Role of Morality in Islamic Legislation
By
Umi-Salma
Abstract
Legislation is the subject of philosophers and metaphysicians,and in the field of law, perhaps for the meta- lawyers, and meta-jurists, a species of extremerarity. I am conscious that lot of classical literature has been written on the subject of Islamic legislation and concept of justice in relation to morality. As a student of Islamic studies I have preferred to highlight the Divine law and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him through his mission altered the state of those unlettered ones to whom he was sent, his manner of reforming their conditions under the topic of legislation, facilitation, and ruling of religion. They used to accept the mission of the prophet and Sovereignty of Almighty Allah in all aspects of Islamic values and presented the best moral character to the world.
The emergence of alternative institutions implies not the acceptance but a challenge to the Western society. Rather than attempting to switch the Muslim world to its norms, the West should study Islam and its ruling system to promote intellectual discourse so as to understand each other better, and to hold together a just, humane world order. This paper examines the legal and moral hypothesis of those unlettered ones (ummiyens) and a brief analysis is investigated with the aim to focus on Divine Law and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessing of God be upon him in the framework of Islamic values within the structure of law and morality. It also highlights the influential role in legislation, facilitation and the rulings of the religion. There is a certain amount of overlap between law and morality as often law gives expression to the accepted norms of morality within the society, even if it does not directly legislate for it.
In the history of Muslim law Islamic legislation is based on four sources, Kitab ul Allah)Divine Law, (Sunnah) Hadith literature (traditions)Ijma(consensus) Qiyas (analogical deductions) all that inculcate into Sharia.Prior to the full revelations of the Quranic injunctions, the Prophet of Islam followed the Sunnah of the earlier Prophets of God Almighty. As such they too constitute an essential source of Islamic Legislation and are in the some cases woven into the text of the Quran & Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). In Islam ultimate legal and constitutional sovereignty rests with none but Allah as Al Faruqi points out thatummah is not a legislative assembly. It does not make the law nor is the law an expression of the general will of people. The law is divine as it comes from God. As such, it is supreme. Sharia defines the Shurawith Ijma(consensus) Qiyas (analogical deductions) as the Islamic decision-making model. In Islam, law and morality both are part of the body of Shari'ah, with morality having an important place in maintaining the integrity of society. There is no inhibition for legislating morality to the extent that even whatcould be termed private morality is subject to law and is enforceable. This is because the danger of immorality in eroding the fabric of society and the need for adhering to a shared morality is well recognised.
As in the classical literature Shah Wali Ullah inHujjat ul Allah al-Baligha explained that “If you want to know the method of divine legislation, and then study the case of a skilful doctor when he strives to treat the sick. He informs them of what they don’t know and orders them to do things whose fine points theydo not understand. See how he takes physical symptoms and then traces them to hidden things such as associating red skin and loss of blood from the gums with an excess of blood. Afterwards how he considers the strength of the sick person his age, city, weather and after diagnosing he suggests the potency of medicine and all other factors. Thus he intuits the specific quantity of medicine which will be suitable for condition and then scribes it. Sometimes he formulates a general principle due to establishing anticipated source of cause, in short Shah Wali Ullah concludes that Allah, may He be exalted, wanted through the mission of the prophets to, “bring the people out of the darkness into light”. He therefore revealed to them his command and cast His light into them and inspired them with the desire to reform the world.
