مسجد العنبرية
The Founding Fathers of America Adopt Islam Into Their Shariah
One of the most influential figures on the founding fathers of America was John Locke (d.1704), he was a philosopher and physician, regarded by the west as one of the most influential thinkers in western history and known as the “Father of Classical Liberalism”.
He helped western civilization come out of the Dark Ages it was still in, Europe had to move away from the rule of the totalitarian Church that rejected science and advancement in order to preserve it’s power over the world, and this was achieved by relying on the works and intellectual thought of various figures through western history, John Locke was one such figure.
In John Locke’s Biography, to the intellectual origins of American society the most influential individual on Locke’s life was Edward Pococke, he was the teacher at Oxford for Arabic and Islamic studies.
At the end of the Dark Ages Europe was in, the very first edict of toleration occurs in the 17th century in Budapest, it was done by a Transylvanian unitarian ruler (a Christian who did not believe in the trinity), he was directly under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire and paid the Jizya tax for protection from other European nations at a time when they still conquered each other. Essentially, he called for the very same policies the Ottomans where using in their states, and he was the first ruler to freely allow protestants to come into his land when they were being persecuted throughout Europe, this later became a model to be emulated.
The Ottoman Muslims offered refuge to protestants who were being persecuted under catholic rule, they also offered refuge to the Jews in Sarajevo and those who fled Spain from the inquisition and went to Morocco. Historically Jews where treated very well in Muslim lands and reached many positions of influence, for example Rabbi Musa Bin Maimun (Maimonides) who was considered one of the greatest Rabbi’s in Jewish history was the personal Physician of Salah al Deen Ayubi (Saladin in the west) who defeated the crusaders and won back Jerusalem from Richard the king of England.
John Locke and Isaac Newton were both Unitarians or Socinians, and were influenced by Muslim philosophical thought, they in turn were among the great influences on the Founding Fathers of America, like Thomas Jefferson.
Much of what is found in the American constitution is borrowed from Islamic philosophical thought, this can be established by John Locke’s influence upon them. As John Locke was Arian, Socinian and what is termed today as Unitarian, he was not only directly influenced by Muslim scholars he was accused of being a Muslim in his time.
John Locke and Isaac Newton (1642-1727) where friends and graduates from Oxford University, and like Locke Newton was also Unitarian and was accused of being a Muslim in his time.
Both Locke and Newton taught at Oxford university, when they were teaching they hid their positions on many issues because of the persecution that others suffered before them. Both had a friendship with Henry Stubbe (1632-1676) who as a result of opposing the monarchy and rule of the Church, along with the establishment, studied Christian theology only to later revolt against it and their position on how they imposed authority on people, it was after he challenged them that he began studying Islam, which unlike Europe had a diverse community of people peacefully living alongside each other within its borders so he wanted to see how this could come about in Europe.
During that time studying Islam, reading and having a copy of the Quran was a crime, hence they hid where they were taking all of their information from and what the sources where, they wrote books on the prophet Muhammad (saws), about the myth that Islam was spread by the sword, and how Islamic theology was the original and correct monotheistic theology, relied upon by earlier Christian Saints like Saint Augustine and other influential Christian Theologians, ‘it had come to purify the corruption that was caused by the Church and the Christians from the third century onwards’.
This corruption occurred when the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine (d 337AD), adopted Christianity as the state religion, He then decided through the council of Nicaea in 325AD, what the nature of the “Son of God” was, this question itself was only relevant to the Romans because in their pagan religion they already worship a trinity so the duplicate question was posed to the Romans who were now forced to read a bible they had no cultural connection to and had been persecuting for 300 years.
The label “son of god” was used to prove their argument, but itself was a Jewish term for the prophets of Allah, existing for thousands of years before hand, and was never exclusive to Jesus (ra).
The pagan outcome of this council then shouldn’t be surprising considering that none of the earlier religions of Allah, had claimed this Roman trinity which already existed among them. The religion of Abraham was entirely monotheistic right back to the first days of Man. Constantine through this same council would then decide which books to include in the Bible and which to exclude, all other books were subsequently burned and their followers massacred, as later archaeological evidence would show.
These Unitarian Christians wished to purify Christianity of this corruption, they wrote to Muslim Khalifs and ambassadors that, we are closer to you than our closeness to established Christianity, this occurred after the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century.
The hole of the 17th century was marred by the controversies of the Socinians, and controversies between the Church and Monarchy. John Locke who was a major influence on the American constitution itself, studied the Islamic work “Hayy bin Yaqzan” by the Muslim philosopher Ibn al Tufail (d.1185) which caused him to conclude that whatever Christianity and monarchy where offering are against human nature, a concept now known as Tabula Rasa (that man was born with a blank slate) was developed and he became the father of empiricism, (that knowledge only comes from sensory perception), along with materialism and the modern sciences.
In contrast to Tabula Rasa St. Augustin viewed man as originally sinful being born with a disposition, the Cartesian position holds that man innately knows basic knowledge, that we are born with innate ideas. Tabula Rasa and innatism, or the idea of a blank slate became very common in the European world from the beginning of the thirteenth century through the translations of Islamic texts, innate means something which is in the nature of the human being, and in Islam this was termed “Fitrah”, man was born with the innate belief in God, but was otherwise a blank slate moulded by his parents and society.
Thomas Jefferson was to be the lead author of the American Declaration of Independence from the British Empire, the declaration was to outline their beliefs regarding man and the reason for their split from the church controlled Monarchies. Jefferson and therefore the Declaration of Independence, was heavily influenced by John Locke, it can be seen from the list of reasons given to separate from the British Empire, Locke’s words, ideas and theories coming into play.
John Locke had given the four inalienable (Maqasid) rights of Man in his writings, Locke’s own treatises provide everyone with a right to defend their life, health, liberty or possessions.
One of the most noticeable instances of direct Islamic influence is in the preamble, where the Declaration of Independence proclaims the right of every man to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
Maqasid is an Islamic term for goals and purpose, after imam Shafii developed the science of Usul al Fiqh (principles of jurisprudence), many later scholars, from the 8th century onwards, began to write works of legal theory on the Maqasid of Shariah, or the aims and intents of Islamic Law, through these the rights and liberties of Man were clearly outlined and among the most famous scholars was Imam al Ghazali (d.1111).
Jefferson in the declaration summarized Locke’s “Maqasid” into three and preferred to include what other earlier Muslim scholars thought should be part of the Maqasid, and that is the pursuit of Happiness.
