Appendix I, II and Notes

Appendix I: Equations for Reform -- 145

Appendix II: Faith: A Matter of Reason, or the Miraculous? -- 149

Introduction -- 149

Rational Proof as the Best Foundation for the Authoritative

Claims of Revelation -- 150

Notes -- 165

appendix i

EQUATIONS FOR REFORM

The following six equations may be seen as mnemonic devices that serve to remind us of the major issues that have been discussed in this volume and what the contemporary Islamic reform effort requires:

Equation 1:

Revelation + awareness of human nature and the laws of the cosmos + reason + time + place = scientific, rightly guided Islamic knowledge and a sound intellectual approach.

Equation 2:

An upbringing consisting of love + encouragement + freedom + discipline = a positive, effective, constructive, strong human character.

Equation 3:

A Qur’anic perspective on human culture + convictions inspired by monotheistic faith = a human being with a constructive, positive, ethically sound will and the desire to act creatively and responsibly as God’s steward and representative on earth.

Equation 4:

A sound intellectual method + a positive spiritual and emotional orientation + the will to do good = self-realization based on the Qur’anic worldview embraced and applied by the Prophet’s Companions.

Equation 5:

Thinkers + educators + reformers + an effective worldview = genuine, peaceful change.

(pg.145)

Equation 6:

A constructive, positive vision + a sound intellectual method + a sound educational method + effective social institutions + social and economic justice = a vital, egalitarian, spiritual, creative, dynamic, effective, capable, constructive society and culture.

(pg.146)

Appendix I

appendix ii

FAITH: A MATTER OF REASON, OR THE MIRACULOUS?

Introduction

The reason I have chosen to append this essay to a discussion of the Qur’anic worldview is that it presents the infrastructure required by this worldview in its capacity as a global spiritual vision having to do with the universals of existence and human life on earth in all its dimensions. After all, no comprehensive vision of life and what lies beyond it will have any authoritative basis unless it issues from the Creator of the universe, since an understanding of the universals of existence cannot be based on human reason alone.

The purpose of this essay is to clarify the logical, theoretical foundation for faith, which in turn constitutes the foundation upon which the Islamic worldview rests. A reasoned faith has served, whether consciously or unconsciously, as the underpinning and guiding light for my own life since the time when I was a young child, giving meaning to my existence on the material and spiritual levels alike. My hope is that what I have to say here will help Muslim readers discern the solid foundation they have for their own faith, and that, in so perceiving, they will see the meaning of their own lives and form a clear world-view based on faith in the oneness of God and their own role on earth as God’s stewards, representatives, and reformers.

In the course of studying the issue of the Islamic scientific method some years ago, my attention was drawn to the fact that, despite the scientific bent and disciplined nature of the philosophical system developed by Imam Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi (d. 456/1064), he nevertheless departed from his own logical, scientific method – when in

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 treating the issue of faith and the authoritative nature of revelation, he resorted to an acceptance of the miraculous and supernatural.

As a boy I came face to face with questions relating to faith, the religious worldview, and the truthfulness of the revelation. In coming to grips with these issues, my thinking tended in the direction of the logical and the rational. Hence, the miraculous played virtually no part in the way in which these issues were resolved for me. It was with these thoughts in mind that I felt prompted some years ago to write an article entitled, ‘Reflections on the Literalism of Ibn Hazm and the Inimitability of the Muhammadan Message’¹, in which I raise a number of questions relating to Ibn Hazm’s method and offer ways in which his scientific and methodological vision might be filled in or completed.

Rational Proof as the Best Foundation for the Authoritative Claims of Revelation

Ibn Hazm is a prominent figure in the history of Islamic philosophy and theology, who was known for his scientific, systematic, and disciplined manner of thought. Adhering strictly to the criteria of reason, realism, and sensory data and experience, Ibn Hazm was eminently bold and clear in both his arguments and his conclusions. As such, he rejected empty conjecture and delusion even if they happened to parade as solid religious or intellectual notions. Indeed, Ibn Hazm’s scientific, systematic approach was itself one of the most important reasons for the loss of favor he suffered when, as time went on, the thinking of the Muslim community lost its proper focus, and its thinkers and scholars became increasingly isolated from the concrete, practical aspects of the community’s life.

Ibn Hazm’s adherence to the literal sense of the text of the Islamic revelation in the derivation of Islamic legal rulings is a natural extension of his scientific methodology, which relies solely upon reason, sense perception, and concrete experience. Hence, pertaining to the realm beyond immediate sense perception or human logic, Ibn Hazm’s approach does not allow human beings either to add to or subtract from that which is revealed directly by God. In Ibn Hazm’s belief, human reason is obliged to understand the revelation exactly as it is, without addition or subtraction, since to do otherwise – that is, to mix

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the world of reason and sense perception with the realm that goes beyond them without any authoritative or rational justification – leads either to the deification of human reason or to its abolition.

Ibn Hazm employed his reason, his knowledge, and his scientific method in the understanding of the Islamic revelation and its texts without adding to it or taking anything away from it. As a result of this disciplined approach, he formulated a system of jurisprudence that commanded the respect of his supporters and detractors alike. Indeed, his writings came to be viewed as a source of legitimate, authoritative arguments which seekers of knowledge and understanding continue to draw upon to this day.

Proponents of the systematic, scientific approach have often been disregarded by Muslim scholars, and this to the detriment of the Muslim community and its intellectual progress. The vitality, dynamism, and adaptability of Islamic thought have been sapped by the failure to integrate knowledge from life’s various spheres and the insistence on confining the work of Muslim scholars and intellectuals to the realm of the mosque or school. This lack of recognition, appreciation, and welcome has been the fate not only of Ibn Hazm, but of many other creative thinkers and proponents of the scientific approach as well. Such thinkers include Imam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 729/1328), who incurred the enmity of numerous Muslim scholars and intellectuals and was accused of disloyalty to the Islamic religion, as well as the renowned Ibn Khaldun, whose thought and writings were ignored or received with indifference by the majority of Muslim scholars until Western, non-Muslim proponents of the scientific approach brought his writings to light and granted them the recognition and appreciation they deserve. And other examples abound.

Whoever reflects on the lives of these rare geniuses, who lived after the door to ijtihad2 was shut at the close of the fourth century, will discover that these thinkers were adhering to an approach that differed in both quality and trajectory from the prevailing school-based intellectual models, in which knowledge remained fragmented and scholars remained isolated from the currents of day-to-day life. Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Khaldun, and others of their kind were not scholars and jurists who did their work in isolation from the realities

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being experienced by the society around them. On the contrary, they were men who had acquired expertise, wisdom, and awareness through concrete practice in the social and political spheres on the basis of which they had developed an integrated, scientific mindset. Their knowledge was of the sort that related clearly to their action, their practice, and their awareness in such a way that they dealt authentically with life’s changing realities. Hence, when viewed in relation to the conditions of the age in which they lived, most of their opinions and interpretations may be seen to have been valid, realistic, and enlightened.

However, despite the reliability of Ibn Hazm’s scientific method and the disciplined manner in which it deals with the realms of the seen (al-shahadah) and the unseen (al-ghayb), it nevertheless comes up against a major difficulty in its search for the rational evidence required in order for someone to accept the notion of divine revelation as a source of knowledge and, on this basis, to accept and adhere to Islamic law. For, given the fact that Ibn Hazm was committed to the authority of reason and empirical evidence and, on this basis, rejected Gnostic, mystical, and esoteric claims, he was obliged to identify a kind of systematic, scientific, rational evidence upon which he could rely in his acceptance of and commitment to divine revelation (al-ghayb).

A reasoned acceptance of the authority of divine revelation requires a prior acceptance of the veracity and trustworthiness of the Apostle, as well as the veracity of the message he brought. At this point, however, we find Ibn Hazm to be torn between his scientific, rational method – which will accept nothing other than reason and sense experience as legitimate sources of knowledge – and his personal faith in the grandeur of the message of Islam, as well as its necessity for the harmonious flow and integrity of human life, and the need for the realms of the seen and the unseen to meet, as it were, and complete one another. For this reason, Ibn Hazm had no choice but to go in search of a kind of rational evidence, which would be consistent with the nature of his thought and method, and which would, thereby, constitute a credible link between the realms of the seen and the unseen.

Since it would have been impossible for someone of his persuasion to accept claims of the possibility of Gnostic (mystical) communication

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or communion with the world of the unseen, Ibn Hazm had to turn to the life of the Messenger of God for the evidence he sought as the basis for a rational, scientific belief in his truthfulness. The truthfulness of the Apostle would have to have been manifested through living proof of the sort that would leave reason no choice but to believe his claims and surrender to this belief. The existence of something extraordinary (al-i’jaz) in the life of the Apostle would serve as a rational, scientific basis for acceptance of and surrender to his message in the realm of the rational and the sensory (al-shahadah). Moreover, it was through this acceptance that the rational link between the realms of the rational and sensory, on one hand, and the suprarational and metasensory (meta-physical), on the other, would be brought to completion. This logical, systematic point of departure is, by necessity, the only sound one within the parameters of Ibn Hazm’s scientific, rational approach to claims pertaining to the suprarational and the metaphysical.

