4. Economy Viewed In The Light Of Faith And Belief
Islam attests to the fact that the source of social and economic phenomena is human beings. Ideas, morality, instincts, and intrinsic (fitri) tendencies constitute the human character. The nature of the social, economic, and class relations reflects the combination of these aspects of the human self. The human character, in general has two aspects. The first includes constant features that are peculiar to man. If these features are taken away from him, he will become an entity that is different from that which he originally was intended to be.
These features are common to all people regardless of place and time. They are as follows: scientific curiosity for truth (understanding causes and effects): practical curiosity for justice (establishing justice and helping a claimant to gain his rights); seeking perfection (progress in science and securing power and survival); benevolence (kindness, care, and sacrifice); and love of wealth (securing pleasures, fulfilling appetites, or lusting for power). The other aspect of the human self includes the variable features.
Human emotions result from the combination of these principles - and natural powers, and the dominance of one type over the other. This process or interactions change depending upon social, economic, and hereditary conditions.
The Social Structure And Historical Dynamism
Based on this view, whether the constant human features dominate the environment or whether man is subject to the environment and means of production and economic conditions, the root of societal structure and historical change lies in man himself1. Indeed, the dynamic force in history comes from the conflict between the constant features and the rebellious human soul influenced by the social conditions, pleasures, animal appetites, needs and the environment.
If humanity is defeated in the interaction between the lofty human potentials and means of production and economic conditions, class conflict emerges. If this conflict grows acute, either all classes are destroyed - followed by the annihilation of the society and civilization - or the ruling and dominant class will go first, and thereafter their subjects. At any rate, these verses of the Qur'an will be spoken at the site of their glorious buildings and castles, which have also been sites of oppression and cruelty.
How many were the gardens and the water springs that they left behind (44:25).
And the cornfields and the goodly sites (44:26).
If, hypothetically, humanity is victorious and the possessive instincts and factors are defeated or abandoned - and consequently the conflict and dynamism vanish - the end will be stagnation and destruction2. In other words, the dominance of emotional pleasures - including its means and ends - results in self-centeredness (self-worship), and the absolute dominance of human elements results in stagnation and the deterioration of the individual. Since the foundation of the society and human life depend on the freedom of the individual for the wellbeing and interest of the society, the lack of balance between the two will destroy the society.
The path to survival and perfection is to strike a balance between the opposing human elements - the impulse to sacrifice and the desire for self-gratification3, in such a way that the one does not dominate others. It is the interaction between these two opposing human poles that makes material and spiritual evolution unceasing and the individual as well as social forces to prosper.
Material needs and necessities constantly motivate and reinforce selfish impulses, pleasure-seeking and profit-seeking. They do not need external stimuli4. But human elements and qualities should be stimulated deeply and enhanced by education and training, so that they can reverse and modify the stormy waves of desires lick a strong rock. Intensive education and training in the areas of faith and reform of instinct can strengthen the human elements 5
Only a faith that derives from natural instinct (fitrah, the first attribute of wisdom), and is approved by the demonstrative intellect (‘aql al-estedlali) has spiritual strength. The will for power and search for perfection are the most important stimuli of instinct, while discovering the source of power and the reason for creation are the most desirable aspirations of the demonstrative intellect. These instinctive and intellectual aspirations are the sources of intellectual power, the burgeoning of talents, and the attainment of human perfection.
In each phase, if man's drive for perfection diminishes, the conflicting elements and stimuli will prevail and the human elements will be undermined. To avoid such an event and to continue the evolution, it is imperative to believe in perfection and an absolute, unlimited power. The first pillar of the Islamic creed and the reality of the call of the oneness of God (tawhid), indeed, pertain to the belief in the absolute power and perfection of God. Only such a conviction can transform a society from self-centeredness to thinking about self-perfection.
One of its effects is the belief that the right to ownership and possession belongs only to God. It is He who has constant and just authority over man and other creations. Man is responsible before Him and the masses. Based on this view, earthly resources and blessing of nature do not belong to any one group or class. However, man, with his intellectual ability and creativity, can possess and use them. No one has the right to stop others from doing to or to transgress on what has already been obtained by labour and innovation.
The verses of the Qur'an have declared explicitly God's absolute right to ownership, possession, subjugation (taskhir), transfer (ja’l) and every arrangement (vaz’), and man's right to utilization (limited possession):
“And hath made of service unto you whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; it is all from Him...” (45:13).
“Who hath appointed the earth resting place for you...” (2:22).