The Declaration of Independence explains the reasons for splitting with the British Empire, it borrows heavily from Locke’s Second Treatise, which is noticeable in the almost identical preamble, but also the idea of a Natural Law (or Locke’s state of nature). Their reasons for absolving Great Britain rule was mirrored in Locke’s idea of Representative Government, which was translated into their form of Democracy.
One of the first to detail the idea of Democracy was the Muslim scholar al Farabi (d.950), he devised the different kinds of governments and concluded that the Democratic government was the government which is ruled by the people for the sake of the people, using this exact expression.
Thomas Jefferson himself incorporated many ideas from the European enlightenment which was inspired by Islamic text that were being translated on Mass to Europe to fuel these new thoughts in order to rid it of the Dark Age it was in. The right of the people to “alter or to abolish” unjust governments; the idea that it is the governments job to secure “unalienable rights”; the idea of popular sovereignty, governments derive their power from the “consent of the governed”; the idea that “all men are created equal”; these are all ideas that the enlightenment thinkers shared.
Many of the issues raised by John Locke and Thomas Jefferson are the exact terminologies or translations of the Quranic words, basically huquq al Insan, consent of the governed, and all men are created equal, are taken from the work of Ibn Tufail. John Locke believed there existed a social contract between government and its citizens as government derived its power from the consent of the governed and that people should rebel against a government that violated their natural rights; the natural rights referred to are “life, liberty and possessions.”
By this time in history the Maqasid of Shariah, Islamic Law, where well developed and three out of the famous “five Maqasid of Islamic Shariah” were used by John Locke in the Declaration of Independence. The declaration interchanges “possessions” with “pursuit of happiness” which some Muslim Scholars believed should be included in the five Maqasid of Shariah.
The ideas that Jefferson adopted from Islam became central to the United States Government, they would eventually be incorporated into the constitution and then ground the argument of future revolutionaries both in the United States and around the world.
The Declaration of Independence was paraphrased from John Locke’s 1693 work “Concerning the True Original Extent and End of Civil Government”, Presidents Adams and Madison later acknowledged that these truths where already present and borrowed from elsewhere and that “the objective (of the declaration) was to assert and not discover truth”.
Al Farabi (872-950) wrote on the ideal state in a book called “al Madina al Fadila”, An Ideal State, in it he divided the states into the ideal Muslim states, beginning with the prophetic state, then the democratic, then comes the dictatorship (oligarchy and monarchy), he then says the best of these is the Islamic State in which the prophet or the leader (Imam) is a philosopher and a righteous person guided by Allah (swt), the second best is then the Democratic state.
The best state for Al Farabi is one that is comprised of true justice, proportionate equality, and a body of citizens who are willing to fulfil the tasks (skills) naturally endowed to them.
Al Farabi explains the most important principle of Democracy to be its freedom and that of the six Government types, including tyranny and oligarchy, the regime of Democracy occupies the privileged position of supplying the most solid and the best starting point for the establishment of the virtuous human beings.
A Democracy promotes the concept of “rule by the people” which are the exact words of al Farabi.
Democracy is the last step towards the Ideal state where Human beings enjoy freedoms, where everybody has a role not because they have to earn money or because of political influence but because this is their human right given to them by Allah. The best of the rulers are the ones who give the upmost freedoms to every individual in the state. And the best human beings are those who use their freedoms to accomplish to the best of their ability, in other words Ihsan or Human Perfection.
Al Farabi was one of the first to use the word Democratic (Democratiya) in the 9th century, which originally came from Greek but its etymology doesn’t agree with its modern understanding; “The Democratic city is one in which each one of the citizens is given free reign and left alone to do whatever he likes. Its citizens are equal and their laws say that no man is in any way at all better than any other man…And no one…has any claim to authority unless he works to enhance their freedom…those who rule them do so by the will of the ruled, and the rulers follow the wishes of the ruled”, Al Farabi essentially helped shape the modern understanding of the term Democracy.
The Etymology of democracy (n.) as western historians traced, goes back to the 1570s, from Middle French democratie (14c.), and from Medieval Latin democratia (13c.). It can’t be traced any further with its current definition except through Islamic works which took it from the Greek word demokratia “popular government”, the word comes from two Greek words, demos meaning “common people”, but whose originally ancient Greek meaning was “district” (as opposed to nation, see demotic), and kratos “rule, strength”. To the Greeks the word did not represent Democratic rule, this definition was given to it by Al Farabi because that was the outline of his Book in which he used it as the second-best form of government after prophetic government.
Al Faraby in the 9th century was addressing the issue of rulers, who thought they were an exception to the rule of Shariah, Al Farabi said that the Islamic state of the present day was better than the other models being used such as Monarchy and Oligarchy but the ruling class was not accountable to those they ruled, they were not following the Islamic injunction of Shura (consultation of the people), mentioned in the Quran in the chapter entitled al Shurah (the Consultation) and they were restricting freedoms, this eventuated when the original Islamic Khalifah, itself founded upon Shura, or a democratic vote was turned into Dynasties by later rulers.
In the Islamic state there was much freedom, you could say what you wish and express yourself freely but the exception was don’t address the ruling class. Al Faraby was addressing this issue and suggesting that to them they have not reached the level of the democratic state, and ruling by the wishes of those ruled. He suggested to the rulers that they should follow the Democratic state and then move towards the ideal state of the Prophetic Khalifah that originally existed in Madina after the prophets (saws) death.
The first four Khalifahs of Islam known as the rightly guided Khalifahs, or al Rashidun throughout history, where known and characterized by their Shura (consultation) with the people, while later Khalifs, although they applied the laws of Shariah they were closer to a Monarchy in how they governed and rule was passed on to their sons.
Al Farabi’s three Principles for Democracy were
1) Al Musaawa, Equality, All Human Beings are equal.
2) Itq or Liberty, Freedom.
3) La-ikrah, there is no compulsion in religion (2:256), Financial and Social Freedom
Three of the five objectives of Islamic Law (Maqasid al Shariah) were used in the American constitution and are translated from al Faraby into english as, Human Equality, Liberty and Freedom of Expression. From the 9th century until the 17th century these were the ideas being incorporated by the intellectual scholars of Europe.
The problem in Islamic lands was that the ruling class where not responsible to the common people, the Oligarchy of the Ottomans was criticised by Rasul Allah (saws) himself, they conquered and put an end the other major Khalifahs in the world and hoarded power until their eventual decline.
These three ideals were understood from the earliest days of Islam, that if man’s basic needs where not taken care of and secured, he could not pursue higher forms of knowledge, man needed to be free in his life in order to be capable of dedicating it and perfecting his pursuits.
