The Islamic Shari'a as a phrase has two scope of meanings.
Generally and widely construed it denotes everything that has been
written by Moslem jurists throughout the centuries, whether it
dealt with contemporaneous issues of the time or in anticipation of
future ones. The jurist derived their principles from the Qur'an
and the Sunna (way of action and the opinions of the Prophet), and
from the other sources of Shari'a such as Ijma', (the consensus of
the community represented by its scholars and learned men), and
public interest considerations. The Shari'a looked upon in this
wide scope constitute a huge Juristic tradition the value of which
depends on the individual jurist himself, his era, or even the
particular problem confronting him. As such the system has a
tremendous scholastic value to the Moslem, however, it has no
binding authority; since within it one might find different, and
sometimes contradictory principles resolving the same issues,
depending on the Juristic school that propagated the principle.
Furthermore, it cannot have a binding authority since circumstances
that brought about a certain principle might not be in existence
any more, and surely we cannot maintain that previous Moslem
Jurists have anticipated all our existing contemporary problems.
Yet, as I said before in this wide sense, one cannot deny the
Shari'a scholastic value as an elaborate system of deduction which
should be relied upon for future derivations of principles.
Construed narrowly, the Shari'a is confined to the undoubted
principles of the Qur'an, to what is true and valid of the Sunna,
and the consensus of the community represented by its scholars and
learned men during a certain period andregarding a particular
problem, provided such consensus was possible. Viewed as such, the
Shari'a has a binding authority on every Moslem, and he is
obligated to follow and employ it to resolve his affairs, deriving
what is not explicit of its principles by the methods and means.
The statement that it is too late for Shari'a to face contemporary
issues is an exaggerated prejudiced statement, made possible
because of the closing of the doors of investigation many centuries
ago. The spirit and general principles of Shari'a are as valid
today as they were yesterday many centuries ago and as they will be
tomorrow many centuries to come. They are like a green oasis in the
desolate desert of our lives which is over crowded with problems
and conflicting ideologies. At the time of the original publication
Ahmed Zaki Yamani was Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. AUTHOR COMMENTS The Islamic world, relying
on the principles of Shari'a, can achieve its own entity,
independent of East and West, and by which it can defend and
protect itself from the torrent of communism and certain inequities
of capitalism. The ability of Shari'a, to developed and evolve to
meet the ever-changing needs of society, by relying on the concept
of public interest as a source of legislation. The collective
notion in Islam should be emphasized, outstanding quality in
Shari'a which establishes a profound equilibrium between the
individual and the community, should be put in perspective in
relation to our own age. When our political leaders begin to think
seriously about the happiness and welfare of their people, they
shall find in Shari'a a guiding proven system to achieve and
fulfill theiraims. The immortal principles of Shari'a can be used
to correct and cure our social diseases in the Islamic world.
Perhaps even the West might find it, again, a ray of light and
knowledge to achieve still a more advanced civilization, or at
least to preserve its existing one.
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