoum. For example, Allah (swt) says:

''Establish Salat (prayer).''

This ayah establishes the obligation of the Salat (prayer). Also, the Prophet (saaw) says:

''Pray the way you see me praying.''

Thus, the rules establishing the obligation of Salat and the obligation of praying the way the Prophet (saaws) prayed are taken from the Mantuq, or directly from the words of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. And example of the Mafhoum, or a rule derived implicitly from the meaning of the text is in the following ayah in which Allah (swt) says regarding the parents:

Do not say to them (i.e parents) Uff  [ Al-Isra: 23]

The direct meaning is the prohibition of saying ''Uff.'' However, the connotation gives the understanding of prohibiting the physical abuse, although this understanding is not mentioned in the text directly. Thus, the prohibition of uttering this word is taken from the Mantuq, while the prohibition of beating the parents is derived from the Mafhoum. The text speaks directly about prohibiting this particular word, while its meaning  (mafhoum) indicates the prohibition of any form of abuse, verbal or otherwise.

A detailed discussion of the Mantuq and Mafhoum is beyond the scope of this introduction, but it is sufficient to say that, as with any other aspect of jurisprudence, tafseer, and linguistics, the mantuq and mafhoum are not performed in a haphazard fashion but are bound by certain rules and parameters. In this manner, the Islamic text ensures its dynamism and relevance, and maintains its ability to comprehensively address all issues and problems of humanity. At the same time, by defining these characteristics and establishing guidelines and parameters in understanding the text and deriving rules, Islam safeguards against the text being abused or twisted to accommodate meanings, opinions, rules, and thoughts that are outside the scope of Islam.