Session 50 Notes
One of the aspects of the Qur’an is that it is a book of law (shari’ah). This is one of the most important aspects, mostly misunderstood by the general culture. We should be careful not to confuse “shari’ah” with “fiqh”. “Fiqh” is the human understanding, systematic study of the practical rulings of “Shari’ah”. Whereas, “Shari’ah” is a set of divine rules that regulate a person’s relationship and responsibilities towards God, towards himself, and towards other people.
Let’s examine some of the verses related to “Shari’ah”:
ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَـٰكَ عَلَىٰ شَرِيعَةٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْرِ فَٱتَّبِعْهَا وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَآءَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
“Now We have set you on the clear Way of Shari’ah (Way of Life). So follow it, and do not follow the desires of those who do not know.” (45:18)
This verse gives an interesting definition of the word “shari’ah” which is translated as the “way of life”. “Shari’ah” literally means “the way which leads to a watering source.” Similar to the popular expression “water is life”, which emphasises the fact that without water, we cannot live. The existence of water and life dependency in the universe is created by God, i.e. without water, there is no life. In the same way “Shar’ah” gives life to human beings, in their personal and social living.
The verse mentions not to follow the “desires of those who don’t know”, which means who don’t know the reality as to why they are created. They don’t know their purpose of existence and they try to organize their social, political, economical life accordingly. Whereas our Creator has given us the “way of life”, how to structure the different aspects of living in this universe. If one wants to benefit from the guidance of their Creator, they will have a purposeful existence to prepare for an eternal life.
Another verse on “Shari’ah”:
ٱلْحَقِّ ۚ لِكُلٍّۢ جَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ شِرْعَةًۭ وَمِنْهَاجًۭا ۚ
“For each of you We have appointed a law, and a way (of living life).”(5:48)
This verse gives news of the direction one should take to live their life in worship of their Creator. Every society throughout human life sets up a certain lifestyle structure according to their conditions. The verse is mentioning that God has given us the road map, certain rules and principles that one can live by to have a purposeful living in their existence. “Shari’ah” is a set of divine rules that regulate human relationship with God, himself and other beings. The divine rules are not archaic, strict or hard but mostly flexible to be successfully implemented according to one’s era and living conditions without sacrificing the purpose of life. The language of the Qur’an is miraculous, rhetorical, allowing for interpretation systematically, not arbitrarily, so that human beings can adopt the rules according to their living conditions in society.
The “Shari’ah” rules which organize social life only apply where the majority of a society are believing in their Creator and willingly comply with that belief. However, we live in a society that is detached from the context of the “Shari’ah” rules; they cannot understand and appreciate its value in these societies. If one rule from the Qur’an is taken and placed in a capitalist society, it wouldn’t be seen as effective and valuable. For example, we have a perfect computer where each part of the computer is valuable for the functioning of the computer. If someone takes one part of this computer and puts it into the sewing machine system. That computer part would not have any value in the sewing machine. That is why in a non-believing society, people cannot appreciate and therefore cannot accept the “Shari’ah” rules such as: inheritance laws, the marriage laws, prohibition of interest, economical and social relationship conditions. “Shari’ah” rules concerning social life cannot be applied where society is living in a capitalist way. No one should be enforcing “Shari’ah” rules on them; not even one rule should be applied. The “Shari’ah” rules are only perfect in a believing society acting according to their belief by worshiping God.
If someone from a secular society asks the question: “what are the rules of family law in Islam?”, they must first have an understanding of Islam. The rules of Islam can only be practiced within a society where people completely submit their life to their Creator and where their purpose of life is to worship their Creator alone, not their caprices. The rules of Shari’a which organizes social life rules works perfectly only where God’s authority is accepted by the people, and they live accordingly by submitting their feelings to God.
Another example is someone having a family problem and asks what he should do according to the “Shar’ah” rules? First of all they need to have a belief where they are convinced that their life should be established on worshiping God. What is the purpose of your life? What is the purpose of marriage, of having a wife or a husband? If one is living in a society where he worships his caprices, has worldly expectations, then the “Shari’ah” rules would not benefit their life. Again, if the conditions of the majority of society is not living in the world to obey and worship God then the “Shari’ah” rules do not apply to them, it would not make sense to them.