Before the dawn of Islam, Arabia was the land of antagonistic tribes, always busy in fighting and bloodshed. Due to their inter-tribal conflicts and disunity they had become an easy prey to economic and political exploitation of the contemporary great powers, the Persians and Romans. It was the dawn of Islam that removes the oppression to the weaker and knit them together strongly in the bonds of brotherhood and made them an irresistible force. Their arms soon held the sway over the three continents and within a short span of three decades made them masters of one third of the known world. Islam has brought about a complete re-orientation in their attitude towards life and made tent-dwellers of the desert a cultured and civilized people. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was sent withHanif religion of Ismael to straighten their crookedness and bring their distortion to an end, and to spread their light and this is His, may He be exalted saying “the religion (millat) of your father Ibraheem. (Al-Quran 22: 78) The Children ofIsmael had inherited the codes of their father Ismael, and remained following that divine law until the time of ‘Amr ibn Luhayy’for the interpolated things into it according to his worthless opinion. He was considered to be the founder of polytheism in Arabia who changed theIbrahamicreligion by introducing idols. It is said that he set animals free in their honour and this practice is denounced in Quran(5:103) so the religion was thereby falsified and the sound was mixed with the corrupt and ignorance, polytheism and unbelief overcome. Therefore God sent the Prophet Muhammad (PBHU) to straighten their deviations and to reform their corruptions. He (PBUH) examined their divine law and whatever in it agreed with the codes from rituals of God, he retained. Whatever in it was distorted or corrupted or adopted the emblems of polytheism and unbelief he nullified and recorded itsnullification. When something happen under their cultural behaviour and so on, he explained its proper manners and reprehensible aspects in such a way as to avoid the disasters of conventions, and he forbade the corrupt customs and commanded the sound ones. The unlettered people of Jahiliyya at the time of the Prophet may the peace and blessing of God upon him, used to accept the possibility of the mission of the prophets, belief in requital, believed in principles of the types of piety, and put into practice. The teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) inspired the heart of his followers with a feel for knowledge and createda new sense of civility, culture, justice, piety, tolerance and brotherhood into a savage race which is an essential pre-requisite for cultural development of society. Culture is the off-spring of many factors; human potential, creative consciousness, intellectual and spiritual vitality, real achievement of progress, and freedom among others.
The most important aspect of the Islamic value is peace as the word “Islam” inter alia means peace.In Arabic the word ‘peace’ is derived from Semitic stem and Hebrew word ‘Shalom’ in Arabicsalam, stands for peace and submission to God. “Considering the world as it is constituted today, there is no potentweapon to wage reconciliation than to fall back upon that age-old institution of mankind namely, religion, which even today, as Macaulay remarked, is capable of serving as last restraint on earthly power and last solace of earthly misery. Our present predicament is due to the fact that we have discarded religion and pushed out God’s consciousness from ourselves. If we aspire for reformation we have to reinstate our faith in God and in this behalf the responsibility of the Muslims are great, as they are peace-loving people”. Islam alone is amongst major religions that strive for eradication of mischief and violence. It seeks to establish universal peace and to assure security to all peace-loving people. Christianity claims to be the most peace loving religion, which favours the policy of non-resistance to evil. The New
Testament tells us that the proper answerto an act of violence is an act of love.
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth; But I say unto you, that Ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on the right check, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take awaythy coat, let him have thy cloak also”
Certainly to do good in return for bad is said to be the best way to fight evil. No doubt, these are noble sentiments and in the personal lives of individuals may be praiseworthy. They do hold good in rare instances only, but these precepts as a universal code of conduct cannot be possible for mankind. The history of Christianity too negates their authenticity. Dean Inge’s comment on it deserves consideration. He says:
“The principle of non-resistance was laid down for a little flock in la hostile environment. But an organized security cannot abstain from the use of coercion. No one would suggest that a Christian Government must not suppress a gang of criminals within its own borders. Augustine held that was justified in repelling wanton and rapacious attacks and that in preventing such crimes we are acting in the true interest of the aggressor”
The Holy Quran describes the problems of life in a realistic manner and offers practical solutions for them. Like the New Testament, it admonishes us to do good in return for evil, for such actions are likely to have a wholesome effect on the evil-order.” Return a bad act by one that is beautiful and good. It may be, that he between whom and you there is enmity, becomes your friend”. (41:34) In another place, amu’minis described as “One who repels wrong with right”. However, those who are unjust and cruel to their fellow-beings are denounced by the Quran such men deserve punishment.
Islam declares the whole of humanity with its diverse races, is originally one, deriving its very existence from one creator. All mankind are from one stock, they must respect God and the ties of blood relationship “O Ye mankind! Reverence your Lord who made you from a single being. And from that being He made its mate, from the twain He caused to spread many men and many women, And Reverence God”. Islam always focuses on brotherly feelings among the followers of all prophets. “The Messenger (Muhammad) believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from his Lord and (So do) the believers. Each one believeth in Allah and His Angels, and His Scriptures and His Messengers.” Islam teaches us to live peacefully with each other.
