#14041 - The Sources Of Islamic Law Quran - Islamic Law

The sources of Islamic law

Professor Kamali – Principles of Islamic jurisprudence

The first source of Shari’ah: The Qur’an

Qur’an means reading or recitation. Can be defined as book containing the speech of God revealed to the prophet Muahammad in Arabic and transmitted to us by nonstop testimony, or twatur.

The Quran is a proof of the prophecy of Muhammad and the first source of the shariah.

The Quran was revealed exclusively to the Prophet Muhammad, it was put into writing, it is all mutawatir; it is the immitable speech of God and it is recited in salah.

The revelation of the Quran began with sura al Alaq starting with the words, ‘Read in the name of your Lord’ and ending with the ayah in sura al Ma ida: ‘ Today I have perfected your religion for you and completed my favour toward you, and chosen Islam as your religion.’

The Quran was sent down and revealed in three successive stages. The first descent was to Lawh al Mahfuz (the guarded tablet) in a manner and time that is not known. The second descent was to the lowest heaven, described as bayt al – izzah (the abode of honour) and this occurred in the night which the quran names laylah al qadr – the ayahs in the Quran suggest that he second stage of the revelation occurred in a single night, which is further specified as one of the last ten nights in the month of Ramadan.

It was during the last of the three stages that the Quran was revealed to mankind gradually, in about twenty three years, through the mediation of the archangel Gabriel.

There are 114 suras and 6245 ayat of unequal length in the Quran. The longer suras appear first and the suras become shorter as the text proceeds. The Quran begins with Surah al fatihah and ends with sura al Nas.

Professor Kamali tells us that the Quran is an indivisible whole, and a guide for belief and action that must be accepted and followed in its entirety hence any attempts to follow some parts of the Quran and abandon others will be invalid.

The Quran consists of manifest revelation (wahy zahir) which is defined as communication from God to the Prophet Muhammad, conveyed by the angel Gabriel, in the very words of God.

Manifest revelation differs from internal revelation - internal revelation consists of the inspiration of concepts only; God inspired the Prophet and the latter conveyed the concepts in his own words. All sayings, or hadith, of the prophet fall into the category of internal revelation and as such are not included in the Quran.

Hadith qudsi: - in this variety of hadith, the prophet narrates a concept directly from God which may consist either of wahy zahir (manifest revelation) or wahy batin (internal revelation). Hadith qudsi differs from the other varieties of hadith in form only.

Hadith consists of divine inspiration and is communicated in the words of the prophet.

No hadith may be ranked on equal footing with the Quran, therefore salah (prayer) cannot be performed by reciting the hadith, nor is the recitation of hadith considered of the same spiritual merit as reciting the Quran.

The Quran may not be read or touched by anyone who is not in state of purity.

The Quran is communicated in pure and clear Arabic.

Since the Quran consists of manifest revelation in Arabic, translations of the Quran into other languages, are not part of the Quran – however imam Abu Hanifah has held the view that the Quran is the name for a meaning only and as such, salah may ne performed in its Persian translation but the disciples of Abu Hanifah have disagreed with this view and it is reported that Abu Hanifah himself reversed his initial ruling and this is now considered to be the correct view of the hannafi school.

The prophet and his companions memorized the Quran, facilitated by the fact that the Quran was revealed piecemeal over a period of twenty three years in relation to particular events.

The Quran itself explains the rationality of graduality (tanjim) in its revelation as follows: ‘The unbelievers say, why has not the Quran been sent down to him all at once. Thus it is revealed that your hearts may be strengthened, and we rehearse it to you gradually, and well arranged’

Revelation over a period of time meant continuous contact between the believers and a renewal of spiritual strength, so that the intimidation of the believers toward the new faith did not weaken the hearts of the Muslims. Had the Qur’an been revealed all at once, the arabs would have found it difficult to understand.

Considerable portion of the Quran was revealed in response to questions that the prophet was being asked from time to time, and also the events that were experienced throughout the years of the revelation.

Graduality provided the opportunity to rectify and errors that the Muslims, or even the prophet himself, might have committed and lessons that could be learned from them.

The occurrence of naskh (abrogation), abrogation of an earlier ruling at a later stage owning to change of circumstance, is also connected with the gradual unfolding of the Qur’an.

The ban on the consumption of alcohol is an interesting example of the Quranic method of graduality in legislation – consumption of alcohol was subject to no restriction in the early years. Later the following Quranic passage was revealed in the form of a moral advice: ‘They ask you about alcohol and gambling. Say: in these there is great harm and also benefit for the people, but their harm far outweighs their benefit’ (al baqarah 2:219) – then offering prayers while under the influence of alcohol was prohibited (al - Nisa). Finally, a total ban on wine- drinking was imposed (al – Ma’idah) and both alcohol and gambling were declared to be ‘works of the devil’. – This shows the gradual tackling of problems as and when they arose.

The ulama are in agreement that the entire text of the Quran is mutawatir, that is, its legitimacy is proven by universally accepted testimony – it has been held both, in memory and as a written record throughout generations – hence nothing less than tawatur is accepted as evidence in establishing the authenticity of the variant readings of the Quran.

During the lifetime of the prophet, the text of the Quran was preserved not only in memories, but also in inscriptions on materials such as flat stones, wood and bones.

Abu Bakr, the first caliph collected the Quran soon after the battle of Yamamah, which led to the death of at least 70 memorisers of the Quran – only one authentic text has remained in use to this day.

The Quran was revealed in two distinct periods of the Prophet’s mission in Mecca and Medina respectively. The larger part of the Quran was received during the first twelve and a half years of the prophet’s residence in Mecca. The reminder of the Quran was received after the Prophet’s migration to Medina over a period of just over nine and a half years.

The Meccan part of the Quran laid down the basic principles of law and religion that were elaborated in Medina.

With reference to the five essential values of Islam, that is, religion, life, intellect, family and property, al - shatibi wrote that all these were in principle marked in the Meccan portions of the Quran.

Most of the mentions to former nations and prophets, their experiences and the lessons taught, occur in the Meccan part of the Quran – the Medinan part of the Quran also comprised legal rules and regulated the various aspects of lie in the new environment of Medina.

Since the Medinan period meant the creation of the ummah and the promising Islamic state, the Quranic emphasis shifted to principles regulating the political, legal, social and economic life of the new community – during this period Islam expanded to other parts of Arabic, and the Quranic response to the needs for rules to regulate matters of war and peace, the status and rights of the conquered people, the organization of the family and principles of government feature prominently in the Medinan part of the Quran.

The knowledge of the Meccan and Medinan parts of the revelation enables a better understanding of some of the characteristic features of the Quran legislation – A sura is considered to be Meccan if its revelation began in Mecca, even if it contained a ayat that were later revealed in Medina.

The Quran consists of eighty-five meccan and twenty-nine medinan suras. The difference of content and style in each are reflective of the prevailing circumstances of each period.

Since Muslims were in the minority in Mecca, the Meccan ayat may thus be especially meaningful to Muslims living in a dominantly non-Muslim environment, whereas the medinan ayat may take for granted the presence of the sovereign authority of the Islamic state.

Meccan suras = rhythmical and intense in their emotional appeal

Medinan suras = detailed convey a sense of serenity

The form of address is often different in the two parts – the frequent address, ‘O you who believe’ and ‘O people of the Book’ indicates a medinan origin, while ‘O people’ or ‘O mankind’ are typically Meccan.

Distinction between the meccan and medinan parts of the Quran is based on the...