Chapter Sixteen

The Problem of the Term Shari'a and of Implementation

I received once a visit from a dear young Muslim from the Russian Federation who was pursuing postgraduate studies at a university in Saudi Arabia.  I had not known the young man before.  He was brought to my house and introduced to me by another young man who had received his Ph.D. earlier.  The latter is the son of a dear friend and a fellow professor.  The young man from the Russian Federation sought my acquaintance and wanted to consult me in some matters that related to the Ph. D. dissertation he was working on.

In our discussion we tackled the question of Shari'a[1] and of Shari'a implementation.  Like other young people, he said repeatedly, “Our problem is that we do not implement Shari'a,” maintaining that that was the basic reason for the nation’s backwardness.  I felt that the young man had some confusion as to the meaning of the term Shari'a.  I asked him, “What is Shari'a as you understand it?”

After some hesitation and confusion, that were somewhat lengthy and suggested that it was the first time he heard such a question, he said, “Shari'a is the application of prescribed punishments.”

“How many are those prescribed punishments in Islam?” I asked.

“Not too many,” he said, “perhaps six or seven.”  He started to list them, with some help from me, as follows, “The prescribed punishments of adultery, murder, theft, libel, highway robbery, apostasy, transgression, and drunkenness.”

I asked him, “Is that what you know about Shari'a?”

“Yes,” he said.  “If these prescribed punishments are implemented, the nation will be well.  It will be strong and feared.”

I said, “But there are strong and feared nations in the world, although they not only fail to implement these prescribed punishments according to our approach, but they also deny them and have no belief in them.  Do you deny their existence?  How then are we to take this and to understand your answer?”

He said, “Frankly, I have no answer, and I am eager to listen to yours.”

I said:

This is where our crisis lies, brother.  It is one of terminology and the way the terms are understood.  The prescribed punishments you have enumerated, reducing the great Shari'a to them are only judicial rulings over criminal matters that are introduced by Shari'a.  Yet, at the same time this Shari'a calls on us to seek excuses not to implement these punishments.  The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says, “Ward off prescribed punishments with doubts.”  Therefore, if we reduce Shari'a to these punishment, we would be reducing it to a limited number of subjects which God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, according to the tradition I have quoted, does not encourage us to implement.

It is well known that Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, suspended the prescribed punishments during the Year of Peril, because it was a year of stress, poverty, and famine.  An urgent need may press a person to act against his will and without full awareness of what he is doing.  The incident involving Omar, may God be pleased with him, and some hired hands confirm this idea and support the notion that the conditions of everyday life must be taken into consideration.

 A few hired hands were brought before Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, for having stolen money from their master.  The Caliph questioned them, and they told him, “Prince of the Faithful, our master oppressed us and failed to pay us our wages.  We are stressed and needy, and we unwillingly did what we did.”  Omar then gave his soldiers an often-quoted order: “Go and amputate the hands of those who kept them hungry.”

Islam then stresses preventive, rather than penal, security.  Yes, it is true beyond doubt that implementing the prescribed punishments maintains human life.

There is life for you, men of understanding, in just retribution, that you may remain God-fearing (Al-Baqarah II: 179).

It is also true that the prescribed and other punishments are meant to be a deterrent for those who entertain the thought of tampering with people’s security, inviolability, and lives, because safeguarding the lives, property, and honor of people is one of the most serious objectives of Islamic Shari'a.

If a person kills a soul, unless in punishment for murder or corruption on earth, it is as if he has killed all people, and if he saves a life, it is as if he has saved the lives of all people (Al-Maidah V: 32).

People, to you, your blood and property are inviolable (Ibn Hisham's biography).

A person who dies defending his honor is a martyr (A tradition of the Prophet’s).

However, preventive security still has priority in the Islamic approach over penal security, because the former is longer lasting and firmer in the life of a society, and because it is the stronger safeguard that better ensures the continuity of security and stability in the lives of individuals.  “You ruled, you maintained justice, you felt secure, and so you could sleep.”  With these succinct and eloquent words the messenger of the Roman emperor addressed Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, when he saw him peacefully asleep, using his shoes as a pillow, in a corner of the mosque of God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, without any guard and with no scepter of the kind familiar to that messenger in the palaces of Heracles and other kings and sultans.  Omar used the gravel floor of the mosque as his mattress and the mosque’s propitious atmosphere of security and spirituality as a quilt.