“And the earth hath He appointed for (His) creatures.” (55:10).
Joining the source of goodness and compassion can raise man so high and broaden his mind so far as to enable him to look at all peoples equally. From the continual practice of this action every fountain of compassion and generosity will spring from the heart and will flow from the action.6
Although it has its roots in the instinct and simple intellect, reaching for God and absolute perfection are not easily understood and absorbed by common people. The reason is that intellect is one branch of the human soul. Lusts and different kinds of attraction, which strengthen and deepen their roots in men influence and inevitably defeat the human soul. So the instinctive and intrinsic desires should be guided and the impulses seeking perfection should be developed and grown.
The desires for power, securing one’s survival, seeking plain and lasting pleasures, and having a secure and safe environment are among the principal human desires. The desire to own unlimited wealth, to construct buildings that outlast human life and stand for hundreds of years, and the struggle to attain respectable positions with responsibilities are distinctive characteristics of human beings even though they arise from a sense of insecurity and are means to power, survival, and pleasure.
Are all these powerful human stimuli useless or do these deep-rooted and widespread desires and wishes have a place within the material world? Is it not a fact that each desire loses its significance after gratification, and that an adored object loses its attraction after its use? It may even be resented subsequent to its use? Pure, sensual and constant pleasure is only seen in animal life but this is only a path that man took to which he will never be happy to return to.
Calling man names or assigning to him the characteristics of animals is considered insulting. Man is willing to overlook the pleasures at hand for higher and even unknown desires. He sacrifices his belongings to achieve them even though it might take a long time. If we consider these human qualities, attributes, and impulses as useless, the principles of causality, relativity, and deduction - which are the mainstay of research and the discovery of the secrets and mysteries of creation - will lose their foundation.
The second ideological pillar of Islam is based on these intrinsic impulses and emotional desires. Islam puts forward the belief on reckoning and the Day of Judgment (the higher life and return to eternal and human life). By presenting intellectual and natural proofs, Islam tries to broaden man's vision and prepare him for a higher life. The material life, from this viewpoint, does not constitute the eternal life of man. The surface of the earth is a cradle for improvement and training for man's potentials, through which he will elevate himself. Therefore, earth is the ship for voyages and the inn of newcomers to allow each one to attain, based on his potentials and action, provisions from this bounty of materia1 and spiritual endowments for a higher life.
The gratitude for all these blessings is to know the Owner of this house and to implement His covenant7. In accordance with this covenant anyone may, depending on his ability, produce and utilize natural resources and use them justly according to his needs. In this broad view, the material wealth, production, and distribution do not limit man's potential, intellect and thinking. Rather they are means of climbing up to the next world.
Shifting the attention from the conflicting and limited desires to higher human ideals can bring about a relative unification of ideals and practices. Through this, fellow travelers can cooperate and attain provisions together. They clear the path for each other, study and understand the unknowns, and change discord to cooperation, fear to friendship, and wars to peace. With this change in direction, it is possible to cooperate in survival, a human desire to replace the struggle for survival, which we inherited from animals and the jungle.
Wealth, which is a means to an end, should not be mistaken for a goal and take its place. It is difficult for people who have opened their eyes in the economic environment of the century of industrial development to imagine societies based on faith and human feelings. These people are alienated and astonished, living under government that has usurped the means of production and material elements.
They have forgotten human values and real human desires and they perceive all aspects of life through economic considerations and class conflict. They have elevated the value of wealth so high that, compared to it, they consider man a powerless instrument and make him prostrate before the means and the machinery of production. Since it is hard for such a people to imagine a society based on faith or something resembling it, the realization of such a society is all the more difficult.
In fact, in such corners of the modern world where agitators and power seekers are not operating and their growls are not heard, there exist relative peace, cooperation, and sincerity. Did not cooperation and kindness govern small communities before the nation state was born in modern history? Do not kindness and affection govern in the small environment of a healthy family? Is it not possible to restore peace and prosperity between a man, his spouse, and his children, even when the instinct to amass wealth - which results in lying, disloyalty, and manipulation of each another - takes the place of kindness and affection?
Is human community not a macrocosm of the family unit? Small and large communities, established under the guardianship and care of exalted prophets and just and righteous men are models that herald the possibility of realizing spiritual and healthy communities. The early community of Islam - during the time when the flame of faith enlightened the thoughts and the Islamic khilafat (caliphate) had not changed to absolute monarchy (sultanat al-mutlaq) – is the most notable example of such a community.