The question then arises: what miraculous or extraordinary dimension of the Prophet’s life could Ibn Hazm appeal to as that which compels rational acceptance of the truthfulness of his message, leaving no room for doubt or dispute?

It may be seen here that despite the fundamental soundness of Ibn Hazm’s method, he nevertheless missed the mark by failing to derive the correct conclusions based on the premises he had posited and to which he had committed himself. For the extraordinary element which Ibn Hazm identified in the life of the Prophet consisted in the miracles he is reported to have performed in the physical realm. The problem we face here is that even if believers find it easy to affirm that these miracles took place, there nevertheless remains room for a great deal of controversy on the rational or scientific plane concerning the soundness of the chains of narrators who related these events, the soundness of the accounts themselves, whether the narrators exaggerated or embellished their accounts, the matter of whether the senses might have been deceived, and so on. Considerations such as these might even lead us to conclude that the only people who are required to believe that these miracles took place are those who witnessed them directly. Hence, if some people affirm their occurrence based on a predisposition to grant the truthfulness of such claims – out of love,

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reverence, and admiration for the person to whom they are attributed, or out of love and respect for the scholars who affirm that they occurred or who accept these accounts simply to avoid ‘rocking the boat’ – the fact remains that such an affirmation is inconsistent with Ibn Hazm’s rational, scientific method.

I, like Ibn Hazm, have scientific, rational inclinations. From the time I was a secondary school student in Makkah not far from the Holy Ka’bah, I became aware of issues surrounding the relationship between the world of reason and sensory perception on one hand, and the world of the suprarational and metaphysical on the other, as well as the question of which direction to take in life and what doctrines to believe in and commit myself to. Thanks to our family’s well-stocked library and a loving, nurturing family environment that encouraged my academic leanings from an early age, it came naturally to me to approach such existential questions by directing my attention to the life of the Prophet. It was there that I hoped to find the missing link that would demonstrate the reliability of his claim to be conveying truths from the world of the suprarational and metaphysical, thereby commanding acceptance of and commitment to the sanctity of the message he brought, while at the same time allowing one to feel admiration and appreciation for bearers of other messages to the extent that their thought and exemplary lives merited such.

Unlike Ibn Hazm, however, I did not go in search of definitive proof of the Prophet’s reliability and veracity in the supernatural feats he was reported to have performed in the material realm (despite my willingness to believe that he did, in fact, perform them). Rather, I turned in my search to the person of the Prophet himself. The reason for this was the realization that I could not, with my reason alone, understand existence and what lies beyond it, nor could I ask God directly about the true nature of the Apostle and his message. Therefore, it was necessary for me, logically speaking, to search for the missing link I sought in the life of the Apostle himself on the basis of the claims of reason and the God-given need for understanding without needing to bypass these claims, violate them, or declare them invalid by appealing to supernatural acts in which the laws of the universe are contravened. Even at that relatively early age, I succeeded in arriving at

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rational, scientific corroboration of the veracity of the Apostle without needing to believe that he had performed miracles. And it was this that inspired me to write this critique in the hope of shedding further light on rational, scientific methodology, while at the same time, pointing to the need to recover the humane, spiritual worldview of Islam in the face of the materialistic, dog-eat-dog worldview that prevails in today’s world – so that, ultimately, ‘right’ will be ‘might’ rather than ‘might’ being ‘right.’

Ever since those days of my adolescence, I have realized that the scientific method requires that the truthfulness of the final message brought by the Apostle be demonstrated in a rational, scientific manner that will enable succeeding generations to believe in it with no less certainty than that experienced by those who were contemporaries of the Apostle himself. For this reason, this i’jaz (extraordinary something) unique to the Prophet must be consistent with the rules of logic and the laws of the universe for which his message demonstrated such deep respect and to which it calls us to adhere. Support for the Prophet’s message and mission must not be dependent on a supernatural event or events that surpass the capacity of the mind to explain and which do not require the scientific researcher to appeal to the known laws and patterns of the cosmos. Moreover, because the basis for the message’s reliability has to be related to the person of the Apostle, it is important first to examine his actions and his words – both their individual elements and their overall patterns – and then to compare them to those of others in order to see how, logically speaking, it was possible for this human being both to bring others the message of the world beyond the senses, and to lead them to believe it.

The message of Islam can be seen to have differed from the messages and religions that preceded it. For history itself has preserved for us both the text of the Islamic message and the details of the Prophet’s life; similarly, both history and the text of the Qur’an make clear that Muhammad was a human being who lived a human life, and that his life was that of an upright individual. Consequently, the extraordinary element in his message and the evidence of its veracity must be consistent with the facts of the human nature to which the Islamic discourse – a discourse whose purpose is to set human beings on a

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course that will lead them into a phase of scientific globalism – was and is addressed. But the question remains: what was the extraordinary element in this human being’s life? And where is the indisputable evidence of his truthfulness as an apostle who brings a rationally binding message of goodness from the unseen?

The message that was brought by the Prophet Muhammad as embodied in the Qur’an fulfills the two fundamental criteria for any message that can rightly be considered to have a divine origin. The first of these two conditions is that of documentation. Unlike the texts associated with the other religions of the world, the Qur’an is thoroughly documented. That is to say, the Qur’an was committed to writing during the days of the Apostle, and continues to be recited by specially qualified reciters based on fully authenticated chains of authority that are traceable back to the Prophet himself. In addition, it is required of Muslims throughout the world to recite some portion of the Qur’anic text no fewer than five times a day in the daily prescribed prayers, while the majority of Muslims voluntarily read it, recite it, memorize it, learn from it, base their daily devotions thereon, and seek blessing through it throughout their lives – a fact that affords it a level of documentation that is unparalleled among the ancient manuscripts of the world. Even more amazing is the fact that this extraordinary documentation is associated with a text that emerged among an essentially unlettered people, who had never been known for their sciences, knowledge, philosophy or advanced civilization.

As for the second condition, it might be termed simply ‘goodness.’ That is to say, the Qur’an exhorts its readers and hearers to pursue goodness through righteous action in the world; if it did not, there would certainly be no reason to consider it a sacred text from the Creator of life and the cosmos. Indeed, the verse that reads, “Behold, God enjoins justice, and the doing of good, and generosity towards [one’s] fellow-men; and He forbids all that is shameful and all that runs counter to reason, as well as envy; [and] He exhorts you [repeatedly] so that you might bear [all this] in mind” (surah al-Nahl, 16:90) epitomizes the Qur’anic message as a whole.

However, although documentation and teaching that exhort to goodness are necessary conditions for a message to be considered of

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divine origin, these alone are not sufficient to rule out the possibility that this document was created by someone as a means of self-aggrandizement. Consequently, a third condition must also be satisfied. This third condition must – by demonstrating a rational, scientific inimitability, if you will – establish indisputable proof that Muhammad was a genuine apostle who was delivering a message from God Himself, the Seer of the unseen.

Herein, then, lies the importance of engaging in a rational examination of the character of the Apostle and the details of his life, whence we can expect to derive the proof we seek of his truthfulness and the truthfulness of his message. Indeed, how could we approach the issue in any other way, knowing as we do that the message he brought is rational and scientific in nature? After all, it opens with the command to ‘Read!’; it comes to us in the form of a book that encourages us to seek knowledge, to think, to reflect, and to go in search of evidence and proof; and it is based on an understanding of causes, natural patterns, and laws. All of this, again, confirms the need to examine the life of the Apostle, including his character traits, words, and actions, so as to determine what it was that qualified him to bear the message he did, and what evidence there is that his message was true.

If we put both reason and knowledge to work, giving careful thought to the Apostle’s words, actions, abilities, achievements, and character traits, the evidence we seek will be near at hand. Admittedly, any one of these words, actions, traits – however great or extraordinary they might have been in and of themselves – might nevertheless have been uttered, performed, or exhibited by some other human being as well. However, when we take all aspects of the Prophet’s person together, it becomes clear that the extraordinary or miraculous element belongs not in the greatness of any one particular achievement, statement, or character trait alone, but rather in the fact that there were all brought together in a single man – and in the way in which they manifested themselves in this single man, in his particular circumstances, and in the context of the cultural and historical phase through which his society was passing during his lifetime.

The beauty and wonder of this type of ‘miracle’ lies in the fact that it does not require that the Apostle be viewed as something more than a

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human being, nor does its acceptance lead to the suspension of reason and human logic. Rather, it allows the message he brought to be addressed to human beings through their God-given natures and the laws of the cosmos as they understand them. This, then, might be termed ‘a rational, scientific miraculousness,’ and it is this which supplies the missing link between the world of the rational and sensory (al-shahadah) and that of the suprarational and the metaphysical (al-ghayb). As such, it provides indisputable scientific and rational proof of the Apostle’s truthfulness and the authoritative nature of the message he brought.