Of course the injunction “Ward off prescribed punish­ments with doubts” is followed in as much as it does not cancel the rights of other people or cause a conflict with such rights.  No one is entitled to concede the right of a person, other than the person himself, and he should do it freely and voluntarily, either forgiving and thus being kind to the criminal of the case, or accepting blood money or compensation from him.  As for the right of God, the Most Sublime, it may be met with regret and sincere repentance, combined with fasting in the case of a murder.  The public right is for the ruler to decide upon.  He may forgive or choose a punishment that he considers to be proper.

Shari'a, my bother, is greater, and more serious, extensive, comprehensive, and general than to be limited to the implementation of prescribed punishments, as is commonly believed by ordinary people and even perhaps by quite a few members of the elite.   Shari'a in Islam is the maintenance of life.

Believers respond to the call of God and the Messenger when he calls you to that which will give you life (Al-Anfaal VIII: 24).

Have you seen, dear brother, the clean and wide streets that you have gone through on your way here? 

Have you seen the lights that illuminate the city streets?

Have you seen the supervisor and the equipment of the sanitary team that takes care of them?

Have you seen the traffic lights that control the traffic in the streets crowded with people and vehicles?

Have you seen the schools, institutes, and universities?

Have you seen the hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies?

Have you seen the shopping centers and business  complexes?

Have you seen the restaurants and the shops that cater for the various aspects of life?

Have you seen the people moving with a sense of safety and security?

All this, dear brother, is part of the Shari'a, which is everything that contributes to the realization of people’s interests in accordance with God’s will and pleasure.  A well-known jurisprudence (Fiqh) rule confirms this:

The Law of God applies wherever the public interest lies.

  My visitor and listener was pleased with what he had heard.  He expressed his pleasure in terms that I am not going to quote to avoid any self commendation.  The thing that pained me, however, is that a Muslim young man who has already received his M.A. degree in Islamic studies and is close to receiving his Ph. D. degree should find what I told him new.  He seemed to have heard what I had told him for the first time.  In fact he explicitly told me that, although I regard the things I said to be common knowledge of which every student or scholar should be aware.

The case of this young man – as well as many other cases of people whom I meet all the time at regional and international conferences and of other people with similar notions in interpreting the term Shari'a and with similar concepts about the meaning of Shari'a implementation – emphasizes the extent of our failure to clarify the mission of Islam and the objectives of its great Law.  I have discussed this subject in more than one issue of the Lita'aarafu (To Get Acquainted) series, and I find this a good opportunity to include the question of Shari'a and its applications as one of the problems dealt with in this book and to discuss it in this chapter.

The meaning of the term Shari'a and the implementation of Shari'a are perhaps among the most prominent questions being raised today in the context of discussing the nation’s crisis and the factors which impede the resumption of its progress and civilization.  Unfortunately, most of those who speak of Shari'a and its applications imply that Islamic states today are very far from implementing Islamic Shari'a, that what takes place in their societies contradicts and violates Shari'a, that the nation needs a process of thorough cleansing and purification to purge what it is suffering from, and that it also needs a radical reconstruction to make its life in harmony with Islamic Law.

Naturally, there are many schools, each of which claims to be qualified and capable of conducting the cleansing process.  Some groups believe that they are most qualified and capable to do it and even that they are, alone and to the exclusion of all others, are entrusted with performing purification operations for all Muslim communities.  They believe that they are entrusted and more reliable to reconstruct these societies properly according to the rules of Islamic Law.  These claims have created a conflict between these groups over who is more qualified to reform the nation’s condition and reconstruct it.  Now they are engaged in exchanging accusations and expressions of defamation, and discrediting each other.  Each uses improper adjectives to describe the others and go overboard in what it says about them.