Even later, tyranny and the violation of laws and limits centered only on the absolute and the autocratic powers that used Islam as a camouflage for their objectives and atrocities. If we move away from the centers of power and their agents and compare the Muslim masses with other communities, we see that there existed less infringement, injustice, and violation of rights among Muslims than in other societies.
During many centuries from the dawn of Islam until the birth of colonialism and gharbzadegi (‘west-strikenness’)8 neither land ownership nor capitalism in the Islamic world resembled that of other countries. Unlike the feudal lords of western countries, Muslim landowners did not have absolute ownership over the land and the peasants. They would not massacre or expel them en mass. They were not lawmakers, guardians (mutawali), judges or executioners. They were, more or less, ruled by the Islamic faith and legal injunctions.
Muslim capitalists, in accordance with Islamic principles and injunctions, were restrained from openly engaging in usury and hoarding or depriving the workers and peasants of their rights. On the contrary, most Muslim landowners and capitalists were sources of great charities and services. The normal and common activities of wealthy Muslims during their lives or after their death included establishing charitable institutions like hospitals and endowments, constructing roads, bridges, and inns, and providing immense financial help and care for the poor.
Before the crusades, the emergence of technology and the all-embracing influence of Western colonialism, class conflict as had been foreseen and which occurred in Europe, had not emerged in Muslim countries. Generally, the ruling class in Islamic countries did not emerge from large landowners or the capitalist proper. It mostly consisted of invaders who established their power by arms and plundered the public treasury and spent it to keep them in power.
In Islam Economics Is Not Merely Theoretical And Separate From The Society
As Islam attests to the reality of human potentials and talents, it considers man, with his special composition, as the founder of the society, economy and history. Human potentials and talents are so intertwined that the nature and effect of each on the other cannot be studied separately. In fact, individuals seek to fulfill material desires while preserving spiritual values and vice versa.
In this respect, Islamic theories and laws are based on scientific assumptions and are not divorced from the reality of human desires. Islam, whose call and theoretical and practical principles are to elevate man's stature in all realms, does not have a myopic view. If man is taken to be an instrument of production and distribution, and he exists solely to satisfy needs and attain food and shelter - totally preoccupied with satisfying these needs - only then can there exist a place for imaginary theories of economics and their application that is independent of man.
Such a misconception and intellectual deception has led the intellectual leaders of the technology age to unrealistic and useless scientific hypotheses. Even if these hypotheses prove to have some use and results, they cannot offer satisfactory solutions for man at a given time and place, because they are limited and relative. Furthermore, they constantly add to human conflict and bewilderment. Theoretical and legal principles, independent of man's moral conscience and his other desires and ideals, can be understood and implemented only for a special group or class in brief span of time.
Before presenting its plan and establishing its foundation, Islam considers and prepares the intellectual grounds. By purging the mind of shirk (polytheism) and the soul from wickedness, Islam embellishes human beings with faith and righteousness. Then it puts into practice its comprehensive plan (principles and laws) and shows its practice and execution with the cooperation of qualified and willing men (guardians and reformers). A cynic either does not pay attention to the aim of the landlord, (i.e., God) or is not familiar with his intentions and ideas. He considers only one corner of the structure of Islam from within and does not see the general features of this grand design9.
The Roots Of Islamic Laws
Usually, a society is composed of people who are bound by its laws and social contracts. They consider themselves mutually responsible to uphold them. The more deep-rooted the belief in this responsibility, the firmer is the foundation of society. Furthermore, since the society is a moving and evolving entity, the end and the goal toward which the social organism move should be clarified. A society without a set goal and purpose does not have the potential for survival.
Recognition of the goal establishes the foundation of a society and that in turn defines rights and duties. The latter serves as the basis for legislating and formulating laws. Enforcement of laws in a society depends on the members’ spiritual and conscientious responsibility and their belief in the purpose of society. Therefore, a legislator should possess the following characteristics.
First, he should be aware of the ultimate goals of the individual, as well as the dynamism of society so that its movement and process are not hindered in any phase of development and that the rules satisfy all needs. Otherwise, he should propose limited goals consistent with securing national independence, economic relations, and other such self-restrictive objectives. He must provide a stimulating slogan to clear the way: otherwise, stagnation is very certain. Such a society will vanish like a stagnant, infectious and foul body of water that either will eventually sink into the ground or will evaporate.