We are mostly living in secular societies nowadays. Are we not going to apply any rule of “Shari’ah”? Our personal relationship with God is important. When one has the expectation to be satisfied by their Creator even though they are living in a secular society, then they can practice the “Shari’ah” rules. For example, one can give “Zakat”, the obligatory charity as their personal worship of their Creator. Someone may say that “Zakat” does not work in a capitalist society where everything is secular and corrupted. The believer’s personal responsibility is in giving “Zakat” without the expectation that it will fix the corrupt capitalist system; it will not fix anything in the capitalist society. We can think of this as putting one cup of clean water in a bucket of dirty water. The bucket of dirty water somewhat becomes less dirty with that one cup of clean water. The more clean cups of water are put, the cleaner the dirty water becomes.
Shari’ah may be divided into three main areas of relationship. We will study some selected verses from the Qur’an:
- God <—> Human Being
- Belief subjects
ءَامَنَ ٱلرَّسُولُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ
“The Messenger believes in what was sent down to him from his Lord, and so do the believers. All believe in God, His angels, His books, and His messengers.”(2:285)
If someone doesn’t believe in their Creator, then this person cannot apply the divine rules and principles to their living. The principles of the Qur’an would not make sense to them because they don’t identify themselves as belonging to their Conscious Creator. For example, would it make sense to ask them to pray to God, or to distribute their wealth according to the Qur’anic guidance? Since they don’t accept the message of the Qur’an, it wouldn’t make sense to them. Many people think that Sharia will dictate every part of their life which they don’t accept. How about the “Zakat”, compulsory charity of 2.5% of wealth? How would that work in a capitalist economy with a high inflation rate? Many say that the “Zakat” does not work in our living conditions in society. The concept of “Zakat” in the Qur’an is described as purification of wealth, but many people choose to live in a wasteful way. Thus the “Zakat” system only works in a God believing society which accepts the message of the Qur’an of “no waste”.
This means that “Shari’ah” only applies when a great majority of society believes in God, His angels, His Revelation, and His messengers. This is the minimum requirement where the majority has to be sincerely practicing belief in their life and are ready to live according to that belief. Only in such a case would “Shari’ah” make sense.
- Worship
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
“I did not create jinn and human beings except that they should worship Me.” (51:56)
When one does not worship their Creator then they are bound to worship other things such as “nature”, their caprices, worldly ambitions and thus the “Shari’ah” would not make sense to them. Those who realize their existence belongs to their Creator, they would follow His rules accordingly. Worship does not only mean to pray ritual prayers, fasting, performing pilgrimage of Hajj, etc. but at every stage of one’s life, we must be consciously acknowledging our Creator, in order to fulfill our duty towards our Creator. For example, I purchase a house and hold the deeds to it, I do not claim to own that house so that I can treat the house as I like. The house is given to me for some time in this world and at the end I will leave it. The real property owner is the Owner of the universe. This whole universe including everything created belongs to its Creator. We are only given the lease to use it for a temporary basis according to its real owner, God.The “Shar’ah” rules say that the house belongs to God, the Lord of the universe. If one is driving a car thinking that it is their property, they can do whatever they like with it. The “Shari’ah” rules remind believers that the real owner is God who has given permission to use the car according to His will. The believers are conscious in their life knowing that they do not have the right to treat the car as they want. If the majority of the society consists of people whose life is not based on believing in God and not worshiping anything created, then, the Shari’a rules cannot be applied to them. All Shari’a rules require belief in God and the purpose of life is ultimately to worship God; otherwise, without belief, the practice of Shari’a will not yield the expected beneficial result in a person’s life.
- Spiritual Life
أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ
“Surely, in the remembrance of God, hearts find peace” (13:28)
The verse is asking one to understand and realize that when they remember God, their hearts will be peaceful. The majority of the society must consist of the believers who are aware that only when they explain the existence of anything or any event connected to God they feel satisfied with this explanation. They try to educate themselves in this world to prepare themselves for the Hereafter. From the perspective of a capitalist society: “Surely, in the accumulation of wealth and property do hearts find peace.” The verse of the Qur’an would make sense only for a believing society. If one’s heart is connected to the wealth and fame of this world then that is what they would expect satisfaction from until they die. That is why Shari’a practices in a capitalist society would not make sense because expectations are mostly contrary to each other..
- Human Being <—> Himself
- Morality
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلْإِحْسَـٰنِ وَإِيتَآئِ ذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱلْبَغْىِ ۚ
“God commands justice, excellence, and giving to relatives, and He forbids immorality, wrongdoing, and oppression.” (16:90)
Our Creator advises us that in order to have a satisfied life in this world, one must establish justice in their personal life, do everything in a beautiful way, a favorable way, and be of service to others. Do not live in this world only to satisfy yourselves but also treat others in the best way. The word “ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ” translated as relatives means those who are the closest to you such as your immediate family members, including relatives that one may be close to, also includes close neighbors, colleagues at work places, friends, even the person who sits next to you in a public transportation.