Imam Abu Hanifah (d.767) the founder of one of Islam’s four legal schools of thought understood this clearly, he was himself wealthy because of his trade and on account of this understanding he used to take care of the basic needs of his students so they were not distracted by securing a livelihood, they could dedicate themselves fully to knowledge and religion.
Al Farabi enjoys the concept of Equal opportunity for happiness because he believes citizens should be able to equally engage in whatever they may choose, “the actions that are determined and directed toward happiness strengthen the part of the soul that is naturally equipped for happiness, and actualise and perfect it to the extent that the power resulting from the perfection is achieved through political activities”. (Al Farabi, On Political Science, Jurisprudence and Theology, P.38)
This is the source of the pursuit of happiness of Thomas Jefferson, and is one of the Maqasid that some Islamic scholars thought should be included among the five main Maqasid of Shariah that was being taught to Islamic students of Law.
Regarding Freedom and Equality which are the Foundation of “rule by the People”, the two principles that define the basis of Al Farabi’s authoritative powers; “Authority is justified only on the basis of the preservation and promotion of freedom and equality”.
Thomas Jefferson wrote about Roger Bacon, John Locke and Isaac Newton… “I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the Physical and Moral sciences”.
Regarding Tabula Rasa, Locke’s “theory of the mind” is often cited as the origin of modern conceptions of identity and the self, figuring prominently in the work of later philosophers such as Hume, Rousseau and Kant. Locke was the first to define the self through a continuity of consciousness. He Postulated that the mind was a blank slate or Tabula Rasa.
John Locke’s formulation of Tabula Rasa in an Essay concerning human understanding was influenced by a 17th century translation of “Philosophus Autodidactus”, a publication by Edward Pococke of the Arabic philosophical novel “Hayy ibn Yaqzan” (Lit. “Alive, Son of the Awake”), written by the 12th century Andalusian Islamic Philosopher and novelist Ibn Tufail (d.1185) also known as Abubacer or Ebn Tophail in the west.
The word Tabula Rasa is used by Ibn Tufail whom they took it from, the word “Ra’s” means head, “tabula” means cabinet, and was originally a latin term. Contrary to pre-existing Cartesian philosophy, He maintained that we are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived from sense perception.
Ibn Tufail demonstrated the theory of tabula rasa as a thought experiment through his Arabic Philosophical novel Hayy ibn Yaqzan, in which, he depicted the development of the mind of a wild child “from a Tabula Rasa to that of an adult, in complete isolation from society” on a desert island through his experiences alone, the Island is what gave the child the blank slate that freed him from the preconceptions of society and was a discussion on the Islamic concept of Fitrah.
In a number of famous narrations, the prophet (saws) discussed Fitrah, or man’s natural disposition when he is born. Abu Hurairah said that the prophet (saws) said, “No one is born except upon natural instinct, then his parents turn him into a Jew or Christian or Magian. As animals produce their young with perfect limbs, do you see anything defective? Abu hurairah said, “Recite the verse if you wish: Direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth, the nature of Allah upon which He has created the people. No change should there be in the creation of Allah. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.”(30:30). (Bukhari and Muslim)
Philosophus Autodidactus inspired the concept of Tabula Rasa, which was developed in “An essay concerning human understanding” (1690) by John Locke, he was a student of Pococke, and who referred to his translation of the novel as a “novelty”. Philosophus Autodidactus also inspired Robert Boyle, another acquaintance of Pococke, to write his own philosophical novel set on an island, called “The Aspiring Naturalist”.
The First english translation of Hayy Ibn Yakzan was published by George Ashwell in 1686, based on Pockoke’s latin translation. The first translation of the Arabic original, entitled “The Improvement of Human Reason: Exhibited in the life of Hayy Ebn Yakdhan”, was published shortly after by Simon Ockely in 1708, followed by two more English translations. Baruch Spinoza also read the work and soon encouraged a Dutch translation published by his friend Johannes Bouwmeester in 1672. Another Dutch translation, De natuurlijke wijsgeer, was published by Adrian Reland in 1701.
Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677) was a Jew living in Holland, among the Jewish scholars, he was thought to have one of the most critical minds and applied the same thoughts upon Jewish Theology and scriptures, the work also influenced Charles Darwin and his family.
To modern man and society Spinoza was almost like a prophet, and to Jews he is an Atheist because he revolutionized their theology. He was the one who first requested the translation of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, two into the German language and another into Nederland. He also distributed it all over the region including Paris, France, where it was received by Sorbonne University, the most powerful university in France and was the centre of the French revolution, for which they were thankful and delighted with it, the work was Praised as an excellent example of classical Arabic Philosophy.
Many early and modern European scholars and writers were also influenced by “Philosophus Autodidactus”, they included Melchisedech Thevenot, John Wallis, Christian Huygens, George Keith, Robert Barclay, the Quakers, Samuel Hartlib, Karl Marx and Voltaire, these are the scholars and leaders of the enlightenment. The English translation of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan was known to the Royal Society and the New England Company in North America by 1721, when Cotton Mather’s the Christian Philosopher cited Hayy Ibn Yaqzan as an influence. Despite condemning the Mahometans as infidels, Mather viewed the protagonist of the novel, Hayy, as a model for his ideal ‘Christian Philosopher’ and monotheistic scientists’. Mather also viewed Hayy as a noble savage and applied this in the context of understanding the Native American “indians” in order to convert them to puritan Christianity.
After Locke changed his ideas and beliefs because of the work, he began to write books and was accused of being Socinian (Unitarian Christian).
Unitarians where impressed by the Ottoman civilization and the concept of oneness of God, and Jesus as his prophet along with Islamic theology, they were accused of everything including being turkish.
Traditionally Unitarians (see the Council of Rimini and Arianism), were declared heretic by the council of Nicaea in 325 which now adopted a Roman pagan Trinity, but before this time there were also Ebionites, the first Christians were the Jews who believed that Jesus was the Jewish messiah. They used an early Gospel of Matthew, and their beliefs are in accordance with the earliest reports of the gospels of Luke and Matthew, and with Jewish prophecy, they were also known as “Nazarene”, and so the very first followers of Jesus were called the Nazoreans, a term used in the Quran.
As a consequence, to all this in the 17th century there where people who wrote many books saying the original Christianity was Nazrean and called for a stop to the corruption, to follow the Nazrean monotheistic faith or to go back to Arianism.
As a result of their work the church accused Newton and the Unitarians of not following the Bible but the Quran, and called for their deaths, these are the same people who now influenced modern Philosophy and science. (Source: This section is primarily based on the work of Zulfikar Shah).