Second, the legislator should be well versed in the complexity of the human psyche, desires, and values to be able to promulgate comprehensive principles and laws. These laws are based on rights, which in turn are based on the limited inter-relationships between the emotions of individuals and creatures. If the lawmaker considers only one dimension of man and legislates accordingly, not only will he overlook human rights, but also in the name of law he will misdirect man. At first this deviation - like a mirage that one confuses with the water - can be mistaken for the true path, but its end is confusion and ruin.
Third, the legislator should be free from environment and class influence, and emotional desires, so that laws are promulgated for everyone's wellbeing, encompassing and uniting all people.
Fourth, the people and social classes should believe in law and the position of the legislator, so that the principles of law can be willingly enforced. The majority of the people should be responsible for implementing and enforcing them.
The Deficiencies Of Customary (‘Urf) Laws
Regardless of the level of competency of ordinary legislators or the precision and apparently perfect nature of customary law, legislators lack the aforementioned conditions and characteristics. Even if one is familiar with the complexity of the human psyche, its manifestations, and the legal rights derived from it, to formulate the laws still requires a miracle. Aside from a full understanding of the natural conditions and peculiarities, the complex human emotions and instincts and their characteristics, effects, and limitations, it is necessary when for that legislator to be free from desires, psychological complexes, tendencies, grudges and conscious or unconscious influences, while formulating the laws.
Despite his good intentions, an ordinary person cannot be free of the influence of natural instincts and environmental conditions. Given the fact that customs and social relations are the product of human needs, habits, and past and present experiences combined with perceptions, powers, and psychological complexes, how can a man be free?
To illustrate the deficiencies and shortcomings of customary laws for those people who have been prisoners of these types of laws since their birth and see nothing but the status quo, consider the following:
1. The foundation of customary law is based on habits, experience, and the discovery of the relations among various aspects of social life. However, the discovery of social relations, unlike the discovery of natural principles, is not real and permanent. Therefore, customary laws cannot be neither real and permanent, nor are they always in everyone’s interest.
2. Customary laws are based on experiences about limited socioeconomic conditions of past and present. They cannot be extrapolated into me future. Considering that 1aws are formulated for suitability and unity among classes, customary laws are susceptible to change and modification.
3. As both the basic and secondary principles of customary laws are susceptible to change and modification, they are bound to produce privileged ruling classes in the society. They become the foundation of tyrannical government in the form of law. These laws are made to form chains that prove very difficult and costly to break.
4. Human laws, which arc inescapably mixed with psychological complexes and desires, replace one injustice with another and one wrongdoing with the next. Even if they secure the interest of one group, inevitably they hurt other groups and classes.
5. Because these laws do not attest to human forces and instincts and are not sect to modify and harmonize with human emotions, inconsistency and conflict arise among human laws and values. Usually, members of the society feel the burden of these laws. At the first opportunity they persuade people to liberate themselves from such laws.
6. As these laws are not combined with faith and the dictates of conscience and do not conform to the desires and interests of individuals and classes, they are impaired. It is for this reason that parallel to the development of laws and bylaws, elaborate enforcement regulations are set down. For these regulations and other executive powers, legal inspectors are put to work. Furthermore, as the enforcement officers lack conscientious responsibility, often they overlook the laws - sneer at the legislator - intimidated by threats and succumbed to corruption. More important problems and difficulties stem from the fact that the wielders of executive power become a special class that combined with the legislative class causing calamities, oppressions and rebellion.
The deficiencies of customary laws and the damage caused to individuals are beyond examination. In addition to the damages, there are missed potential gains, which can never be recovered. Those people who consider only the features of civilizations and human societies think that it is just human customary laws (i.e. the product of experiences, habits, and limitations that have transformed individuals and classes into society and civilization).
A close and careful examination shows that good relationships among people and useful social results are partly the product of morality and people's consciences and partly the product of principles and laws beyond human imagination and thought. A true foundation for civilization is based on the latter kind of inspiration. In any society whose foundations collapse, customary laws are terminated and the structure falls apart. Scholars and researchers who are considered innovators by their disciples will recognize this fact.10
The function of laws is only to regulate and limit human relations in all areas. As the source of these relations is human forces and instincts whose principles are constant, the legal principles - which serve to regulate and limit these relations - should also be permanent and unchanging. Even the natural qualities of natural species, the limits of their instincts and their effects are regulated and systematic. The manifestation of powers and instincts in man, who is part of this world and its makeup, in the arena of actions and relations with each other should also be regulated. Otherwise, the power of freedom and of free will - which recognizes no standard or boundary - will create chaos in human life.