In order for us to clarify what we mean by the human, scientific, rational, comprehensive ‘miraculousness’ in the life of the Prophet, we will need to make a quick journey through his biography, identifying his most salient character traits and the major events of his life, then bringing them together in a complete, integrated picture. In this way, it will be possible for us to see the miraculous or extraordinary – while at the same time human, scientific, and rational – element in the life and message of Prophet Muhammad. With this larger picture of the Prophet’s character before us, it becomes clear why we have no need to appeal to miracles that may not be consistent with the fundamental premises of the message he brought, nor with the nature of the scientific, global phase of human and cultural development, which his message was intended to inaugurate.

* * *

The Prophet Muhammad was born in the barren Valley of Abraham in the Arabian desert. His father ‘Abd Allah died before he was born, and his mother, Aminah, died when he was six-years-old. He was taken into the care of his grandfather, ‘Abd al-Mutalib, and later, his paternal uncle, Abu Talib. Although he grew up an orphan, he was not deprived of motherly love and compassion during his early years. For a period of forty years, he passed through various stages of life during which, if he had harbored worldly ambitions, he would not have been able to conceal them. Nevertheless, after he was commissioned with the message he came to bear at the age of over forty, he

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showed himself to have been graced with exceptional knowledge, wisdom, leadership abilities, and a pioneering spirit in response to every situation he faced. During the years prior to the reception of his call to be a Prophet – as a boy, a teenager, a youth and a full-grown man, and as a father and husband – Muhammad was known for his truthfulness, integrity, humility, and impeccable moral conduct. Indeed, it was his solid reputation, which when he was twenty-five-years-old, led one of the most noble, prudent women of his tribe – KhadIjah bint Khuwaylid – to entrust him with her wealth and seek his hand in marriage.

It is noteworthy that at the age of forty, at which time the storms of youthful impulsiveness have begun to calm and the heat of physical passions have started to cool among those whose emotions and ambitions have been at their height, we find that, just when one would least expect such a development, this man begins to present himself as someone with a divine message from the world of the unseen, at once critical and benevolent, in which he calls upon both his own people and humanity at large to affirm the existence of one God alone and to live together in humility, brotherhood, tolerance, respect, religious freedom, justice, and the love of knowledge.

So serious was the claim he was making and so earthshaking the consequences for the doctrines and way of life to which they had grown accustomed, that his people – custodians of the Ka’bah and worshippers of idols – responded to his message with astonishment and disbelief. Amazingly, however, he succeeded in convincing them of the truth of his claim by reminding them of his trustworthiness throughout the days he had lived among them. Given these facts, how could he, after all those years from the day he was born, have lied to them, and about a matter as weighty as this? Would it have been possible for Muhammad, or any other human being for that matter, to silence himself, suppress his true abilities, and stifle his aspirations and ambitions throughout his entire life only to reveal them without forewarning at the age of forty? Would it have been possible for Muhammad, or anyone else, to force himself to be truthful and honest from the day he was born until middle age – when, in his heart of hearts, he was really a liar and an impostor in order, now that he had reached an advanced

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stage of his life, to induce them to believe his lies and fabrications? On the contrary, it is fair to say that no one who had lived the life of veracity and integrity for which Muhammad had been known from the time he was a boy, could have concealed the abilities that were to manifest themselves with the passage of time unless he had truly been raised and made ready for this moment by the Divine Providence. For, until the day when he received the call to prophesy in the cave of Hira’, he had never exhibited even the slightest ambition or leadership potential, nor did he possess any of the expertise or practical experience that would have prepared him for the astonishing things he would achieve in the days to come.

Hence, we find that the types of abilities that emerged in the life of Muhammad after the age of forty – even if they were, essentially, merely human in nature, and even if, taken individually, they would not be seen as distinctive – were, when joined in a single person, particularly in the unsophisticated environment that had formed him, a veritable ‘miracle’ that compels belief by the standards and criteria of human reason itself. It boggles the mind to see this unassuming, trust-worthy, honest man rise up with such unanticipated strength, calling for reform in his society, despite the fact that he was an uneducated individual from an unlettered Bedouin tribe living in one of the most remote regions on earth. Nothing in his previous experience would have prepared him to come forth with eloquent speech of the sort that he did. Moreover, he persevered in his call for truth and reform despite the persecution and affliction he and his companions suffered over the years; indeed, it was the Quraysh tribe’s resistance to him and their insistence on clinging to their idols and immoral practices that rein-forced his and his followers’ determination to spread his message and to endure their long suffering in the face of tribulation at a time when there appeared to be no light at the end of the tunnel. Even more amazing is the fact that after thirteen years of tireless proclamation in the face of unrelenting harassment, the new community of faith, having gathered all its strength, was given an opportunity for a new beginning when the tribes of Aws and Khazraj, inhabitants of the city of Yathrib (re-named Madinah when it received the Prophet Muhammad), quite unexpectedly embraced the message of Islam,

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pledging to obey the Apostle and to support the message he had brought.

One is astounded to think that within ten short years, Muhammad, whose childhood and upbringing are now familiar to us, managed with unparalleled success to establish an autonomous state over which he ruled wisely and ably, and which was a model of justice, tolerance, brotherhood, goodwill, and religious freedom. Indeed, in his capacity as head of state, he constructed a system of law and order, adjudicated with eloquence and discernment and led armies to victory.

Is it not a source of wonder that a single human being could have possessed all of these potentials, abilities, and ambitions without having given any indication thereof throughout his boyhood, adolescence, and manhood, even as a husband and as a father, until the age of forty, and without there having been anything in his environment or previous experience to nurture or develop such potentials? Would it actually have been possible for someone to plan so seamlessly for such a trans-formation over a period of forty years without letting on for a moment that he possessed such potentials and capabilities? Moreover, how could someone with little or no worldly experience have managed to take on tribal chieftains, leaders, and rulers alike – surpassing them in wisdom, planning, politics, and combat to the point where his message and the state he had established were able to bring down far-flung, powerful empires such as those of the Persians and the Byzantines – enabling the light of his message to spread within centuries throughout the entire world despite the great disparities among its peoples, tongues, and races?

The manner in which, over a period of sixty-three years, Muhammad blossomed into a human being of extraordinary leadership ability and exemplary character is the true miracle that demonstrates the truth and authority of the message he brought. It was this message that inspired the faith of the finest, most outstanding men of his tribe, who have gone down in history for their distinctive characters and abilities. These men, who had known him and tested him, having been his peers and companions from the days of their boyhood, chose to follow him and believe in him even under circumstances in which, over a period of thirteen years of persecution and suffering, there

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appeared to be no hope of reprieve, still less success. How, then, can someone come fourteen centuries later – at which time we know even more than we did before about the miraculous nature of the Qur’an – and claim that he knows more about Muhammad than his own companions did, or that he is more qualified to make a judgment about him that they would have been?

The structure of a human life might be likened to that of a pyramid. It begins with a broad base consisting of parental upbringing, education, training, experiences, and practice, which later lead to a peak of ability and skill in a particular area. In this way, one might become a victorious military commander, a capable head of state and politician, an eloquent, influential writer, or an industrious, creative scientist, researcher, or scholar. The life of Muhammad, however, displays the very opposite pattern. Hence, it is best likened to an inverted pyramid whose base is narrow and whose peak is broad and spacious in all areas – in wisdom, in knowledge, in political astuteness, in eloquence – in all of which he outstripped prominent leaders, sages, scholars, and men of letters alike. Another, perhaps more fitting, analogy to Muhammad’s life is that of the leaves of a flower atop a supple green stem that gradually unfolds to reveal its full beauty and fragrance, after which it yields the fruit of which it is God’s harbinger.

If properly received and understood, the message Muhammad brought brings peace to the mind and heart; it promotes brotherhood and compassion among human beings; and it calls them to justice, truth, goodness, and knowledge. This extraordinary message has reached us through texts passed down by groups of individuals sufficiently large and disparate that it would be impossible for them to have colluded in falsification. Moreover, it was conveyed by someone who had always been known as truthful and trustworthy and whose character had been formed in an inimitable, miraculous manner. Hence, no rational individual could help but affirm its reliability and authenticity as a message of truth from God, the one and only Creator of all. As such, it is a binding message in which the worlds of the seen and the unseen come together and complete one another, and in which the meaning of existence and the purpose of nature – both human nature and that revealed throughout the cosmos – are fully manifested.

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An appreciation of this aspect of the message Muhammad brought – which is in keeping with human reason and the natural, God-given desire to understand things on a rational basis – is therefore best suited to the enlightened, scientific, rational approach advocated by Ibn Hazm. Similarly, it is best suited to rationally minded contemporary Muslims who, together with humanity as a whole, are freeing them-selves from the shackles of illusion, error, and idle talk and progressing toward a full embrace of the scientific method.