The Foundations Of Islamic Society Changed the World Forever
The foundations of Islamic Society, which would shape the Islamic world for the next 1400 years, were laid down in the field of Law developed by Muslim’s called Maqasid al Shariah, or the Objectives of Shariah. To appreciate the significance of this we have to picture the world as it was in the year 800AD when this occurred, societies were mostly tribal, pagan and the world empires ruled through force. Europe as we know it was almost non-existent and America would not be discovered for another 600 years.
The foundation of society is its Laws they not only state how the people of that society will be treated but they also indicate the intellectual state of that society because law shows what that society was capable of understanding about humanity and upholding as values.
For example Europe was in the Dark Ages almost entirely because of its Laws, which ordained things like innocence or guilt is decided through superstition and torture, this was famously known as its trial by ordeal system, their laws stopped science and development altogether branding them as witchcraft spiraling the entire region into an Abyss it could not take itself out from, contrast this with what the Quran almost commanded about investigating nature and the Universe.
People back then were not in a state to see the world as we do today because they were not capable of perceiving liberty, freedom and human rights as we do, Islam changed all that for the entire world and very literally was responsible for shaping the world into what we see it today because of the developments it made to Law. Islamic scholars discovered, outlined and developed the very ideas of liberty and freedom we often quote, what allowed them to even perceive these ideas in the backdrop that existed around world was the Islamic communities striving to achieve Ihsan, Human perfection, as Muslims began to study the self and understand it more intricately this impacted on other areas of life such as Law and hence ideas of human perfection led to developments in Law that would help man create a society that could achieve this.
The “Objectives Of Shariah” gave Islamic society direction and something to achieve with its system of Law, hence the wisdom behind rulings were investigated and outlined under this legal science.
Scholars began to ask what were the objectives of Islamic Law, some Muslim scholars of jurisprudence, said that Allah revealed such a legislative system or Shari’ah in order to achieve Justice. Other jurists said it is for the purpose of achieving happiness and some others such as Imam al- Ghazali, said it is only for the achievement and realization of man’s benefit on earth.
In the field of Law which governed the Islamic Khalifah, Muslim scholars from the first days of Islam (700AD) developed entire sciences and tools to help the Muslim Ummah govern it’s people, in fact the modern Dictionary was largely invented to help preserve the Arabic language of the Qur’an, it was then adopted by other nations around the world for the task of preserving their languages.
Dictionaries hold the definition of a word at the time it was written and spoken, since language changes over time it becomes important to know what previous generations understood by the words they used in order to understand texts over a 1000 years old, prior to Islam this was not a practice among other civilisations, the preservation and understanding of language is important to the intellectual life of any society.
“Biographical dictionaries are also a characteristic feature of Muslim historical literature. The dictionaries were compiled according to professions, towns or regions, centuries or epochs, etc. Equally great importance was given to genealogical tables, particularly amongst the Arabs; and the relationship of hundreds of thousands of persons of some importance, thus learnt, facilitates the task of the researcher who should desire to penetrate the underlying causes of events”.
“The written-constitution of the State is also an innovation of the Muslims. In fact, Prophet Muhammad (saws) was its author. When he established a City-State at Madinah, he endowed it with a written constitution, which document has come down to us, thanks to Ibn Hisham and Abu ‘Ubaid, and its contents could be divided into 52 clauses. It mentions in precise terms the rights and obligations of the head of the State, of constituent units (within society), and of subjects respectively, in matters of administration, legislation, justice, defence, etc. It dates from the year 622 AD.”
“In its comprehensive character, legal science developed among Muslims very early. They were the first in the world to entertain the thought of an abstract science of law (discussing the theories of Law), distinct from the codes of the general laws of the country. The ancients had their laws, more or less developed and even codified, yet a science which should treat the philosophy and sources of law, and the method of legislation, interpretation, application, etc., of the law was wanting, and this never struck the minds of the jurists before Islam. Since the second century of the Hijrah (800 C.E.) there began to be produced Islamic works of this kind, called Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Law)”.
We take many things for granted today, by comparison European law prior to 1600 CE considered that a person was guilty when accused of a crime until they could prove their own innocence, later when this law was changed and they adopted a more Islamic approach their entire society changed with it. The modern legal maxim that “a person is Innocent until proven guilty” also known as the presumption of innocence, was derived from verses in the Qur’an (623AD) like;
“Why did they not bring four witnesses of it? But as they have not brought witnesses they are liars before Allah.”(24:13)
“If any of your women are guilty of lewdness (al-fahishata), Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them (4:15-16).
These verses set a standard for establishing guilt and asked that anyone accused of a crime, his accuser should prove his guilt first, with reliable witnesses before punishment, in European law until nearly the modern age any man or women who was accused of a crime had to prove their own innocence to be acquitted of the crime.
Because the burden to prove innocence was placed on the person being accused and not the person making the accusation this lead to a lot of corruption and false testimony, and almost the total dysfunction of that society until the enlightenment, the period when they adopted everything Islamic, although it should be noted they did not like to reveal the sources of their inspiration because Europe had declared multiple crusades against Muslims, most often translators of Islamic books would Latinise the names of scholars so they were not recognisable.
Allah changed who the burden of proof was upon, when he said “But as they have not brought witnesses they are liars before Allah”. This single point was considered the foundation and basis of modern society and the very thing that allowed Justice to prevail.
The Presumption of innocence can be found in Roman law and indirectly the bible, but Europe did not embrace them from these sources because they did no work to develop upon them, the bible was revealed in Roman times but it was not stated in terms they understood as a legal injunction. Europe did not look at its sacred text in the same abstract manner as Islamic scholars did, developing and searching for legal theories or Maxims (principles).
The Qur’an on the other hand was carefully studied and analysed in every respect for well over a thousand years, this way of thinking developed in the Islamic world not long after the death of the Prophet (saws), and within 300 years Islam had Four schools of legal thought that governed Muslim life in all Islamic Lands, many other minor schools around the world existed but did not survive to our time.
The Prophet once made a dua, “O Allah! Guide Quraysh, for the science of the scholar that will come from them will encompass the earth. O Allah! You have let the first of them taste bitterness, so let the latter of them taste reward.”, the Scholars agreed that this was referring to Imam al Shafii whose work al Risala first defined the legal science of Usul al Fiqh (Principles of Jurisprudence), which today is at the heart of all law on earth, the entire Ummah utilised and benefited from the work which systemised Law itself for the other schools of thought that emulated it’s structure.
The Prophet also said: “Truly, Allah shall send forth for this Community, at the onset of every hundred years, someone who will renew their Religion for them.” The scholars agreed, among them Abu Qilaba (d. 276) and Imam Ahmad, that the first narration above signified al-Shafi`i, and the second signified `Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz as the first-person Allah sent for the Ummah and then Imam al-Shafi`i after him as the second.