To conclude, there should be sincere, permanent, and just relations among human communities. The discovery of the principles of these relations is not possible for man, who despite his position and stature, is inevitably subject to the environment and human instincts. Hence, either we should submit to this dark chaos, which exists in human relations, acknowledging that man, despite his intellect and free will, in a world whose parts and whole are subject to logical relationships and orders, should live in confusion and error, and consider man's intellect and free will merely as the cause and means of misery and mistakes; or we should believe in and submit to the fact the eternal Power Who has established the whole natural creation in a systematic and regulated fashion has legislated laws and systems for man and guides us to discover them.
Revelation and guidance for the discovery of these principles and laws are not possible except through man himself. The basic characteristic of a man who is worthy of and able to understand and discover revelation is that his mind and intellect should be free from the darkness, entrapment, and interferences from instinctive elements and environmental conditions. He should be superior and pure. No influential elements other than justice, generosity, and welfare should dominate his mind.
The need for these types of laws and persons is similar to the need of the pupil for the iris, to adjust the amount of sunlight that is suitable for the eye. Is there any existent or non-existent illness and suffering for which a cure cannot be found in the whole of creation? The constant search to find cures for new illnesses and diseases proves this fact.
Considering the human capacity for creativity in the world, the diversity of creatures, and especially the various intellectual and practical talents capable of understanding all of man's problems, the emergence of such personalities is neither rare nor unnecessary. These people, having special qualities and attributes, are the spokesmen for such law, and God's will. They are known rasul (messenger) and nabi (prophet)11.
The prophets do not see the problems of humanity in terms of economic processes and social relations. They do not present, at the beginning of their mission economic and social programs. Ln light of inspiration and revelation, they first consider the complex structure of human nature and man’s internal problems. Indeed, the most important human problem is not the lack of economic and social principles and rules. Even if laws attest to rights and justice, if they are not integrated with the belief in truth and moral responsibility, they can neither help to unite individuals to form an interconnected and sound society nor can they be completely enforced.
Belief in the truth and the laws derived from it works as the agent of spiritual unity in a society and as the guarantor and guardian. Such belief should enlighten and strengthen the mind and heart of humanity before legislation of laws and promulgation of rules and principles can succeed.
Man Has Other Innate Problems That Take Priority Over Solving The Problem Of Belief In Laws
The inability of the intellect to understand the absolute truth, the impotence before natural principles, various needs, constant subjugation by human weaknesses, and other reasons undermine man’s independence and his spirituality. This has caused the following complex and important dilemma in human minds: while subjugated and self-alienated, man considers himself free and independent.
Curing this illness and solving this problem are beyond human remedial capability. Through inspiration and revelation, the prophets first seek a remedy for this problem and attempt to unravel these complicated and intertwined internal complexes. The call to the oneness of God (tauhid) - the inspiration to the spirit of faith in absolute truth - is to free humanity from the chains of enslavement to falsehood, to unravel the psychological complexes of subjugation and suffering among people. Through this method the prophets succeeded in curing minds and restoring human dignity (as far as the potential and conditions permitted).
After this intellectual and mental process, and the awakening of the spirit of compassion, salvation, justice and kindness, they elaborated the shari’ah [the general religious laws], and the regulations derived from it, relative to time and place. In parallel with the expanding and deepening faith in absolute truth, the domain of laws and principles was developed and was completed by the Islamic religious laws.
This has been the method and remedy advanced by all the prophets and it has been perfected by Islam. The methods of the prophets and their successors in the past are not hidden from anyone. Here is a summary of the method of Islamic legislation, the founding principles and prerequisites of the Islamic law, and its distinctive points:
1. Islam, through absolute strengthened faith in tawhid, works at curing the retrogression of the intellect, disillusioned mind, and internal psychological complexes. Human principles and laws, on the contrary, do not have access to the domain of the inner self and pays no attention to it. The pressure of arid and obligatory human laws retrograde the intellect and add to the obstacles.
2. Islam frees man from slavery and man-made laws and makes him submit to God, Who is the absolute truth and good. This, in fact, is the meaning of Islam. Man-made laws, on the other hand, growing out of customs and habits, which are always in line with the interests and domains of a particular group, subjugate man.12
3. Islam awakens and activates the sense of and cares for the truth, goodness, recognition of good and evil, and the understanding of the spirit of the law in the minds of people through its rational and practical teachings. But the laws that are derived from habits and class interest deprive people of their intellect and understanding so that they become totally submissive.