The thing they all agree on is claiming that the nation, in its current conditions, suffers from corruption and deviation and has moved far from God and from the implementation of His Law.  Each of them believes that its approach and interpretation of Islam is the answer and that it is the hoped for remedy that will rescue the nation, Islamize it, and guide it back to the right course.  They raise the slogan that Islam is the solution.

Islam is certainly the solution and it is the sound and rational approach chosen by God.

Falsehood cannot get to it from the front or from the rear; it is a revelation from a Wise and Benevolent God (Fussilat XLI: 42).

This Qur'an shows the way to that which is most upright (Al-Israa XVII: 9).

This is my path, a straight one.  Follow it, and do not follow various paths, lest they mislead you away from His path (Al-An' am VI: 153).

Do they desire to be ruled by the law of pagan ignorance?  But for those who are firm in their faith, who can be a better law-giver than God?” (Al-Maidah V: 50). 

Those who do not judge in accordance with what God has revealed are indeed unbelievers (Al-Maidah V: 44).

If a person desires a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter, he will be among the losers (Aal ‘Imran III: 85).

I do not think a Muslim with one iota of faith in his heart would deny that or say something different.  The problem, however, is one of comprehen­sion and recognition of Islam’s message and the objectives of its illustrious Law.

The painful thing is that promoters of the slogan that Islam is the solution – and they are many, and as partners, they keep quibbling about it – mean only the Islam which they see and believe in, and not just any Islam that is advocated and believed in by others.  Each believes he is the one and only trustee of God’s Law and approach, while others arouse suspicion.

It is at the same time a farce and a tragedy that some of the countries ruled by promoters of this slogan have entered into labyrinths and experienced setbacks, making them worse than before in regards to safety and security.  The progress their communities used to have, albeit slow, towards full well-being and prosperity has been suspended, because the language and the chanting of slogans differ from the language of work places and of the skills of that with the challenges of these places.  Another painful thing is that the enemies of Islam and those who lie in waiting for it have attributed to Islam the failure of such people, as if it were a failure of Islam itself and its Law.

One day a Western thinker met one of these who raise the slogan that “Islam is the solution” and asked him, “For how long did proper Islam rule the lives of Muslims.”

The man answered, “Twenty years at best, which is the era of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Well-guided Caliphs.”  The Westerner, having succeeded in trapping the man, said, “This simply means that your religion and the system you advocate was implemented in your life for only twenty years due to one of three possible reasons: (1) it is not a good system for human life, (2) you are not good enough for it, or (3) you, at best, have failed to understand this religion.”

It is clear from the above that the Muslim converser’s reply – which was unjust to himself and to the nation and based on his perception and his belief that the nation’s life for over fourteen centuries has been and still is estranged from its religion and its immortal, divine system – prompted the logical and objective conclusion of the Western thinker which criticized our relationship with Islam.  Certainly, the Western thinker was just and objective in his analysis of Islam’s relation to us, commenting that either this system is not good for human life.…  He was also objective in analyzing our relation to Islam, when he phrased one alternative about this relationship saying, “you are not good enough for it”, or when he gave a second alternative, saying, “you, at best, have failed to understand this religion.”

Indeed our crisis with our religion is one of understanding and of recognition of the true nature and essence of Islam’s message.  It is the crisis of an unbiased vision of the objectives of its tolerant Law, a crisis that stems from the confusion resulting from the way we understand the faith, the spiritual acts of worship, and their distinctive characteristics, and the way we understand the objectives of Islamic Law and Islam’s message in regards to our life.  This is a question I have dealt with in some detail in “Chapter Four: The Problem of the Claim that the Islamic State is absent.”  Further details have been offered in the discussion of the problem of the nation’s backwardness in chapter fourteen of this book.  It will suffice here to focus on the concept and elements of Islamic Shari'a.

Shari'a is the approach, method, or system which is used to manage the lives of people and the handling and jurisprudence (Fiqh) of their secular interests in the way that accomplishes God’s intention and pleasure.

In other words, Shari'a is the values, systems, and norms by which life is maintained and justice among people is established.

A third definition is that Shari'a is the ways to bring benefits, ward off harm, and allow the truth to prevail among people.