Imam Abu Hanifa (d.150) the founder of the Hanafi Madhhab (legal school) which today over 40% of Muslims follow, was the first in Islam to organize fiqh under sub-headings categorizing, organizing and embracing the whole of the Law, beginning with purity (tahara) followed by prayer (sala), an order which was retained by all subsequent scholars such as Imam Malik, Shafi`i, Abu Dawud, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and others.
Abu Hurairah (ra) narrated Allah’s Messenger (saw) as saying: “If the Religion were at the Pleiades, even then a person from Persia would have taken hold of it, or one amongst the Persian descent would surely have found it.” Abu Hurairah (ra) also narrates:”We were sitting in the company of Allah’s Apostle (saw) when Surat al-Jum`a was revealed to him and when he recited amongst them, (those who were sitting with the prophet) said `Allah’s Messenger?’ but Allah’s Apostle (saw) made no reply, until he was questioned once, twice or thrice, and there was amongst us Salman the Persian. Allah’s Apostle (saw) placed his hand on Salman and then said: “Even if faith were near the Pleiades, a man from amongst these would surely find it.”
Imam as-Suyuti remarked: “It has been communicated unanimously that this hadith refers to Imam Abu Hanifah (who was a Persian).”
Al-Hafiz al-Kabir Abu Bakr Ahmad al-Harizmi wrote in his book “Musnad”: “Saif al-Aimma’ reports that when Imam Abu Hanifah derived a matter from the Qur’an and Hadith, he would not give the answer to the inquirer unless all of them
[his students] confirmed it. One thousand of Abu Hanifah’s disciples attended all his classes when he taught in the Mosque of Kufa (in Iraq). Forty of them were mujtahids (The Highest category of Scholar in Islam). When he would find an answer for a matter, he would suggest it to his students who would study it together, and when they reached an agreement of it being consistent with the Qur’an and Hadith, and with the words of the Sahabah (ra), he would be delighted and say, “Al-hamdu li’llah wallahu Akbar,” and all those who were present would repeat his words. Then he would tell them to write it down.”This consultation (Shurah) set the standard of investigation for latter scholars, the Imam ensured he had specialists in each field of knowledge present when deciding upon a ruling so a wide number of views could be heard from different perspectives. The Imams madhhab spread around the Muslim world in his own lifetime and He was considered among the most knowledgeable people on Earth.
The Prophet said: “Very soon will people beat the flanks of camels in search of knowledge, and they shall find no-one more knowledgeable than the knowledgeable scholar of Madina.” Al-Tirmidhi, al-Qadi `Iyad, Dhahabi and others relate from Sufyan ibn `Uyayna, `Abd al-Razzaq, Ibn Mahdi, Ibn Ma`in, Dhu’ayb ibn `Imama, Ibn al-Madini, and others that they considered that scholar to be Imam Malik ibn Anas.
Imam Malik, the founder of another of Islam’s schools of law (Madhab), was responsible for preserving the Sunnah of Madina (life style of the prophet (saws) and the society he founded) for latter generations, this was the way of life of the people of Madina shortly after the prophets (saws) death, it gave the clearest picture of life in those times we have today and the Imam and his madhhab are famous for taking the actions of the people of Madina as a source of legislation in Islamic law because it was the prophet (saws) himself who established that community.
Each of the founders of Islam’s schools of Law was mentioned in Ahadith, and each had a significant impact on Islamic society throughout history.
What Are the Objectives of Shariah?
The majority of Ullema (scholars) hold that the ahkam (Laws) of the Shari’ah contemplate certain objectives, and when they can be identified for a place or situation, it is our duty to pursue them and make an effort to implement them in order to fulfil the general objectives of the Lawgiver, Allah.
By setting up a just society man can then achieve what Allah ultimately wants, Ihsan, human perfection in order to know him better, to this end Allah revealed the Quran.
Looking at how the Objectives (Maqasid) of Shariah developed from the first days of Islam is important because they are the single most clear indicator of what Islamic society was and is meant to be, this is what they achieved not what they wished to achieve.
It was these same objectives that were adopted by the fathers of the European enlightenment and eventually the founders of American society, seen clearly in its declaration of Independence, which is something the world holds today as a standard of social development that supposedly did not exist in history before their time.
Maqaid al-shariah (Objectives of the Shariah) explain the ‘wisdoms behind rulings,’ such as ‘enhancing social cohesion,’ which is one of the wisdoms behind charity, and looking after one’s neighbours, or greeting people with the wish for peace (Asalamu Alaikum). The wisdom behind rulings also include ‘developing consciousness of God,’ which is one of the rationales behind regular prayers (salat), fasting (swam), and supplications (dua), being aware of Allah helps man focus on building society and contributing to it rather than unwittingly being part of its destruction, which is the result of many people in a society not having a moral compass.
A community that is secure in its identity can be generous in regards to who can freely live within its borders, this is why the Muslim Khalifah’s often invited Jews and Christians being persecuted in Europe to live within Islamic lands, not only setting up new communities in these lands but being allowed to govern them according to their own tenants of faith, this was the result of the work muslims did to be aware of Allah as a society, it shaped how they viewed others and accepted them.
The Maqasid of Shariah aims to achieve the greater good by opening, or blocking, certain means that lead to Harm or move people away from it. Thus, the maqasid (objectives) for ‘preserving people’s mind and soul’ explain the total and strict Islamic ban on alcohol and intoxicants, and the maqasid for ‘protecting people’s property and honour’ explain the Qur’an’s mention of a ‘death penalty’ as a possible punishment for rape or armed robbery.
“Maqasid al Shariah” are also the group of divine intents and moral concepts upon which Islamic law is based, such as, justice, human dignity, free will, magnanimity, facilitation, and social cooperation.
Because Islamic Law outlined people’s rights and defined their best interests so clearly it shouldn’t be a surprise that the fathers or Europe’s enlightenment took from it, largely by the 16th century Europe was translating almost any Islamic texts they could find, not simply Law but Medicine, Art, Mathematics, Accounting, Philosophy, History, Sociology, Geography Topography, Astronomy, Mineralogy, Mechanics, Zoology, Chemistry, Physics, etc.
To them it was a stark contrast to the dark times Europe was in which even at the height of the Black Death outwardly refused Islamic treatment for it, which mitigated it’s spread.