4. Islam, with its various special teachings, elevates value of man and strengthens personal autonomy and independence in resisting lustful drives and love for wealth, so that man may be his own sovereign and the owner of his wealth, and not vice versa. That is to say, the root of personal and social evil is not private ownership. The problems arise when man is the subject of and is preoccupied with desires and the attraction to wealth to such an extent that the preoccupation with amassing wealth destroys his mind, thought and benevolence. The attraction of various desires can lead man into an unwanted direction and prompt him to unwanted actions.
On the contrary, if man is truly the owner – instead of being owned by his wealth – the farsighted and prudent intellect of man will allow ownership so long as it is good for himself and others. The reformers and those working at solving economic problems have completely overlooked this fact. They do not pay attention to this fact in developing and formulating their designs and rules. Indeed, despite their worldview they are not able to see this natural truth.
5. The most important effect of Islamic teaching and training is that it instills faith in individuals and guarantees their responsibility for the laws of the community and for their implementation. Through this mental cure and upon this legislative foundation, Islamic injunctions and laws become sound contracts and agreement, constantly linked to faith and conviction. As a corollary to what was discussed, a legal system that is perfect from the standpoint of the law should have certain qualities. These are as follows:
First, a perfect legal system should establish permanent and comprehensive foundations and principles. It should also be accepted by the people so that the social form, established by systematic principles, public relations and covenants can be preserved and the rules and bylaws can be deduced and determined.
Second, the components of these foundations and principle should conform to social conditions and events.
Third, both basic and derivative governing injunctions should have dynamism. In other words, they should have the evolutionary potential enabling them to develop constantly.
Fourth, the legal accessories and infrastructure, punishments, and rewards should supplement injunctions and laws in order to help the implementation of the laws and to protect them against corruption, contradiction, and misinterpretation (ta'wil) (This characteristic is in addition to the belief in its principles and moral responsibility.)
Is there any religious law other than the one promulgated by Islam that encompasses all social and economic principles in conformity to higher human goals, instincts, and nature, and provides solutions for spiritual problems of the past and the future?
After three phases i.e. unraveling the human mind and psyche, strengthening the foundation of faith in human goals and values; and expounding on the nature and general aims of the religion and principles of legislation, Islam - the framework of the Qur'an, the traditions, and reasoning conforming to the faith - allows independent reasoning (ijtihad) for deduction and analogy. Then it guarantees the implementation of the injunctions based on responsibility, the covenant of faith and hope in the final phase for salvation, and fear of punishment with penal injunctions.
This method and process could only be understood by contemplating the verses in the Qur'an, which are the fountainhead of the Islamic religion and the precise and sound source of the laws, the circumstances of its revelation (nuzul) and the order of its verses. Through its own special intrinsic reasoning, the Qur'an first frees man from siding with, attaching to, or following any imperfect being - one that will hinder the intellect - and guide him to the path of belief in God - the absolute justice, wisdom, and truth - and resurrection - the ultimate end for man.
Then it explains the general principles of the intellect and the nature - both of which are the sources and the roots of the laws - and the reasons for the injunctions and the laws; the collection of laws is to help strengthen them. These include the articles of faith, piety, reverence, justice, equity (scientific justice), good conduct, and beneficence13. After explaining these types of general intellectual and natural principles - and their place in the mind of man for the supervision of all injunctions, laws and conducts - the Qur'an expounds comprehensively and definitively on the injunctions and the foundations of the law (shari’ah) without detailed elaboration, with some exceptions like the verse on inheritance.
These injunctions and their foundations, along with sound (sahih) traditions (sunnah) - and the principles derived from them - have opened the path to independent reasoning (ijtihad) guided by faith. In addition, Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) recognizes the well-known precepts of public wellbeing and good habits and customs as a source of law, if they are not contrary to the basic principles laid down in the Qur'an.
Based on the combination of these principles, foundations, scriptures, acceptable customs, and the firmness and the dominance of reason, Islamic jurisprudence - like a deep sea - has expanded and deepened so much that diving in it is not possible for everyone except those equipped with special spiritual qualities and profound intelligence. By an exercise of perceptive intellect and active independent reasoning (ejtehad al-zendeh) over the sources, Islamic jurisprudence has been evolving as it should and has gone through modifications14. That is why there is no primary or derivative legal principle that has not conformed to the conditions of different times and places.
Among different clans and nations with very different ideas and habits, Islamic laws have adapted to the conditions and situations to the extent that the people of those respective areas consider them their own. They believe in the respective principles and articles, implement them in detail with their hearts and souls and defend their principles.