Ultimately, the end of Shari'a is maintaining justice; protecting human life and dignity; defending religion, reason, honor, ethics, and property; guarding security, peace, and stability; and sponsoring development and the safety of society and the environment.  The Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, confirms this when he says:

Whoever sleeps safely within his flock, physically healthy, and with his sustenance for the day secured has possession of the whole world (A tradition of the Prophet’s).

The first Well-guided Caliph, the Faithful Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, says:

Obey me so long as I obey God in dealing with you [i.e. with your creed and your interests].  If I disobey God, I have no claim for your obedience (Ibn Hisham's biography).

The second Well-guided Caliph, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, says: 

God has made us vicegerents over them [i.e. over people] in order to:

1.     secure their jobs,

2.     satisfy their hunger, and

3.     Cover the parts of their bodies that should not be exposed.

                                          (Accounts of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab)

More eloquent and impressive than all this is the inclusive-exclusive statement that God has made the password to Islam:

There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

This testimony is the first pillar of Islam and the basic starting point for the liberation of human beings from servitude to anyone other than God.  This was expressed by the genius Muslim commander Rabea Ibn 'Aamer, may God be pleased with him, when he was asked by Rustum, commander of the Persian camp, on the Day of Qadisiyah, “What have brought you here, Rabea?”

“We are here to get people out of the worship of creatures into the worship of the Lord of all creatures, from the tyranny of religions to the justice of Islam, and from the narrowness of this world to the vastness of both this world and the Hereafter.”

As for the elements of implementing Islamic Law, I have already spoken about these in general terms.  I add here the following more specific details.

1.     The existence of a state with an established regime and a presiding ruler who watches over people’s concerns and security is in itself one of the most important and prominent elements of the application of Islamic Law in the lives of people.  In ' Ezzuldeen Bulaiq’s Minhaaj Al-Saliheen (Method of the Upright), it is said that God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, told one of his Companions:

If you arrive at a country where there is no ruler, leave it.

A well known tradition of the Messenger says:

If you are three, choose one of you as chief.

Qar'oos, a scholar of Andalusia, quotes Malik Ibn Anas and his teacher Abdul Rahman Ibn Hermiz as saying:

An oppressive ruler ruling for sixty years is better than one day of chaos.

Famous Chinese reformer Confucius believed that the security of societies is based on three things: the state, military gear, and food.  He was asked once, “If you have to give up one of them, which would you give up?”  He said, “Military gear.”  “How about if you had to choose between the state and food, which would you give up,” he was asked.  He answered, “I would give up food.”  Thus he emphasized the importance of the state and the system in the life, security, and stability of societies.

2.  The Shura (consultation) system:

And they conduct their affairs by mutual consultation (Al-Shura XLII: 38).

… And consult them in the conduct of affairs (Aal ‘Imran III: 159).

3.  Mutual advice:

“Religion is good advice.”  He was asked, “To whom. God’s Messenger?”  He said, “To the leaders of Muslims, their laymen, and their notables” (A tradition of the Prophet’s).

4.  Listening and obeying:

Believers, obey God and obey the Messenger and those with authority among you (Al-Nisaa IV: 59).

A person who obeys me would be obeying God, a person  who disobeys me would be disobeying God, a person who obeys the ruler would be obeying me, and a person  who disobeys the ruler would be disobeying me.[2]

A person who insults the sultan would be insulting God.[3]

Once, Salama Ibn Yazeed Al-Ja'fi asked God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, “Prophet of God, if we have rulers that demand what is due to them and keep what is due to us, what would you order us to do?”  The Prophet turned away from him, but he asked again.  God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, then said:

Listen and obey.  They are accountable for their obligations and you for yours.[4]

5.  Justice:

… And, if you judge between people, to judge justly (Al-Nisaa IV: 58).

6.     Preservation of human life:

… if a person kills a soul, unless in punishment for murder or corruption on earth, it is as if he has killed all people, and if he saves a life, it is as if he has saved the lives of all people (Al-Maidah V: 32).

7.     Safeguarding human dignity:

We have honored the children of Adam (Al-Israa XVII: 70).