Scientific and practical reflections such as these have given me a firm anchor for my faith in the Islamic religion as a sacred message from God. Consequently, I am a Muslim by conscious choice rather than merely by birth or geographical happenstance. I have been protected from superstition, illusion, and deception, and my feet have been planted firmly on the path of knowledge, reason, and an understanding of human nature and the laws of the cosmos. Consequently, whenever I am assailed by any doubt in connection with the message of Islam, I am able to overcome it by engaging in a systematic, scientific investigation, which enables me to see where the truth lies rather than confirming me in my doubts and hesitations.

The following is a two-step approach to the investigation of any question or doubt. The first step is to identify the nature of the problem, while the second is to examine the particulars of the Qur’anic text in light of its universals and its overall aims and purposes. Not using this approach, in my view, leads to nothing but delusion and foolish talk of the sort that we would do best to avoid. Our instructional and investigative methods should combine knowledge of the essential aspects of our religion – including its vision, its aims, its principles, its values, and its concepts – with a solid grounding in the multidisciplinary, scientific study of human nature and the cosmos around us. For only in this way will our knowledge and practice be both effective and constructive in such a way that they serve to give concrete expression to Islam’s vision, aims, principles, and values in our day-to-day lives.

Inspired by my reflections on Ibn Hazm’s method, the vision I am proposing is based on an experience I went through as a young person. It is an experience which, whether consciously or unconsciously, every thoughtful youth will have to cope with in the process of his or

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her instinctual search for understanding of the relationship between the realms of the seen and the unseen. For only then can he or she find inner assurance concerning his or her final destiny.

This vision and this method have been of tremendous benefit to me over the years, and I hope they will likewise be of benefit to others by encouraging them to reflect deeply and to take life with the seriousness it deserves. Through it, I hope to have enriched our young people, who embody our dream of a better future for both the Muslim community and for humanity as a whole. This better future is one in which humanity follows the path of truth and builds a civilization of justice and brotherhood, in which we are exemplary stewards of our God-given wealth, and in which our sound understanding and our upright conduct make true self-realization possible and fulfill the meaning of life with all its responsibilities and blessings.

May the life of Ibn Hazm, as well as the lives of all those distinguished predecessors of ours who followed in his footsteps, provide my readers with food for thought and inspiration to commit themselves to a sound, rational approach to their faith. Then, having committed themselves to this approach, may they integrate revelation and reason in such a way that, together, they provide a guide for their lives and an inspiration to seek the good and give of themselves unstintingly by God’s grace.

To God, who guides all who so desire to the path of righteousness,

be praise and blessing. Praise be to God, the Lord

and Cherisher of the Worlds.

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notes

Introduction

¹           Herndon, VA: IIIT, 1987; written in English in partial completion of requirements for my doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (1973). This study was later translated into Arabic by Dr. Nasir al-Burayk and published under the title ‘al-Na·ariyyah al-Islamiyyah li al-’Alaqat al-Dawliyyah: Ittijahat JadIdah li al-Fikr wa al-Manhajiyyah al-Islamiyyah’

²           The first edition of this book was edited by the late Isma’il al-Faruqi. The first revised edition in both English and Arabic was published in 1986, the same year in which Dr. Al-Faruqi was tragically murdered together with his wife Lamya in their home in Wyncote, Pennsylvania.

³           Cairo: Maktabat al-Khanji, 1960.

Chapter I

¹           Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 6926.

²           Narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad, hadith no. 18030.

³           It is important here for us to be aware of the fact that even if the universe and its laws are immutable, or nearly so, human understanding of them is a relative matter deter-mined by factors of time and place. In other words, human beings depend for their understanding of things on the amount of knowledge available to them at a given time and place; this available knowledge might be referred to as their ‘epistemological ceiling,’ which will be higher or lower at one time or place than it is at another. Human beings’ location in time and space, as well as disparities in their abilities and mental capacities, will impact the degree to which they are able to comprehend the realities of the universe and its natural laws. Herein lies the role of the universal principles and higher intentions made known to us through divine revelation. It is these principles and intentions that should guide human beings in dealing with their environment – regardless of the extent to which they have comprehended the facts and laws of the universe concerning which no one can attain absolute understanding or certainty. Truly did the Messenger of God speak when he said to Wabisah ibn Ma’bad al-Asadi, “Wabisah, ask yourself what righteousness and unrighteousness

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are. Righteousness is whatever sets your heart and soul at rest, while unrighteousness is whatever causes unrest in your heart and soul, even if others should tell you it is right.” (Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, hadith no. 18030) However, in thus consulting himself, the individual should be living out an overall vision of things that is in keeping with the God-given purposes of nature, even if he has not yet arrived at a precise scientific understanding of things. However, once one does attain such an understanding, it will be in full accord with the higher intents of both divine revelation and nature.

It was this overall perspective that was articulated by Imam Abu HanIfah al-Nu’man, founder of the ‘Opinion School’ (Ahl al-Ra’y), who placed priority on the spirit and higher intents of the Islamic law in his legal rulings. That is to say, when the conclusions to which juristic analogies lead were not consistent with the spirit and higher intents of the law, this problem could be resolved by resorting to the practice of istihsan (juristic preference). The practice of juristic preference involves adopting the legal ruling or interpretation, which is most in keeping with the spirit – that is, the higher intents of the Islamic law for human affairs and what is known about human nature and the laws of the universe until such time as more complete knowledge calls for a change in this ruling or interpretation. Through this approach, it becomes possible to achieve a scientific, objective balance between nature and the law in specific temporal and geographical contexts.

This methological understanding of the relationship between the Islamic law and revelation on one hand, and our God-given human nature and the laws of the universe on the other, forms the basis for the theory of ‘the higher intents of the law’ (maqasid al-shari’ah). However, the scholar or student applying the theory needs to be equipped with a correct knowledge of the principles of Islamic doctrine and law as well as the principles that govern human society.

The most salient textual difficulties are those that relate to certain sayings of the Prophet and our pious ancestors. Such difficulties arise in connection with the authenticity of the narrative or the precision of its wording. They may also arise due to the perceived possibility of error, corruption, or falsehood in the text. Errors in a text may have been committed unknowingly or with good intentions; however, they may have been committed out of neglect or even deliberately by those with a particular axe to grind, their intention being to lend an aura of sanctity to what they see as the correct point of view or course of action. Another reason for textual ambiguity is the modern reader’s failure to take note of a specific time and geographical factors and their influence on the text’s meaning. In some cases, the reader is unable to place a text in its original temporal or geographical context due to a lack of background information that would allow us to date it, or about the occasion for its having been recorded and handed down to us.

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Perhaps the best known debates over such textual difficulties are those that revolve around the accounts that relate to the following: to poison, the seven dates, ‘nursing’ a grown man, and the wings of a fly – as well as texts relating to the realm of the unseen, the reality of magic, envy, and the evil eye, and the relationship between the world of the jinn, or invisible beings, and the world of human beings.

In the case of certain types of texts, the scientific facts presently available to us are insufficient to explain their meaning. In such cases, the need arises for a theory that will allow us to deal practically with the scientific issues the text raises. The text in question may then be explained based on certain scientific hypotheses, but not on clearly established facts. Such hypotheses provide an explanation which helps the reader relate to the phenomenon being spoken of without necessarily enabling him or her to make an unequivocal judgment as to whether the theory or its associated assumptions are correct. A salient example of such a hypothesis is Darwin’s theory of the origin of species, or evolution, which presents us with a certain conceptualization of past events and a practical explanation of the resemblance and commonalities we observe between different kinds of living beings, yet without our being able to arrive at certainty concerning the correctness of this theory and its associated postulates. While, on the one hand, the vagueness of this theory is beneficial in that it allows us to accept it on a provisional basis, it also provides fertile ground for the proliferation of arbitrary philosophical inferences. One such inference, which goes hand-in-glove with materialistic philosophies, which view society as a human jungle that operates on the principles of survival of the fittest and might is right, is that the material realm is haphazard and governed by chance.

Another well-known theory of this type is that of Sigmund Freud. Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis contributed to the birth of modern psychology, but have now been rendered more or less obsolete by expanded knowledge of and deeper insight into the workings of the human psyche. Still another example is the hypothesis propounded by certain modern physicists that matter can be neither created nor destroyed, and this hypothesis was later proven correct by research in the field of physics. The hypothesis of the indestructibility of matter is also useful as a way of explaining phenomena that have been observed on the subatomic level – where matter is reduced, with part of it being transformed into energy as in the case of a nuclear explosion, and where material weight increases through the transformation of energy into matter in the case of nuclear and hydrogen fusion.