Islamic society was itself pulled out of what the prophet (saws) termed the Jahaliya (days of ignorance) because the principles of Islamic Law protected people’s rights and allowed all areas of science to develop in an atmosphere of toleration this began what was later termed by historians as Islam’s Golden Age of science and discovery.
For a number of Islamic Scholars, maqasid are an alternative expression for masalih (people’s interests). For example, Imam Abdul-Malik al-Juwaini (d.478 AH/ 1185 CE), one of the earliest contributors to al-maqasid theory as we know it today used al-maqasid and public interests (al-masalih al-ammah) interchangeably. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d.505 AH/1111 CE) elaborated on a classification of maqasid, which he placed entirely under what he called ‘unrestricted interests’ (al-maslaha al-mursalah). Fakhruddin al-Razi (d.606 AH/1209 CE) and al- Amidi (d.631 AH/1234 CE) followed Imam al-Ghazali in his terminology. Imam Najmuddin al- Tufi (d.716 AH/1316 CE), defined maslaha as, ‘what fulfils the purpose of the Legislator.’ Al-Qarafi (d.1285 AH/1868 CE) linked maslaha and maqasid by a ‘fundamental rule’ that stated: ‘A purpose (maqasid) is not valid unless it leads to the fulfilment of some good (marsalah) or the avoidance of some mischief (mafsadah).’ Therefore, a maqasid, purpose, objective, intent, goal, end, or principle in Islamic law is there for the ‘interest of humanity.’
“Any attempt to implement the law should take into account not only the externalities of the law but also the rationale and the intent behind it. Thus, when a man utters the credo of Islam to achieve worldly gain or to attain social prestige, his confession is not valid. The reason is that the true purpose of confession to the faith is the exaltation and worship of God, and if this is violated, a formal confession is of no value. Similarly, if a man says a prayer for the sake of display and self-commendation, it is not valid. The real purpose and value of the law is therefore of primary importance, and indeed it is necessary that the mujtahid identifies it so as to be able to implement the law in accordance with its purpose”.
After the era of the companions, the identification and classification of maqasid (Objectives) began.
During the first three centuries, the idea of purposes/causes (Arabic: Hikam, ilal, munasabat, or ma’ani) appeared in the works of the Imams of the schools of Islamic law, these became tools for deriving Law from Islam’s primary sources the Quran and sunnah.
Tools such as legal reasoning by analogy (qiyas), juridical preference (istihsan), and interest (masalah). Purposes themselves, however, were not subjects of separate monographs or special attention until the end of the third Islamic century. Then, this work was further developed and elaborated into ‘levels of necessity’ by Imam al-Juwaini (d.478 AH/ 1085 CE).
- Al-Tirmidhi al-Hakeem (d. 296 AH/908 CE) wrote one of the first known volumes dedicated to the topic of maqasid, in which the term ‘maqasid’ was used in the book’s title, al-Salah wa Maqasiduha (Prayers and their Purposes or Objectives). The book is a survey of the wisdoms and spiritual ‘realities’ behind each of the acts of prayer, with an emphasis on the science of Ihsan (Human perfection) as mentioned in the famous Hadith of Jibril. Examples are ‘confirming humbleness’ as the maqasid (Objective) behind glorifying Allah with every move during prayers, ‘achieving consciousness’ of Allah as the objective behind praising God, ‘focusing on one’s prayer’ as the maqasid (Objective) behind facing the direction of the Kabah, and so on.
Imam Al-Tirmidhi also wrote a similar book on pilgrimage, which he entitled, al-Hajj wa Asraruh, Pilgrimage and its Secrets, or inner reality, the word secrets here should be understood by its scientific connotation because that is what it meant to peer into the secrets of the universe, the title therefore alludes to the physiology of the human body and the systems Allah created and placed in it and how pilgrimage affects man’s heart and inner self, so the secrets or rather science of prayer for example refers to how prayer effects the physiology of the body and self, and so similarly with the secrets/science of Hajj.
Modern scientific terminology was only used in our era, the ancient world had its own scientific language we need to translate hence the word secret to an ancient scholar means science in today’s terminology because to understand science was to understand the secrets of creation.
- Abu Zaid al-Balkhi (d.322 AH/933 CE). Wrote one of the first books on the maqasid of dealings (mu’amalat), al-Ibanah an ilal al-Diyanah (Revealing Purposes in Religious Practices), in which he surveys the various purposes behind Islamic rulings. Al-Balkhi also wrote a book dedicated to maslahah (public interest), which he entitled, Masalih al-Abdan wal-Anfus (Benefits for Bodies and Souls), in which he explained how Islamic practices and rulings contribute to health, physically and mentally.
It was another early work on the Physiology of the human body, specifically the connection between the practices of religion and its effects on the Body. Our nature and body is key to understanding the wisdom behind the Prophet’s and companions words, this is why the first thing Allah taught the prophet was about the human body and when he made a promise in the Quran to reveal the secrets of the universe to mankind he connected it to understanding what is in our own bodies “In time We shall make them fully understand Our messages
[through what they perceive] in the utmost horizons [of the universe] and within themselves” (41:53).These kinds of works are at the heart of the Islamic science of Tasawwuf, sufism, which is the science of perfecting the self.
- Al-Qaffal al-Shashi al-Kabeer (d. 365 AH/975 CE). One of the oldest manuscripts in the Egyptian Dar al-Kutub on the topic of al-maqasid is al-Qaffal’s Mahasin al-Sharia (The Beauties of the Law). The work is divided into the familiar chapters of traditional books of fiqh (starting with purification, and then ablution and prayers, etc). He mentions each ruling briefly and elaborates on the purposes and wisdoms behind it.
The manuscript is fairly clear and contains around 400 pages. The last page mentions the date of the book’s completion, which is the 11th of Rabi’ul- Awwal 358 H (7th of February, 969 CE). The coverage of the rulings of fiqh is extensive, addressing individual rulings but without introducing any general theory for the purposes.
The following is a translation of an excerpt from the introduction:
… I decided to write this book to illustrate the beauties of the revealed Law, its magnanimous and moral content, and its compatibility with sound reason. I will include in it answers for those who are asking questions about the true reasons and wisdoms behind its rulings. These questions could only come from one of two persons. The first person attributes the creation of the world to its Creator and believes in the truth of prophethood, since the wisdom behind the Law is attributed to the Wise Almighty King, who prescribes to His servants what is best for them … The second person is trying to argue against prophethood and the concept of the creation of the world, or maybe is in agreement over the creation of the world while in rejection of prophethood. The logical line that this person is trying to follow is to use the invalidity of the Law as proof for the invalidity of the concept of a Law-Giver …
- Al-Amiri al-Failasuf (d. 381 AH/991 CE) introduced one of the earliest known direct theoretical classification of purposes in his ‘al-I’lam bi-Manaqib al-Islam’ (Awareness of the Traits in Islam). Al-Amiri’s classification was solely based on ‘criminal punishments’ in Islamic law (Hudud).