The root of the enhancement and formation of modern ideas and principles, in successive centuries, and the existence of differing opinions among jurists over new issues lie in these abundant sources15. Stagnation and rigidity, which seem to be the dominant features of the Islamic jurisprudence and often make it appear deficient, have resulted from the general stagnation governing the thinking of the Muslims and the Islamic community in recent centuries.
That has stagnated Islamic jurisprudence just as it has done to other intellectual and natural resources of the Muslims. Often it has, like other damaging intellectual deviations and improper exploitation of natural resources, blocked the way for adaptation.
- 1. Scholars and researchers of historiography have studied to discover the causes of and the ideas behind the formation of government, the establishment of a civilization and historical developments. They have presented different views. As the philosophy of history is a recent discipline and is still evolving, it has not reached general, definite and comprehensive conclusions or theories that could be applied to all aspects, periods and processes of history. The conclusion reached in this area, as the result of empirical studies, although applicable to some areas, cannot be applied to all of past or future history.
The first person, according to both Western and Eastern scholars, who removed historiography from annals writing and returned to the philosophy of history and the study of the causes of historical events was the Tunisian Maleki Jurist Abu Zayd ‘Abd-al-Rahman Muhammad ibn Khaldun (died in 1405 in Cairo). Ibn Khaldun in his famous Muqaddimah has studied the causes of the genesis and destruction of civilizations and governments.
First, he concludes that the most important cause for the emergence of a civilization and a government are mental, moral and physical forces, and that the decline of a civilization is caused by their deterioration. He maintains that the Bedouins and nomads who lived in the harsh and natural conditions of the desert have sound physical and mental abilities. They enjoyed strong tribal and clannish solidarity (ta’asub) and were constantly active and vital. On the contrary, the city dwellers, who lived in ease and comfort, gradually lost their physical and mental abilities and hence became vulnerable to decay and destruction. Because of this, civilizations and governments have always been founded by tribes or clans.
Some scholars of the philosophy of history pay attention primarily to geographical and ecological conditions. They consider these as influential factors on the behaviour, customs and civilizations. Other scholars regard psychological complexes as the central root of behaviour, customs and civilizations. Freud and his followers emphasize psychological impulses especially the ‘Id’.
Contemporary economists contend that economic means and conditions are the basis of social conditions. Marx and his followers consider the modes and means of production as the sole source and infrastructure of societies and their moral development. The do not, however, have any proof for the singular role that each one of these modes and means play. In fact, Marxism, with their especially widespread propaganda, attempts to awaken the common sense of the deprived class and strengthen its will. This practice, contrary to their theoretical claim, shows that class conflict cannot be the sole source of movement and neither is it totally controlled by economic elements.
The Qur’an, more than any other book or theory, has paid attention to explaining historical events and the reasons behind the survival and destruction of, or the happiness and injustices among nations and clans. The most significant factor, according to the Qur’an, is the conduct (hedayat) of the people or their misdeeds (zelalat). The former directs the mind to monotheistic faith and to receive the general laws of creation and existence, and to act properly – justly and generously. The latter directs the mind to ignore all these.
The Qur’an shows how individuals and groups who followed the just and right path became powerful and received all blessings, while those who ignored the calls of the messengers and reformers, and continued in their errors – despite great variety of means, power and progress – fell and were destroyed before the normal order of life and the just power:
“There surely is an oath for thinking man.” (89:5).
“Dost thou not consider how thy Lord dealt with (the tribe of) A'ad,” (89:6).
“With many-columned Iram” (89:7).
“The like of which was not created in the lands;” (89:8).
“And with (the tribe of) Thamud, who clove the rocks in the valley;” (89:9).
“And with Pharaoh, firm of might,” (89:10).
“Who (all) were rebellious (to Allah) in these lands,” (89:11).
“And multiplied iniquity therein?” (89:12).
“Therefore thy Lord poured on them the disaster of His punishment.” (89:13).
“Lo! thy Lord is ever watchful.” (89:14).
“…They were even superior to them in strength, and in the traces (they have left) in the land…..” (40:21).
“They were stronger than these in prowess, and dug up the earth, and built on it in greater abundance than these have built on it…” (30:9).
There exist many such verses in the Qur’an. In fact, in the first surah of the Qur’an, which part of the daily prayers of all Muslims, emphasis is given to ‘guidance’ to people on the straight path, as against those who are subject to God’s wrath and are misled. Since the source of righteousness or the commission of errors lie in the conflicting and contradictory thoughts and forces of the obedient and free-willed human being, the basis or foundations of the movement of history is in the human being and human powers.