Among the problems being faced by Islamic thought is the question of how far scientific research should go in the area of human genomes and stem cells given the newly developed capacity for cloning and genetic modifications. New capacities such as these open up new opportunities; at the same time, they raise critical questions: What should be allowed, and what should not be allowed? How can these various

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tracks of scientific research and application be regulated? What types of controls can achieve benefits for people, while protecting them from harm and even disaster? In order to address such questions, we need to agree upon and allow ourselves to be guided by the universal principles and higher aims of Islamic law – lest we succumb, on one hand, to rigid, literalistic perspectives that simply forbid everything indiscriminately or, on the other hand, to haphazard, chaotic approaches that may well open the door to catastrophe.

In sum, then, both textual difficulties and unresolved scientific issues need to be approached by means of the practice of juristic preference (istihsan) with its regard for the importance of universal principles, the underlying spirit of Islamic law, and the human interests it is intended to serve.

⁴           We have no record of a saying of the Prophet with this exact wording. However, we do have a saying to this effect which is attributed to ‘Ali, who said, “Speak to people based on what they know. Would you want God and His Messenger to be perceived as untruthful?” (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 127). In a discussion of human reason, Abu al-Hasan al-Tamimi relates on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas [that the Messenger of God] once said, “We prophets have been sent to speak to people in a way that they can understand.” However, he tells us that its chain of transmission is weak.

⁵           The Barmakids were a Persian family that had become quite influential under al-Mahdi. Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki had been responsible for Harun al-Rashid’s upbringing, and his wife had nursed him as a baby. Yahya had been influential in bringing Harun al-Rashid to the caliphate, and his sons continued in high favor until 188/803, at which time the caliph imprisoned them and confiscated their land after they had begun increasingly to take matters of state into their own hands. The result of the Barmakids’ downfall was a significant reduction in the Persian role and influence over the Abbasid state.

⁶           In 802, the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, father of al-Ma’mun and al-Amin, issued instructions for al-Amin to succeed him and for al-Ma’mun to serve as governor of Khurasan, then succeed al-Amin as caliph upon the latter’s death. Although al-Ma’mun was the older of the two brothers, his mother was Persian, while al-Amin’s mother was a member of the reigning Abbasid family. After Harun al-Rashi’d’s death in 194/809, the relationship between the two brothers deteriorated. Al-Ma’mun made moves toward independence, in response to which al-Amin declared his own son Musa to be his heir. This violation of the father’s will and testament led to a civil war in which al-Ma’mun’s Khurasani troops led by Tahir ibn Husayn defeated al-Amin’s armies and laid siege to Baghdad. In 198/813, al-Amin was beheaded and al-Ma’mun was recognized as caliph throughout the empire.

⁷           Note should be made here of the seriousness of any falsification or corruption in any sacred text or its interpretation. This applies in particular to texts of Prophetic

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hadiths, since any text that is not governed by the universals of the Qur’an and the higher intents of Islamic law has the potential to severely undermine Islamic values, concepts, and aims. The effects of such a text might be likened to a drop of deadly poison that has been slipped into an otherwise wholesome meal. For however beneficial and nutritious the meal would have been otherwise and however healthy one’s body might be, the tiniest drop of such poison will suffice to bring death and annihilation. A single text that allows, for example, for superstition and charlatanry could destroy the effectiveness of hundreds of authentic, sound texts – which call for adherence to the laws of the universe, whole-hearted striving for the good, mastery of one’s work, integrity, and trust in God. Consequently, careful critiquing of the content of hadith narratives, be they solitary (ahad) or otherwise, in light of the fundamental principles set forth in the Qur’an is a clear necessity if we are to protect the Muslim community from the falsification or misuse of certain texts and interpretations that have done so much to distort Muslim thought and doctrine and the Islamic-Qur’anic worldview.

God Almighty states:

الٓر‌ۚ كِتَـٰبٌ أُحۡكِمَتۡ ءَايَـٰتُهُ ۥ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتۡ مِن لَّدُنۡ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ (١)  سُوۡرَةُ هُود

Alif. Lam. Ra’. A divine writ [is this], with messages that have been made clear in and by themselves, and have been distinctly spelled out as well – [bestowed upon you] out of the grace of One who is Wise, All-Aware,… (surah Hud, 11:1)

وَمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَلَا طَـٰٓٮِٕرٍ۬ يَطِيرُ بِجَنَاحَيۡهِ إِلَّآ أُمَمٌ أَمۡثَالُكُم‌ۚ مَّا فَرَّطۡنَا فِى ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ مِن شَىۡءٍ۬‌ۚ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّہِمۡ يُحۡشَرُونَ (٣٨)  سُوۡرَةُ الاٴنعَام

… there is no beast that walks on earth and no bird that flies on its two wings which is not [God’s] creature like yourselves: no single thing have We neglected in Our decree. And once again: Unto their Sustainer shall they [all] be gathered (surah al-An’am, 6:38)

And:

هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ عَلَيۡكَ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبَ مِنۡهُ ءَايَـٰتٌ۬ مُّحۡكَمَـٰتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَـٰبِهَـٰتٌ۬‌ۖ فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمۡ زَيۡغٌ۬ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَـٰبَهَ مِنۡهُ ٱبۡتِغَآءَ ٱلۡفِتۡنَةِ وَٱبۡتِغَآءَ تَأۡوِيلِهِۦ‌ۗ وَمَا يَعۡلَمُ تَأۡوِيلَهُ ۥۤ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ‌ۗ وَٱلرَّٲسِخُونَ فِى ٱلۡعِلۡمِ يَقُولُونَ ءَامَنَّا بِهِۦ كُلٌّ۬ مِّنۡ عِندِ رَبِّنَا‌ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُوْلُواْ ٱلۡأَلۡبَـٰبِ (٧)  سُوۡرَةُ آل عِمرَان

He it is who has bestowed upon thee from on high this divine writ, containing messages that are clear in and by themselves – and these are the essence of the divine writ – as well as others that are allegorical. Now those whose hearts are given to swerving from the truth go after that part of the divine writ which has been expressed in allegory, seeking out [what is bound to create] confusion, and seeking [to arrive at] its final meaning [in an arbitrary manner]; but none save God knows its final meaning. Hence, those who are deeply rooted in knowledge say:

هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ عَلَيۡكَ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبَ مِنۡهُ ءَايَـٰتٌ۬ مُّحۡكَمَـٰتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَـٰبِهَـٰتٌ۬‌ۖ فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمۡ زَيۡغٌ۬ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَـٰبَهَ مِنۡهُ ٱبۡتِغَآءَ ٱلۡفِتۡنَةِ وَٱبۡتِغَآءَ تَأۡوِيلِهِۦ‌ۗ وَمَا يَعۡلَمُ تَأۡوِيلَهُ ۥۤ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ‌ۗ وَٱلرَّٲسِخُونَ فِى ٱلۡعِلۡمِ يَقُولُونَ ءَامَنَّا بِهِۦ كُلٌّ۬ مِّنۡ عِندِ رَبِّنَا‌ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُوْلُواْ ٱلۡأَلۡبَـٰبِ (٧)  سُوۡرَةُ آل عِمرَان

 “We believe in it; the whole [of the divine writ] is from our Sustainer –albeit none takes this to heart save those who are endowed with insight.’” (surah Al Imran, 3:7)

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The phrase ‘messages that are clear in and by themselves’ (ayatun muhkamat) refers to doctrine, principles, values, concepts, and rulings – while the phrase, ‘others that are allegorical’ (ukharu mutashabihat) refers to stories that convey moral lessons and recount events relating to the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) and peoples of bygone civilizations. In connection with such accounts, the Qur’an instructs the Muslim to be content with those found in the Qur’an itself, while leaving aside any superstitions, pagan beliefs, and misrepresentations with which they are associated.

⁸           Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad on the authority of Qatadah, on the authority of Anas ibn Malik, hadith no. 13991.

⁹           Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad on the authority of Zuhrah ibn Ma’bad on the authority of his grandfather, hadith, no. 22556.

¹⁰         Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, hadith no. 25341.

¹¹         Sahih Muslim, The Book of Repentance, hadith no. 2747.

¹²         Sunan Ibn Majah, The Book of Fasting, hadith no. 1690.

¹³         Sahih al-Bukhari, The Book of Marriage, hadith no. 4776.

¹⁴         Sahih al-Bukhari, The Book of Fasting, hadith no. 1847. It may be helpful to give attention here to an issue that has caused confusion and difficulty for many Muslim youths. The issue of which I am speaking, and which increases the sense of pressure felt by young Muslims as they find themselves carried along by the hustle and bustle of everyday life with its rapid pace and increasing demands, revolves around the need to perform the five daily ritual prayers at their specified times. In principle, of course, this necessity is a given of Muslim life: “…Verily, for all believers prayer is indeed a sacred duty linked to particular times [of day]” (surah al-Nisa, 4:103). However, what Muslims need to be aware of is that the Prophetic Sunnah provides for a degree of latitude in this area that can significantly ease the burden they may feel in many of the circumstances they face on a regular basis. We read in Sahih al-Bukhari on the authority of Anas, that the Messenger of God said, “Bring ease, not hardship, announce glad tidings rather than alienating others.” In keeping with this spirit, we have been allowed to join the noon prayer (al-zuhr) and the mid-afternoon prayer (al-’asr), as well as the sundown prayer (al-maghrib) and the evening prayer (al-’isha’).