Mankind cooperate with and help each other in the cause of justice, as is the sublime duty of Muslims. The Quran says: Help one another in goodness and piety and do not helpanother in sin and aggression. Justice in Islam seeks to attain a higher standard i.e. Absolute Justice and Fairness as suggested by the ‘Meezan’ or Balance. In Islamic concept of justice is far superior to the remedial justice of the Romans or of the Anglo-Saxons. The Quran Says: “We sent a foretimes our Apostles with clear signs and send down the Balance, that men may stand forth in justice. “Be strict in observing justice and be witness for Allah, even though it be against yourself or against your parent or kindered.
“Whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of mankind”.
One of the most distinctive features of Islam is Tolerance. A mere reference to humiliating terms of the Treaty ofHudaibiya,the Charter granted by the Holy Prophet to the monks of the monastery of St. Catherine near Mount Sinai, and his treatment of the Qureshon the day of the Victory of Mecca, bear ample testimony to the toleration in Islam. Dr. S.Inayatullah has provided historical data in this context: He Says: “The tolerance and protection which Christians and Jews enjoyed under the Muslim rule as ‘Dhimmisenabled them to make valuable the Islamic intellectual and cultural life with which they were surrounded. “For instance, the translation of Greek works into Arabic was done mostly by Syrian Christians. The heathens of Harran contributed in no small degree to the diffusion of Greek science as Philosophy. The Jews contributed immensely in the financial field, and they were sometimes entrusted with responsible positions in the government”. Due to catholic attitude of the Arabs, their civilization became cosmopolitan in character yet maintaining its Islamic traits. It is Islam which permitted men of all races-Arabs, Turks, Greeks and other-faiths, Muslims, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians to contribute to the glorious civilization we call Islamic. Bernard Lewis remarks:
“Despite this diversity of its origins, Islamic Civilization was no more mechanical juxtaposition of previous cultures but rather a new creation, in which all these elements fused into a new and original civilization by the transposition into Arabic and Islamic forms recognizable and characteristic in every phase of its achievement.”
Sovereignty is the highest and most general power or administering the affairs which generally concern the safety and welfare of the soul and body of the members of the state. This power could be neither absolute nor supreme since it is limited by the laws of God. The law of nature, and the terms of the contract with the people, who remain the ultimate source of sovereignty. Because of this, political scientists have found it extremely difficult to fix sovereignty in any individual, a group of individuals or in any human society. Thus, they are justified in arriving at the conclusion that there is none among human being who could confidently be called a sovereign power.
The Holy Quran repeatedly pointed out to the fact that only Allah, the Almighty possesses absoluteauthority and unlimited power. The world “Aziz” in the Holy Quran means unchallengeable authority and as such there is none in the entire universe who can challenge Allah’s authority and power.
- He is all powerful. He is the accomplisher of what He planneth.
- He is not answerable to anybody. None can question Him for His acts.
- He is the proctor of all. He protect all but is not protected by any.
He is above all faults and short comings. “Allah is He, than whom there is no other God: the sovereign, the Holy one: the source of peace and perfectness; the Guardian of Faith, the preserve of safety, the exalted in Might, the irresistible and the supreme”, declares the Quran. Sovereignty could be divided into two types: Legal and political and both are interdependent. Legal sovereignty does not mean anything without political sovereignty. If political sovereignty is not there at the back of legal sovereignty it has no worth at all. There are numerous verses of the Holy Quran such as:
- The command is for none but Allah.
- Allah doth command according to His will and plan.
- When Allah commands, there is none to put back His command.
- The command rests with none but Allah. He declares the truth and He is the best of Judges.
- Follow (O Men) the revelation, given unto you from your Lord, and follow not as friends or protectors, others than Him.
- He hath commandeth that ye worship none but Him: that is right way.
Holy Quran establish this fact with ample evidence that legal sovereignty belongs to Allah alone. Those who are not prepared to accept, this fact, the Holy Quran has called them rebellions, wrong doers and unbelievers: And if any do fail to judge by the light of what Allah has revealed, they are not better than those who rebel.And if they do fail to judge by the light of what Allah has revealed they are not better than wrong doer. And if any do fail to judge by the light of what Allah has revealed, they are no better than un-believers.
All these verses reveal the fact that legal sovereignty belongs to Allah alone. “The command is with Allah, Most High, and Most Great”.
to be continued ...