ISLAM FOR BEGINNERS BRS 107.pdf - CUEA

The primary sources of Shar`iaMuslims know and believe that Shar`ia is naturally a text-based law, for it is contained inthe sacred text, which is the Qur’an and depends on the Qur’an. So the first source ofShar`ia is obviously the Qur’an. Modernists, reformists and fundamentalists willconfidently affirm that the Qur’an is the first source of Shar`ia since they all claim that ithas divine origin. `Abdel Fattah says: “Islamic religious law, the Shar`ia, in its essentialprinciples is not based on the historical experience of a society or a community –it hasdivine origins”. 4 This is a logical statement because the Qur’an itself is believed to have adivine origin and that Muhammad is not its author. This is actually affirmed in the Hadith:For instance, Sahih Al-Bukhari recounts:Narrated `Aisha, the mother of the faithful believers: Al-Hârith bin Hishâm askedAllâh’s Apostle ‘O Allâh’s Apostle! How is the Divine inspiration revealed to you?’Allâh’s apostle replied, ‘Sometimes it is revealed like the ringing of a bell, this form ofinspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes after I have grasped what isinspired. Sometimes the angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and Igrasp whatever he says.’ `Aisha added: verily I saw the Prophet being inspireddivinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead as theinspiration was over. 5Al-Bukhari, who in a special way gives the decorum in which Muhammad received hisrevelation, authenticates the idea that the Qur’an has a divine origin and ipso facto the divineorigin of the Shar`ia.The Muslim conception of the Shari`a flows directly from their traditional conception of theQur’an as a whole. Since the Shari`a is Qur’anic and that the Qur’an is divine, it is understoodthat the Shari`a is divine. We, perhaps, need to know that Muslims throughout the worldconsider the Qur'an as the book of Allah or the very Word of Allah. This consideration is wellestablished in the book itself because many verses state that Allah revealed it; Allah sent it forthe guidance of humankind (6:92; 17:105). In sura Al-Ahqaf, for instance, we read the explicitstatement: “The revelation of the book is from Allah the Exalted in power, full of Wisdom”(46:2). Moreover, in sura An-Nisa, especially in verses 77-82, the Qur'an invites people to4 Saif El-Din `Abdel Fattah, op.cit., p. 305 Muhammad Muhsin Khan, Sahih Al-Bukhari (Chicago: North Wells Street, 1976), p. 2.Frederic N. Mvumbi,OP Page 44 of 85