The Prophet himself would sometimes combine prayers (that is, pray two prayers in immediate succession during the time period for one of the two prayers, as when one prays the noon and mid-afternoon prayers in immediate succession during the time period for the mid-afternoon prayer, or the sundown and evening prayers in immediate succession during the time period for the evening prayer) even when he had no particular extenuating circumstance, nor was he on a journey. Both Sahih Muslim and Imam Ahmad’s Musnad contain the account passed down on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas according to which the Messenger of God would combine the noon and mid-afternoon prayers, and the sundown and evening prayers, when he was in

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Madinah at times when there was neither reason to be fearful of danger (for example, on account of being on the battlefield, in which case it might be necessary to combine prayers due to the demands of warfare), nor rain so heavy that it would have caused hardship for people to reach the mosque for both prayers. When Ibn ‘Abbas was asked, “Why did he do that?” he replied, “In order not to cause undue hardship for his people.” We also read in both Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas that in Madinah the Messenger of God would combine the noon and mid-afternoon prayers by performing eight rak’ahs, and the sundown and evening prayers by performing seven rak’ahs. It was on this basis that Imam Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah, who was a qualified practitioner of ijtihad, (independent reasoning and interpretation), ruled that it is permissible to combine prayers without being on a journey or having some extenuating circumstance or condition provided that it does not become a habit. How much more permissible will this practice be, then, in cases involving suffering, need or necessity?

¹⁵         Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr states in al-Tamhid, vol. 8, p.386, “Have you not heard what Abu ‘Ubaydah said to ‘Umar, may God have mercy on them both, saying, ‘Do you flee from the decree of God?’ to which ‘Umar replied, ‘I flee from the decree of God to the decree of God.’”

¹⁶         Fath al-Bari, vol. 13, p. 34.

¹⁷         Abdullah Yusuf Ali renders the phrase as, ‘If then any one transgresses the prohibition against you, transgress ye likewise against him.’

¹⁸         A hadith qudsi is an utterance of God on the lips of the Prophet, which is not found in the Qur’an.

¹⁹         Narrated by Muslim in Sahih, The Book of Righteousness, Relations with Others, and Morals, the section on the prohibition of injustice, hadith no. 2577.

²⁰         Narrated by Abu Ya’la al-Musili, Musnad ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud, hadith no. 5586.

²¹         Sunan al-Tirmidhi, The Book of Righteousness and Relations with Others and Morals, hadith no. 2007.

²²         Sahih Muslim, The Book of Righteousness, Relations with Others, and Morals, hadith no. 2593.

²³         Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 2310.

²⁴         Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 6119.

²⁵         Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2585, the section dealing with Muslims’ compassion for one another and their mutual support.

²⁶         Sahih Muslim, The Book of Righteousness, Relations with Others, and Morals, hadith no. 2586.

²⁷         Sunan al-BayhaqI, hadith no. 19018.

²⁸         The Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, hadith no. 16745.

²⁹         See Mustadrak al-Hakim, The Book of Sales, hadith no. 2166.

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 ³⁰        Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2699.

³¹         Musnad al-Shihab, hadith no. 176.

³²         Narrated by al-Tabarani in al-Mu’jam al-Awsat, hadith no. 4749.

³³         Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 6552.

³⁴         Mustadrak al-Hakim.

³⁵         In explanation of this verse, Muhammad Asad notes that although this verse refers primarily to oaths relating to divorce (see 2:226), it also has a general import. In this connection, he draws attention to the saying of the Prophet that, “If anyone takes a solemn oath [that he would do or refrain from doing such-and-such a thing], and thereupon realizes that something else would be a more righteous course, then let him do that which is more righteous, and let him break his oath and then atone for it” (Bukhari and Muslim). Quoted in Asad, The Message of the Qur’an, p.49.

³⁶         Related by Ibn Majah in his Sunan, hadith no.46.

³⁷         Sahih al-Bukhari, the section on etiquette, hadith no. 5745.

³⁸         Sahih al-Bukhari, The Book of Faith and the Signs of Hypocrisy, hadith no. 33.

³⁹         This statement of ‘Umar’s is recorded in three different books, including al-Mustatraf by al-Abshini and Rabi’ al-Abrar wa Nusus al-Akhyar by al-ZamakhsharI.

⁴⁰         For a detailed treatment of the issues involved here, see Abdul Hamid AbuSulayman, Al-’Unf wa Idarat al-Sira’ al-SiyasI fi al-Fikr al-Islami: Bayn al-Mabda’ wa al-Khayar; or its English translation, Violence and the Management of Political Conflict in Islamic Thought: Between Principle and Choice.

It is important to bear in mind here that more than fourteen hundred years ago, the Islamic vision of justice divided the world of human social and political relations into three spheres or ‘abodes’ – namely, the abode of peace (dar al-salam), the abode of covenant (dar al-’ahd), and the abode of war (dar al-harb).

With respect to the Muslim community, the ‘abode of peace’ is ‘the abode of Islam’ – that is, the society whose members are subject to the rule of the Islamic state and whose relations are therefore characterized by harmony. It is not permissible for any group or individuals within this sphere to take the law in its or their hands, and should this take place, it is considered a criminal act to be deterred by the society. As for opposition to injustices, it must take place within the framework of the law and by legal means. If such means fail, it is legitimate for citizens to resort to nonviolent resistance, since they are not under obligation to obey any authority which is not founded on justice and the rule of law.

As for the relationship between the abode of peace, represented by the sovereign Islamic state in the contemporary political sense, and the outside world and its various political entities – it will take the form of either the abode of covenant or the abode of war. The abode of covenant is that community or sphere whose relationship with the sovereign Islamic state (the abode of peace) is based on a mutual agreement,

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which preserves and protects the rights of both parties, and in which both parties share common interests on the basis of consent and fair dealings. This type of covenant, which assumes peaceful, honorable intentions on the part of both or all signatories, helps to achieve stability. Otherwise, we have a situation in which parties to the so-called covenant are actually lying in wait for one another. In the context of our modern-day situation, the abode of covenant finds its parallel in the role played by international agreements and treaties and the United Nations.

As for political units or states that commit aggression against other states – that is, against the abode of peace and the abode of covenant – and cannot be persuaded by peaceful, diplomatic means to retreat from their aggression and injustices, they thereby become the abode of war, that is, enemy states. When this happens, the abode of peace and/or the abode of covenant that has been the victim of the aggression is entitled to employ whatever means are necessary and appropriate, including war, if required in order to bring the initial aggression to an end. However, the teachings of Islam stipulate that the response to aggression must not be excessive, and that what-ever violence is employed in retaliation must target only those in power.

Operating on the basis of the law of the jungle, the materialist modern world has established the self-centered nationalistic state in place of the Islamic concept of the abode of peace, and replaced the abode of covenant with a new world order based on subjugation, tyranny, unequally balanced treaties, and unwarranted pressures – while making use of the United Nations (the activities of the Security Council and power politics) as a means of allowing the powerful to dominate the weak. Moreover, as we are seeing in many areas of the world through devastating, unjust wars by means of which the world’s superpowers consolidate their ascendency over weak peoples (despite the fact that the United Nations Charter has declared war illegitimate), the abode of war is clearly a reality today. In fact, the super powers have even sought assistance from the United Nations in order to justify unwarranted aggression against third world powers and their oppressed populations.

⁴¹         Recorded by al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah with a strong chain of transmission. Ibn al-Ghars declares it authentic, though some have claimed that it is weak.

Chapter II

¹           Sunan Abi Dawud, hadith no. 5119.

²           Sunan al-Nasa’i al-Kubra, hadith no. 7830.

3          Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2578.

4          Sahih Muslim, The Book of Righteousness, Relations with Others, and Morals, the section on the prohibition of injustice, hadith no. 2577.

5          Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 2315.

6          A great deal has been written about the veracity of the Prophet Muhammad and the

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truthfulness of the Islamic message. For a discussion of relevance to this theme, see my article entitled, ‘Istidrak ‘ala Zahiriyat Ibn Hazm,’ Majallat al-Tajdid, 3 (1998). See also my introduction to Zahiriyat Ibn Hazm (The Literalism of Ibn Hazm) by Dr. Anwar Khalid al-Zu’bi, which, given its direct relevance to the credibility of the Qur’anic worldview, I have included it as Appendix ii in the present volume with the title, ‘Faith: A Matter of Reason, or the Miraculous?’