8.     Respect of the individual’s freedom:

Say: “[It is] the truth from your Lord. Let him who wills, believe in it, and let him who wills, disbelieve.” (Al-Kahf XVIII: 46).

Since when have you enslaved people whose mothers gave them birth as free persons? (Omar Ibn Al-Khattab).

The other elements of implementing Islamic Law, which are many, include:

9.     Equality.

10.       The realization of people’s interests.

11.       Overseeing the nation’s concern.

12.       Protection of border towns and maintenance of security and stability.

13.       Sponsoring development and improving the means to refine it.

14.       Strengthening and improving the nation’s status in international relations.

In short the question of Shari'a and its applications needs to be clarified and specified.  It needs to be brought out of the realm of generalities and faulty simplification in order to end the situation where Shari'a is used for religious and political bargaining and to end the overbidding and disorder done under its name.  Shari'a must be understood to mean every course taken by the state to ensure the interests of people in accordance with what pleases God.  This is expressed most eloquently by the golden rule of Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh): “The Law of God applies wherever the public interest lies.”

Shari'a then is the maintenance of life, with all its legitimate elements and requirements.  More generally, it is observing the principles of God’s authority in managing the lives and interests of people.  The basis of the authority of God, the Most Sublime, over all people is the realization of the following:

1.     justice;

2.     preservation of human life and dignity;

3.     looking after, developing, and guarding people’s interests;

4.     security and peace; and

5.     Environmental safety and refraining from corrupting the environment.

Every one who accomplishes these ends for people and steers their lives towards these goals is engaged in an application of God’s Law and committed to the values of His authority on earth.  The reformer Sheikh Muhammad 'Abdo, may God have mercy on him, is known to have said:

 I saw Islam in the West, but no Muslims, and I saw Muslims in our countries, but no Islam.

He thus emphasized that the essence and objectives of  Islamic Law is to maintain people’s lives, meet their needs, and realize their interests.

Once I was asked by Dr. William Findley, the Secretary General of the International Conference on Religion and Islam, “Please, Dr. Rifaie, can you tell me what you mean by the term Shari'a in Islam? And do you insist to enforce Shari'a when non-Muslims are involved?”

I said:

First, let me thank you for asking me this question.  The answer is as follows: 

·        In short, Shari'a is the system of maintaining the lives of people and the rules and mechanisms of equitably managing their affairs.

·        The systems of the Shari'a are two groups:

1.     One group relates to religious personal status, and the percentage of this group is not more than 1%.  Islam gives non-Muslims full freedom to follow the rulings of their religion in this connection, without interference from the state except to support the implementation of these rulings.

2.     The greater group of Shari'a system, which amounts to 99%, relates to the interests of people, Muslims and non-Muslims, and all of them are equal in these, without any discrimination. 

Is this explanation sufficient?

He said, “Yes.  But why do you not offer this clear and simple explanation to people?  Why do you try to intimidate them with the Shari'a?  If Shari'a is what you said, I am all for it, and regard me as its first promoters.  After all, all the systems of the world are there to realize the interests and security of people.”

In my conversation with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State which I quoted in the chapter on “The Problem of Democracy,” I told him that the U.S. implements 85% of the performance contract of Islam.”

With astonishment, he asked “Is that true?”

I said, “Yes, and this is not mere Arab generosity.”

“But what is the cause of our 15% difference?” he asked.

I replied, “It is there because of the contract of faith, which you ignore in your life, while we still hold to the question of faith, belief, and their values.  They are the basis of our way of life.  We respect your choice, so if you respect ours, we will deal with the common ground we share, which is up to 85%  as I have said, with mutual respect.”

He was astonished and felt that he, as he put it, was discovering something great he had not heard of before.

In conclusion I say that it is true that – as Ibn Taimiyah, may God have mercy on him, said – “Islam is concealed by its followers.”

Prof. Dr. Hamid bin Ahmad Al-Rifaie

President, International Islamic Forum For Dialogue

    Assistant Secretary General, Muslim World League

From His Book (Partners ... not Guardians)  Part Four / Chapter Sixteen

All Rights Reserved For The Author Prof. Dr. Hamid Al-Rifaie