The fifth Islamic century witnessed the birth of the next phase of Islamic Legal theory, methods and tools for legal theory that were developed, by the fifth century, such as Qiyas (analogy), Ijtihad, (independent Reasoning), Istihsan (Equality of Islamic Law), become part of the greater whole as Islamic civilization became increasingly complex and it became increasingly difficult to apply them to the greater situation the Ummah found itself in, as the world changed.
These tools helped in the understanding of how to Apply the Qur’an and Sunnah (way of the prophet) to the “overall picture” of the Ummah (Muslim nation), this was done by identifying the overall objectives of the Qur’an and Sunnah and then looking at law in an abstract manner. The theory of ‘unrestricted interest’ (al-maslaha al- mursalah) was developed as a method that covers ‘=what was not mentioned in the scripture literally. This theory filled a gap in the literal methodologies and, later, developed into the theory of maqasid in Islamic law.
The jurists who made the most significant contributions to the conceptualizations of maqasid, between the fifth and eighth Islamic centuries, are: Abu al-Maali al-Juwaini, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, al-Izz Ibn Abdul-Salam, Shihabuddin al-Qarafi, and, most significantly, Abu Ishaq Al-Shatibi.
5.Imam Abu al-Maali al-Juwaini (d.478 AH/1085 CE) wrote ‘al-Burhān fi Usul al-Fiqh’ (The Proof in the Fundamentals of Law), which was the first juridical treatise to introduce a theory of ‘levels of necessity’ for life in a way that is similar to today’s familiar theory. He suggested five levels of maqasid, namely, necessities (al Duraat), public needs (al-hajah al-amah), moral behaviour (al-makrumat), recommendations (al-mandubat), and ‘what cannot be attributed to a specific reason.’ He proposed that the purpose of Islamic law is the protection or inviolability (al-ismah) of people’s ‘faith, souls, minds, private parts (purity), and money.’
6.Imam Al-Juwaini’s student, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d.505 AH/1111 CE), developed his teacher’s theory further in his book, al-Mustasfa (The Purified Source). He ordered the ‘necessities’ of life that al-Juwaini had suggested in a clear arrangement, as follows: (1) faith, (2) soul, (3) mind, (4) offspring, and (5) wealth. Al-Ghazali also suggested the term of ‘preservation’ (al-Hifz) of these necessities.
Imam al-Ghazali stated that Maqasid (Objectives) and Masalih (peoples interest) did not have independent juridical legitimacy (Hujjiyah) from the Quran and Sunnah, you cannot derive new Laws from them independent from Islams primary sources, and called them ‘the illusionary interests’ (al-masalih al-mawhumah) because they themselves are derived from the sources (Quran and Sunnah) rather than being implied literally, as other ‘clear’ Islamic rulings are. Al-Ghazali also suggested a ‘fundamental rule,’ based on the order of necessities of life, he suggested, that the higher-order of necessity should have priority over a lower-order necessity, if they are at odds with each other in practical cases.
7.Imam Al-Izz Ibn Abdul-Salam (d.660 AH/1209 CE) wrote two small books about al- maqasid, the ‘wisdoms-behind-rulings’, namely, Maqasid al-Salah (Purposes of Prayers) and Maqasid al-Sawm (Purposes of Fasting). However, his significant contribution to the development of the theory of al-maqasid was his book on (public) interests (masalih), which he called, Qawaid al-Ahkam fi Masalih al-Anam (Basic Rules Concerning People’s Interests). Beside his extensive investigation of the concepts of interest and mischief (harm), Imam al-Izz linked the validity of rulings to their purposes and the wisdoms behind them. For example, he wrote: ‘Every action that misses its purpose is void,’ and, ‘when you study how the purposes of the law brings good and prevents mischief, you realize that it is unlawful to overlook any common good or support any act of mischief in any situation, even if you have no specific evidence from the sources (Qur’an and Sunnah), consensus (Ijmaa), or analogy (Qiyas).’
Since the primary sources did not speak about every situation man could find himself in explicitly, they had to be categorized underneath what Allah did mention and from this their specific ruling could be derived, this is because Allah in the Quran said “We have explained in detail in this Quran, for the benefit of Mankind, every kind of similitude: but man is, in most things, contentious.”(18:54), and “Indeed we have set forth for mankind, in this Quran every kind of parable. But if you bring to them any sign or proof, the disbelievers are sure to say: “You follow nothing but flasehood”. (30:58)
8.Imam Shihabuddin al-Qarafi (d.684 AH/1285 CE) contributed to the theory of maqasid, as we know it today, by differentiating between different actions taken by the Prophet based on the ‘intents’ of the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself. He writes in his ‘al-Furuq’ (The Differences):
There is a difference between the Prophetic actions as a conveyer of the divine message, a judge, and a leader … The implication in the law is that what he says or does as a conveyer goes as a general and permanent ruling … [However,] decisions related to the military, public trust, … appointing judges and governors, distributing spoils of war, and signing treaties … are specific to leaders.’ Thus, al-Qarafi codified a new field for ‘al-maqasid’ as the purposes/intents of the Prophet (saws) in his actions.
The Model That Was Adopted
The Maqasid of Islamic Law was revealed for one basic universal purpose: to realize the best interests of humans on earth.
Maslaha in the Arabic language literally translates as benefit or interest, it is defined by Imam al-Ghazali as that which secures a benefit (for man) or prevents harm (from him).
It isn’t enough to guide people by simply introducing a revealed book into a new land, people had to be trained to interpret it according to its author’s own understanding otherwise they form their own ideas and beliefs.
By the time of Imam Ghazali’s death in 1111.AD, Islamic Law was well developed and adopted around the Muslim world with many academic tools invented to preserve the culture, language and understanding.
Allah revealed Shari’ah to help man achieve the masalih or benefits of people in the two following ways:
First, by procuring these masalih (or by bringing them about), since people cannot bring about the benefits of mankind equally; they discriminate against each other, they kill each other, they steal from each other, they humiliate others for various reasons such as colour, ethnicity, power, social status and the like. In one word they present their interest as central and others are only a means to achieve their own ends.
Allah is an absolute justice who legislates to mankind what is beneficial to all.
Second, Islamic Divine Law achieves its goal by preserving or protecting these human universal benefits, by setting rules and regulations with sets of prescribed punishments, the Islamic Divine Law then has a two-fold function.