⁷           Among the Qur’anic concepts that are frequently misunderstood and misused and which therefore need to be rescued from sophistries, scholastic complications, and political ax-grinding, are those having to do with the way people understand and relate to the events in their lives. One such concept is that of ‘divine decree’ (al-qada’) and ‘fate’ (al-qadar). If understood in light of the way in which they are treated in the Qur’an, these concepts are simple and straightforward. Consequently, the best way to understand the meaning of these terms is to refer directly to passages in the Qur’an in which they occur. An examination of these terms’ use in the Qur’an itself makes clear that they have nothing to do with the human will and the responsibility human beings have been given to be responsible stewards of the earth; in other words, they have no relevance to the controversy over so-called predestination (al-jabr) and free will (al-ikhtiyar).

The Arabic term translated as ‘divine decree’ (al-qada’) has to do with the divine affirmation of what is appropriate, good, and required of human beings, be it an action we are called upon to perform, or something we are required to refrain from. As for our response to such affirmations, it remains dependent on the human will itself. The Qur’anic term rendered as fate (al-qadar) has to do with the creation and what God has deposited therein by way of innate tendencies and unchanging laws and patterns. These tendencies, laws, and patterns constitute the universe in which we live, and which determines the limits of our abilities and potentials.

None of this, however, constitutes a denial of the efficacy of the human will. On the contrary, it is we who determine our own fates, and it is the human will that takes human action in this direction or that. A willful, ungrateful, unbelieving individual, who insists on the pursuit of injustice, aggression, and corruption, will refuse to listen to sound advice and will not submit to guidance. Such a person wrongs himself:

وَمَا ظَلَمۡنَـٰهُمۡ وَلَـٰكِن كَانُواْ هُمُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ (٧٦)  سُوۡرَةُ الزّخرُف

“And it is not We who will be doing wrong unto them, but it is they who will have wronged themselves” (surah al-Zukhruf, 43:76).

⁸           It is not possible to understand the human will and its choices solely on the basis of what a person knows, understands, and feels; rather, in order to understand human will and choice, it is necessary to postulate the existence of an unseen, metaphysical dimension that, by its nature, goes beyond human logic. The secret to this metaphysical dimension may lie in the divine spirit that has been breathed into human beings. The Qur’an tells us that when God was about to create Adam, He said to the angels,

(pg.174)

“and when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration!” (surah al-Hijr, 15:29). It goes without saying, of course, that God alone possesses a fully independent, unrestricted will: “…when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, ‘Be’ – and it is” (surah Al Imran, 3:47); and, “…when [God] judges, there is no power that could repel His judgment…” (surah al-Ra’d, 13:41). The degree of free will and autonomy that God has granted to human beings is one of the qualifications God has given us for the task of steward-ship, since it is a purposeful, moral task that requires the freedom to decide and entails responsibility for decisions made and actions undertaken.

It will be clear from the foregoing that the issue of human free will has to do with a dimension of existence that goes beyond human knowledge, and which is related in some way to the spirit God breathes into human beings upon their creation:

سُبۡحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلۡأَزۡوَٲجَ ڪُلَّهَا مِمَّا تُنۢبِتُ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ وَمِنۡ أَنفُسِهِمۡ وَمِمَّا لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ (٣٦)  سُوۡرَةُ یسٓ

Limitless in His glory is He who has created opposites in whatever the earth produces, and in men’s own selves, and in that of which [as yet] they have no knowledge. (surah Ya Sin, 36:36)

لَّقَدۡ كُنتَ فِى غَفۡلَةٍ۬ مِّنۡ هَـٰذَا فَكَشَفۡنَا عَنكَ غِطَآءَكَ فَبَصَرُكَ ٱلۡيَوۡمَ حَدِيدٌ۬ (٢٢)  سُوۡرَةُ ق

…Indeed, unmindful hast thou been of this [Day of Judgment]; but now We have lifted from thee thy veil, and sharp is thy sight today! (surah Qaf, 50:22)

وَيَسۡـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلرُّوحِ‌ۖ قُلِ ٱلرُّوحُ مِنۡ أَمۡرِ رَبِّى وَمَآ أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ ٱلۡعِلۡمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلاً۬ (٨٥)   سُوۡرَةُ بنیٓ اسرآئیل / الإسرَاء

And they will ask thee about [the nature of] divine inspiration. Say: “This inspiration [comes] at my Sustainer's behest; and [you cannot understand its nature, O men, since] you have been granted very little of [real] knowledge.” (surah al-Isra’, 17:85)

The human will is created and operates within a created world. How, then, can it be endowed with freedom of choice and burdened with responsibility and ultimate accountability for such choices as though these choices were completely free and autonomous?

Clearly, then, it is impossible to comprehend this freedom and responsibility and the fairness inherent therein through human logic and knowledge alone. Rather, one also needs to have confidence that God is both just and merciful, and that within the limits of the laws of the cosmos (al-qadar), we possess the freedom and ability to make choices and decisions and are thus responsible for the decisions we make. As we have seen, the question of how the human will could be created yet be autonomous, or how such a created will could justly be held accountable for its choices and actions, pertains to the realm of the unseen and a logic that goes beyond the merely human. This question, on the moral or ethical level, is the counterpart to the logical conundrum of how existence could have arisen out of nonexistence. We

(pg.175)

observe the phenomenon of human freedom and responsibility, and we experience its effects – yet without being able to comprehend it with our finite minds, since it operates on the basis of a logic that goes beyond human reason, belonging as it does to the world of the spirit and the unseen.

The Qur’an depicts for us the scene in which, out of arrogance and envy of the capacities for knowledge, creativity and action that God had bestowed on Adam, Iblis chose of his own free will to go astray and become evil. In so doing, Iblis broke with the other angels, who had accepted the divine decree concerning Adam, trusting in God’s perfect wisdom and obeying the divine command to bow down to Adam.

Hence, it was Iblis’ own choice to disobey God and to act instead out of arrogance and self-importance, thereby becoming evil, corrupt, and an instigator of corruption among others. God Almighty says:

وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى خَـٰلِقُۢ بَشَرً۬ا مِّن صَلۡصَـٰلٍ۬ مِّنۡ حَمَإٍ۬ مَّسۡنُونٍ۬ (٢٨) فَإِذَا سَوَّيۡتُهُ ۥ وَنَفَخۡتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى فَقَعُواْ لَهُ ۥ سَـٰجِدِينَ (٢٩) فَسَجَدَ ٱلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةُ ڪُلُّهُمۡ أَجۡمَعُونَ (٣٠)إِلَّآ إِبۡلِيسَ أَبَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونَ مَعَ ٱلسَّـٰجِدِينَ (٣١) قَالَ يَـٰٓإِبۡلِيسُ مَا لَكَ أَلَّا تَكُونَ مَعَ ٱلسَّـٰجِدِينَ (٣٢) قَالَ لَمۡ أَكُن لِّأَسۡجُدَ لِبَشَرٍ خَلَقۡتَهُ ۥ مِن صَلۡصَـٰلٍ۬ مِّنۡ حَمَإٍ۬ مَّسۡنُونٍ۬ (٣٣)  سُوۡرَةُ الحِجر

And lo! Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: “Behold, I am about to create mortal man out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted; and when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration!” Thereupon the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together, save Iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves. Said He: “O Iblis! what is thy reason for not being among those who have prostrated themselves?” [Iblis] replied, “It is not for me to prostrate myself before mortal man whom Thou hast created out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted!” (surah al-Hijr, 15:28–33)

قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسۡجُدَ إِذۡ أَمَرۡتُكَ‌ۖ قَالَ أَنَا۟ خَيۡرٌ۬ مِّنۡهُ خَلَقۡتَنِى مِن نَّارٍ۬ وَخَلَقۡتَهُ ۥ مِن طِينٍ۬ (١٢) قَالَ فَٱهۡبِطۡ مِنۡہَا فَمَا يَكُونُ لَكَ أَن تَتَكَبَّرَ فِيہَا فَٱخۡرُجۡ إِنَّكَ مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰغِرِينَ (١٣) قَالَ أَنظِرۡنِىٓ إِلَىٰ يَوۡمِ يُبۡعَثُونَ (١٤) قَالَ إِنَّكَ مِنَ ٱلۡمُنظَرِينَ (١٥)  سُوۡرَةُ الاٴعرَاف

[And God] said: “What has kept thee from prostrating thyself when I commanded thee?” Answered [Iblis], “I am better than he: Thou hast created me out of fire, whereas him Thou hast created out of clay.” [God] said: “Down with thee, then, from this [state] – for it is not meet for thee to show arrogance here! Go forth, then: verily, among the humiliated shalt thou be!” Said [Iblis]: “Grant me a respite till the Day when all shall be raised from the dead.” [And God] replied: “Verily, thou shalt be among those who are granted a respite.” (surah al-A’raf, 7:12–15)

Thus, we see that Iblis was not created evil; rather, it was he who chose freely – out of arrogance, conceit, and envy – to disobey, to exalt himself, and to follow the destructive path of revenge against Adam and his progeny who, unlike the angels, have been placed on earth as God’s stewards and given the gifts and capacities required in order to fulfill this role. And just as Iblis chose of his own free will to tread the path of error and disobedience, human beings likewise choose freely to follow the path of wrongdoing, error, corruption, and aggression by paying heed to Satan’s

(pg.176)

deceitful whisperings and suggestions and giving in to his temptations. It is by virtue of our own freely made choices that goodness, righteousness, justice, compassion, and peace reign in our lives – or, conversely, that our thoughts and actions are tainted by corruption, evil, injustice, cruelty, and hostility: “…And [by all their sinning] they did no harm unto Us – but [only] against their own selves did they sin” (surah al-Baqarah, 2:57); and, “…It is not God who does them wrong, but it is they who are wronging themselves” (surah Al Imran, 3:117).