- 2. As history shows, in India and the Islamic world, the spirit of justice and spiritual and human forces dominated. However, people lost the sense for social responsibility so that insularity and the abandonment of work and declining productivity (Gnosticism and extreme individualism) became dominant. It was then that the society stagnated and the people were suppressed.
- 3. derived from passion and needs and the source of self-centeredness.
- 4. In societies on the verge of destruction, pleasure and hedonism are encouraged more than necessary and consequently the spiritual forces of the people diminish.
“And when We would destroy a township We send commandment to its folk who live at ease, and afterward they commit abomination therein, and so the Word (of doom) hath effect for it, and we annihilate it with complete annihilation”. (17:16).
- 5. “He it is Who hath sent among the unlettered ones a messenger of their own, to recite unto them His revelations, to make them grow and to teach them the Scripture and wisdom ….” (62: 2).
This verse points to the education regarding the scriptures and the wisdom of reciting the verses of the Qur’an.
- 6. Repetition of the name ‘the compassionate and merciful’ in the surah’s of the Qur’an, before each prayer and with every step the Muslims take, is done to achieve such result. Repeating phrases and words make one understand their meanings. Gradually they take root in man’s nature and righteous behaviour will grow out of that.
“…. a goodly saying, as a goodly tree, its root set firm, its branches reaching into heaven”. (14:24).
- 7. Reference is to the Qur’an. It is believed that the Qur’an is a covenant between man and his Creator.
- 8. Gharbzadegi is a term coined by a contemporary thinker, Ahmad Fardid, and later popularized by Jalal Al-e Ahmad in a polemic essay by the same name. The term literally means “being struck, smitten, incapacitated, stupefied, sabotaged, diseased, infested and infatuated” by the West. See Gharbzadegi (West-strickenness) translated from the Persian by John Green and Ahmad Alizadeh, (Lexington: Mazda Publishers, 1982). (tr)
- 9. This is similar to well-intentioned comments made by common people with limited view about a building, without considering the position of the lot, the needs of its inhabitants, or the general environment. Their comments either do not conform to the views of the owner or do not cover all aspects of the building.
- 10. Jean Jacques Rousseau says: “Empty deceptions form but a transient bond: it is only wisdom that makes it last. The Jewish law, which still endures, and that of the Child of Ismael (the Prophet of Islam), which for ten centuries has ruled half the world, still bear witness today to the great men who dictated them.” [The Social Contract and Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, edited by Lesser Crocker, Washington Square Press, 1967, p 46 – tr].
The firm and sound laws of Europe are, in part, taken from ancient Rome. Rome blossomed only after coming out of seclusion in the third century of the Christian era, and by integrating its old laws with Middle Eastern divine laws. Europe established its civilization the same way. Then, through Spain and the Middle East, adapted the principles of Islamic laws and brought another transformation in civic and social principles.
- 11. Islamic scholars and researchers have, through precise reasoning, proven the necessity of general prophethood. They explain, in detail, the conditions and the habitual and mental attributes of prophets - especially the attribute related to their infallibility – in their philosophical and dialectic theological works. In this present work, the necessity for the emergence of prophets, their qualities and their nature are discussed only in relation to the law.
- 12. Marx, with his special genius, seems to have been quite aware of the fact that his theory and other scientific theories, and social and economic principles neither establish the desired justice nor eliminate social classes. That is why he freed himself from that responsibility and left it to historical determinism. However, developments in the methods of production have helped new classes to emerge. From his time no step has been taken towards complete abolition of classes.
- 13. An important part of the Qur'anic verses is a call to these principles and expounding on their effects in the material and spiritual domains.
- 14. Shi’as in particular do not follow the legal opinions of a jurist. They believe that the mujtahid should be alive and observe the ever-increasing events, problems and the daily affairs.
- 15. In Islamic jurisprudence, there have been issues that have been agreed upon by all or most of the jurists, but later disagreement on the same issues have occurred. Except in regard to social problems – according to the opinion of the majority – a mujtahid can accept of reject, based on his own independent reasoning, the legal opinion (fatwa) of another jurist.
The majority of Islamic scholars consider the injunctions dependent on the actual conditions (the Ash’ari ‘ulama are exceptions). Therefore, a mujtahid can give his opinion in a situation, even though it might contradict that of his predecessors or contemporaries.