Though Imam al-Ghazali defined Maslaha as that which secures a benefit or prevents harm, however, the benefits mentioned in Islamic Divine Law have been categorized into three kinds by the scholars:
First: accredited benefits (Masalih Mu’tabarah), which are regulated by the Lawgiver in the sense that a textual authority (such as the Qur’an and Sunnah) from the divine law could be found to prove their validity.
Second: nullified (prohibited) benefits (Masalih Mulghat): these are other kinds of benefits and interests that the Shari’ah prohibited because they lead to harm and hardship (Mafsadah), such as stealing or usury.
Third: unregulated benefits (al-Masalih al-Mursalah), since the benefits of people can be as numerous as their public interests, we find that the divine law did not regulate a number of these benefits directly but by similitude. So, their validity is not clearly apparent and must be identified using Ijtihad (Legal Reasoning). In the principles of jurisprudence these kinds of benefits are called the unregulated benefits, and it is left for legal scholars or jurists to work on them.
Imam al-Ghazali said masalih or benefits should be harmonious and consistent with the objective (Maqasid) of the Shari’ah, since the basic purpose of legislation (tashri’) is to protect the interest of people against harm.
Objectives or Maqasid of Islamic law themselves are classified in various ways, according to a number of dimensions. The following are some of these dimensions:
- Levels of necessity, which is the traditional classification.
- Scope of the rulings aiming to achieve the Objectives.
- Scope of people included in the Objectives.
- Level of universality of the Objectives.
When the Maqasid are looked at in terms of priority, importance and benefits they were similarly divided by Muslim scholars into three kinds. They are prioritized with the Qur’an and Sunnah at its heart, the masalih then revolve around each other with the Islamic creed (Aqeedah) and the Shariah as the main source of legislation:
- The first priority of the masalih are the Necessities, (Da.ru.riy.yat)
- The second priority of the masalih are the Needs, (Ha.jiy.yat), and
- The third priority of the masalih are the Luxuries, (Tah.seen.niy.yat)
“Necessities are further classified into what ‘preserves one’s faith, soul, wealth, mind, and offspring.’ Some jurists added ‘the preservation of honour’ to the above five widely popular necessities. These necessities were considered essential matters for human life itself. There is also a general agreement that the preservation of these necessities is the ‘objective behind any revealed law,’ not just the Islamic law.”
“Maqasid at the level of Needs are less essential for human life. Examples are marriage, trade, and means of transportation. Islam encourages and regulates these needs. However, the lack of any of these needs is not a matter of life and death, especially on an individual basis”.
“Maqasid at the level of luxuries are ‘beautifying purposes,’ such as using perfume, stylish clothing, and beautiful homes. These are things that Islam encourages, but also asserts how they should take a lower priority in one’s life”. It is significant that the Islamic civilization by the 11th century was debating the place of luxuries in everyday life, while Europe did not even value the place of gardens in society until Spain was conquered, they became shocked at the luxurious they found at the same time gaining a perspective on how life could be. We have to understand that before these Islamic developments, now taken for granted, the world looked vastly different.
“The three levels in the hierarchy are overlapping and interrelated, in addition, each level should serve the level(s) below. Also, the general lack of one item from a level moves it to the level above. For example, the decline of trade, during an economic crisis, moves ‘trade’ from a ‘need’ into a ‘life necessity, ‘and so on. That is why some jurists preferred to perceive necessities in terms of ‘overlapping circles,’ rather than a strict hierarchy”.
From this understanding the Ullumah (scholars) have then identified ‘five essential values’ of life that are universal necessities or priorities “on which the lives of people depend, and whose neglect leads to total disruption and chaos.”
These five necessities have been famously labeled as the “Five Objectives of Islamic Shariah”, and there preservation is essential. Three of these objectives were later used in the American Declaration of Independence, they are the preservation of:
- Religion
- Life
- Intellect
- Procreation
- Property
Imam al Ghazali said that any measure which secures these values also falls within the scope of maslahah (people’s interest), and anything which violates them is mafsadah (evil), and preventing the latter is also maslahah. More technically, maslahahl mursalah (Public Interest) is defined as a consideration which is proper and harmonious (wasf munasib mula’im) with the objectives of the Lawgiver (Allah).
Because these five necessities are derived from Shari’ah as necessary and basic for human existence, therefore, every society should preserve and protect these five necessities; otherwise human life would be harsh, brutal, poor, and miserable, in this world and the hereafter.
The Objectives of Shariah do not simply look after the interest of people in this world but the next as well and are key to identifying what ultimately benefits man in this life.
Needs are matters that remove restrictions and difficulties in applying the five necessities.
Allah says in The Qur’an:
“Allah does not want to place you in a difficulty, but He wants to purify you, and to complete His favor to you, that you may be grateful.” (Qur’an, 5:6), so the Aim of Allah is to purify a person from what harms them or bring about their harm.
In another chapter Allah says: “Allah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you.” (Qur’an, 2:185)
The divine law grants people concessions (rukhas) in cases of hardship such as sickness, and traveling, but neglecting these Needs will lead to hardships in life and society, but not chaos and collapse.
Luxuries are intended to render human affairs or conditions more suited to the requirements of the highest standards of moral conduct. They “denote interests whose realization leads to improvement and the attainment of that which is desirable.”
Thus, the observance of cleanliness in personal appearance and in spirituality, the growth of moral virtues, the avoidance of wastefulness in consumption, and moderation in the enforcement of penalties, fall within the scope of Luxuries.
From contemplation on these benefits a systematic set of legal rules and principles was deduced known as Qawaid al Fiqh, the Maxims of Islamic Law, such as:
- Harm must be removed.
- Public harm or loss is averted by the private assumption of loss.
- The greater of two harms is averted by assumption of the lesser.
- Averting harm is to be preferred over procuring of benefits.
- Cases of necessity make permissible what is normally forbidden or restricted.
- Necessity is determined by the specific circumstances.
- Hardship in a situation secures lenience for people.
- It is not permissible to do what will harm one’s self.
An example of more recent works is Al Majalla, it is a codification of Hanafi commercial law used by the Ottoman Caliphate. It contains a preface that has 99 general legal principles (qawa`id fiqhiyya), similar to those above, in no particular order, that are all gems.
It was authored in the second half of the 19th Century by a council of major Hanafi faqihs headed by Allama Jawdat Basha, and included Ibn Abidin’s son, there are a number of translations available for this work was well as commentaries. It was the law code for the Ottoman Khilafa for over 70 years, and continued to be the commercial law of Syria until 1949, and Jordan until the 1970s.