Another issue that touches upon our relationship with the world of the unseen is that of the trials and tests we are sent by God, whether through blessing or through hardship. As we have seen, human beings have been granted an autonomous will and the capacity to make meaningful choices within the limits set for them through the laws of the created universe:

لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَا‌ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَيۡہَا مَا ٱكۡتَسَبَتۡ‌ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوۡ أَخۡطَأۡنَا‌ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَيۡنَآ إِصۡرً۬ا كَمَا حَمَلۡتَهُ ۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِنَا‌ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦ‌ۖ وَٱعۡفُ عَنَّا وَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَٱرۡحَمۡنَآ‌ۚ أَنتَ مَوۡلَٮٰنَا فَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡڪَـٰفِرِينَ (٢٨٦)  سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة

“God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear: in his favour shall be whatever good he does, and against him whatever evil he does.…” (surah al-Baqarah, 2:286).

In this way does He cause many a one to go astray, just as He guides many a one aright: but none does He cause thereby to go astray save the iniquitous,. All of this manifests some aspect of the divine wisdom of which human beings realize a part, although human knowledge and logic can never encompass the entirety of the spiritual world and its mysteries. The Qur’anic account of Moses and the wise man (surah al-Kahf, 18:64–82) illustrates clearly the limitations of human knowledge and the human ability to perceive the divine wisdom and purposes being worked out through life’s varied circumstances:

كُتِبَ عَلَيۡڪُمُ ٱلۡقِتَالُ وَهُوَ كُرۡهٌ۬ لَّكُمۡ‌ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكۡرَهُواْ شَيۡـًٔ۬ا وَهُوَ خَيۡرٌ۬ لَّڪُمۡ‌ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تُحِبُّواْ شَيۡـًٔ۬ا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ۬ لَّكُمۡ‌ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَعۡلَمُ وَأَنتُمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ (٢١٦)  سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة

“…It may well be that you hate a thing the while it is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing the while it is bad for you: and God knows, whereas you do not know” (surah al-Baqarah, 2:216).

Thoughtful reflection on the Qur’anic story of creation makes clear that suffering and trial in a person’s life occur on the basis of a divine decree. When Adam, of his own free will, chose to listen to the prompting of Iblis and ate of the tree that God had forbidden to him, God caused him to descend from the primordial garden and the world of the spirit to earth and the world of matter. In this latter world, he would experience both the spirit in its pristine loftiness and matter in its crudity and baseness, for in this way his will would be put to the test through trial, sometimes through blessings, and other times through tribulation. If through blessing, the test would reveal whether he would respond with trust, faith, good works, and gratitude, or with unbelief, ingratitude, wastefulness, and niggardliness toward others; if through tribulation, the test would reveal whether the response was one of faith, trust, and patient endurance, or one of denial, bitterness, distress, and fearfulness. As God declares in the Qur’an:

(pg.177)

وَيَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ ٱسۡكُنۡ أَنتَ وَزَوۡجُكَ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ فَكُلَا مِنۡ حَيۡثُ شِئۡتُمَا وَلَا تَقۡرَبَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ (١٩) فَوَسۡوَسَ لَهُمَا ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنُ لِيُبۡدِىَ لَهُمَا مَا وُ ۥرِىَ عَنۡہُمَا مِن سَوۡءَٲتِهِمَا وَقَالَ مَا نَہَٮٰكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنۡ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيۡنِ أَوۡ تَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلۡخَـٰلِدِينَ (٢٠)  سُوۡرَةُ الاٴعرَاف

“And [as for thee], O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in this garden, and eat, both of you, whatever you may wish; but do not approach this one tree, lest you become evildoers!” Thereupon Satan whispered unto the two with a view to making them conscious of their nakedness, of which [hitherto] they had been unaware… (surah al-A’raf, 7:19–20)

فَقُلۡنَا يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ إِنَّ هَـٰذَا عَدُوٌّ۬ لَّكَ وَلِزَوۡجِكَ فَلَا يُخۡرِجَنَّكُمَا مِنَ ٱلۡجَنَّةِ فَتَشۡقَىٰٓ (١١٧)  سُوۡرَةُ طٰه

and thereupon We said, “O Adam! Verily, this is a foe unto thee and thy wife: so let him not drive the two of you out of this garden and render thee unhappy.” (surah Ta Ha, 20:117)

فَأَزَلَّهُمَا ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنُ عَنۡہَا فَأَخۡرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ‌ۖ وَقُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُواْ بَعۡضُكُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوٌّ۬‌ۖ وَلَكُمۡ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مُسۡتَقَرٌّ۬ وَمَتَـٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ۬ (٣٦)  سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة

But Satan caused them both to stumble therein, and thus brought about the loss of their erstwhile state. And so We said: “Down with you, [and be henceforth] enemies unto one another; and on earth you shall have your abode and your livelihood for a while!” (surah al-Baqarah, 2:36)

ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلۡمَوۡتَ وَٱلۡحَيَوٰةَ لِيَبۡلُوَكُمۡ أَيُّكُمۡ أَحۡسَنُ عَمَلاً۬‌ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡغَفُورُ (٢)  سُوۡرَةُ المُلک

“He who has created death as well as life, so that He might put you to a test [and thus show] which of you is best in conduct,…” (surah al-Mulk, 67:2)

The foregoing verses from the Qur’an make clear that the human will is the means by which we are tested through blessing and affliction, good and evil, enjoyment and suffering, ease and hardship. The situation might be schematized through the following diagram:

Spirit è disobedience èdescent è material world è spirit + matter èfate (al-qadar) – divine decree (al-qada’), that is, divine guidance – human will (choice) è testing through blessing (praise, good works and gratitude, or wastefulness, arrogance, self-reliance, and stinginess toward others) + testing through hardship (contentment, praise, and long-suffering, or bitter-ness, fear, anxiety, and unbelief) è faith or unbelief è happiness or misery.

⁹           Sahih al-Bukhari, The Book of Sales, the section pertaining to what a man earns and working with his own hands, hadith no. 1966.

¹⁰         Narrated by Abu Ya’la al-Musali in his Musnad, hadith no. 3370.

¹¹         Al-Mu’jam al-Saghir, hadith no. 861.

¹²         Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, hadith no. 13004.

¹³         Musannaf ‘Abd al-Razzaq, hadith no. 5104.

¹⁴         Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, The Book of Faith, hadith no. 91.

¹⁵         Mustadrak al-Hakim, hadith no. 7371.

¹⁶         Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 72, hadith no. 779.

(pg.178)

¹⁷         In other words, God loves to see His servants nicely dressed. Narrated by Ahmad, Musnad.

¹⁸         Narrated by Abu Dawud, Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 33, hadith no. 4151.

¹⁹         Musannaf ‘Abd al-Razzaq, hadith no. 5104.

20       Sunan al-Nasa’i al-Kubra, hadith no. 9352. Katam is a plant used to dye the hair black.

Chapter IV

¹           The era of the Companions’ rule was, in essence, an extension of the Prophetic era in its thought, practices, relations, and arrangements. In addition, it was marked by interpretations that were dictated by the need to deal with the major changes that had been brought about, on one hand, by the death of the Messenger of God and the end of the era of divine revelation – and, on the other hand, by the Islamic conquests. Arab tribalism subsequently took over government and management of the state, thereby contributing to the political, economic, and social deviations of the Umayyad era and the ruinous battles that took place with the Madinah School.

²           For a discussion of the issues pertaining to the crises of thought and will in the history of the Muslim community, see AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, Crisis in the Muslim Mind.

Chapter V

¹           That is, before the sun has risen and the heat of the day is upon them.

Appendix 1

¹           From here we begin to teach and learn: The requirements of cultural construction.

Appendix II

¹           “Ta’ammulat fi Zahiriyat Ibn Hazm wa I’jaz al-Risalah al-Muhammadiyyah,”

Majallat al-Tajdid 3, pp.167–72.

²           Ijtihad (independent reasoning) is the effort exerted by a suitably qualified scholar of jurisprudence to arrive at an accurate conceptualization of the divine will and the means by which to apply this will in a given age and under given circumstances based on Muslim legal sources (the Qur’an, the Hadith, analogical deduction, and consensus); as such, Ijtihad is the effort exerted by such a scholar to derive a legal ruling from Muslim legal sources, and to reach certainty on questions of an ambiguous nature.

(pg.179)