We are also advised to avoid immorality, wrongdoing and oppression. For example, one cannot take over someone else’s property for their own interests. All the rules and guidance of Shari’a can be effective only when they are followed with God-consciousness. For example, a person may give a large amount of money to charity and expect appreciation from those who benefit from it. This is not the same as giving with God-consciousness. The first kind of giving can make the giver feel entitled to the receiver’s gratitude. The second does not. The giver sees the wealth as belonging ultimately to God and expects the receiver to be grateful to Him. The beauty of Shari’a cannot be fully understood or appreciated in a society that lacks such a mentality.
- Proper Conduct and Manners
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌۭ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونُوا۟ خَيْرًۭا مِّنْهُمْ
“O believers, let not one [group of] people mock another people; perhaps they may be better than them…” (49:11)
The advice is not to disdain others. For example, “those eastern people are not developed well, look at their lives! Only the western people are better beings.”, or “people of such religion are poor economically and technologically, what do you expect from them?” We must not look down on other people. The Qur’an teaches us that human value is not based on wealth or technological, scientific advancements but based on fulfilling the purpose of existence in this world which is to acknowledge God and worshipful submission to Him. All wealth and scientific or technological advancements have value only when they help us recognize their true Owner and use them for the benefit of humanity in general. They cannot be used to exploit the weaknesses of others. Technology cannot be used to produce weapons for profit or to impose power on others. In a society made up of sincere believers and governed by them, technology should be used merely to serve the interest of all people and definitely not to kill others under the pretext of declaring war to “defend their country.”
- Personal Behavior
وَلَا تَمْشِ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا ۖ إِنَّكَ لَن تَخْرِقَ ٱلْأَرْضَ وَلَن تَبْلُغَ ٱلْجِبَالَ طُولًۭا
“Do not walk upon the earth arrogantly. You can neither split the earth nor reach the mountains in height.” (17:37)
The verse guides us not to be arrogant, which means to accept our reality as created beings where everything including our being belongs to the Creator of the universe. We are all created, needy beings in our existence. For example, if God grants me something, I must watch my attitude to recognize that it is a gift from my Creator. I must be sympathetic to those people who don’t have it. I must be prepared to dedicate myself to the service of others with humility. The Shari’a rules can only be meaningful if they are practiced with this awareness.
- Training and Disciplining the Self
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا
“Successful is indeed the one who purifies it, and ruined indeed is the one who corrupts it.” (91:9-10)
The “it” in this verse refers to the human ego, one’s self-centered, narcissist ego which one must get rid of. We must respect the creation out there, plants, animals, environment, etc. We are not permitted by our Creator to pollute or destroy His creation. One must try to get rid of their capricious, self-centered understanding way of living in the universe. In a believer’s society everyone trains here by disciplining themselves in this world by following the teachings of their Creator, which is the Qur’an.
- Protecting the Body, Mind, and Character
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَـٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
“O believers, intoxicants, gambling, idols, and diving arrows (acting on chance) are filth from the work of Satan, so avoid them so that you may succeed.” (5:90)
The Qur’an gives guidance to avoid the vice that much of the society may promote. For example, when you are tired from work, go and get some drink to get your mind off the stressful situation. The Qur’an closes this escapist preference and suggests to keep your mind sharp reflecting on what you have done today and question whether it was worth it or what it contributed to your effort to fulfill the purpose of your life. The Qur’an says to protect your body, mind and character to be successful. The idols are things of this world. We think that they themselves would make us happy if we have them; I must understand that only when I connect them with the Creator who provided them for me can I be happy with my Creator. The things are transient but their provider God is permanent. Only through this consciousness can they be the source of happiness for human beings who need eternal satisfaction. In secular societies, they look for excitement, entertainment to get out of their boredom and the meaninglessness of their life. That is why they try to go to different activities to fulfill that human void. We must be excited with our own existence and the beauty of the universe as guests of our Creator.
We must understand that “Shari’ah” rules cannot be applied and be appreciated if they are practiced in non-believing societies which is why they do not accept it. It does not work there, those societies cannot see the beauty and wisdom of “Shari’ah” rules.
We will continue with #3 regarding the human to other people relationships in the next set of notes.