QURAN

“Then We put you on an ordained way concerning the matter; so follow it, and do not follow the inclinations of those who do not know” – Qur’an 45:18

Muslims, of all colours and hues, thus follow the command. This ‘ordained way’ is the Sharia. Note the negatives in the command.

Now, Why Must Muslims Believe in This 7th Century Book? 

“Indeed it is We who sent down the Message, and indeed We will be its guardian“ – Qur’an 15:9.

For the believers, it is the Word of God – revealed and guaranteed to be free from human corruptions.

This is in context to other divine books that were manipulated and rewritten over centuries. With the widespread availability of the internet, and even before that, the adherents of other faiths were compelled to acknowledge they did not do a good job of preserving the original Message.

But Why Believe In This Fairy God? 

The believer’s faith is helped by the fact that the human mind lends itself to emotions of seeking authority, certainty, and hope. Couple these primitive instincts with reason and rational, and a progressive social and civil structure can be weaved for the benefit of humanity.

If one were to presume that Islam is not rationale, then one needs to revisit history again. Not for nothing did Muslims rule this world for more than few centuries; and not for nothing were they instrumental in spreading Enlightenment ideas.

Internal Criticism?

Only in the last century did the main Shi’a branch – the Ithna Ashari (the Twelvers) – had accepted the Qur’an as the complete and undistorted Word of God. The causes are many, and some shall be addressed as we progress.

Many of the other sub-sects of Shi’a (the pre-Twelvers) still lead a life of Taqiyyah, many secretly believing that Sunnis of the past had distorted the Message. However, the elders of these Shi’a would not let their followers recite and learn Qur’an on their own. That is all changing in the Age of Internet.

This dissent and such like makes Islam what it is: open, active, and willing to have a go: to seek Truth.

Interpretations of Quran

Though the Qur’an cannot be changed, the change did happen due to interpretation. Muslims have interpreted the Qur’an, looking for solutions for their contemporary issues. Though a decorum of consistency was demanded, and protocols were invented to help keep Ijtihaad within the limits of Qur’anic principles of justice, equality and responsibility.

It was the demand of this methodical approach (Shari’ah) that kept the Qur’an free from human manipulations.

Scepticism and Cynicism

Today, in an age of atheism, it is considered by many as one of the best book, written by a man called Muhammad. In the past, and where faith still sways people, Qur’an was/is denounced as outright deceit.

True. Had it not been confronting, what use is it then to the humanity?

To the Muslims, it confronts and also comforts them, it injects passion but also humbles them, it calls to reason but also demands the seemingly irrational. To the uninformed, it appears supremacist; but to the others, it sits tightly with human requirements of soul and sinews.

HADEETH

In his book, ar-Risalah, al-Shafi’i (d. 820 CE), formally laid down the rule that ahadeeth (plural of hadeeth) shall be the 2nd source of the Divine Law.

But why follow a man of the 7th century? 

At various places, the Quran addresses both believers and non-believers quite clearly: An-Nur, 24: 54, An-Nisa, 4: 59, An-Nisa, 4:13.

So if one calls oneself a Muslim, for believing in the Qur’an, then one follows its teachings. And one its teachings is to follow the Messenger of the God. Apart from guiding Muslims towards the truth, the order weaves an emotional bond with the personality of the Prophet of Islam. That love for the Prophet gives an emotional meaning to the lives of many Muslims.

Surely the Prophet’s Teachings are so Remote from Us, in the 21st Century? 

Yes, and no. To understand the Quran better, the Prophet’s teachings are the best guide; he is described as the ‘walking Quran’. Hence, his importance in Islam.

Alone by himself, he is only a man. With an idea and a message, he gets transformed into one of the most important men in history, and human civilisation. However, Muslims do realise that the ahadeeth (plural of hadeeth) are not the Word of God. This acceptance of the limits of Divine Revelation is the foundation of the rational dual of Islam, usually not correctly handled in other faiths.

Instead of exploding into multiple sects with diverging views, Muslims scholars processed ahadeeth by Ilm-ar-Rijaal to authenticate what was then propagated as the Sunnah of the Prophet. The idea was to weed out the falsehood.

Through these research studies (of early Islam), and the introduction of concepts like inclusion and exclusion criteria, the following were established:

► The Qur’an was indeed passed on to the successive generations without manipulations. The minor change in letters and words in the text of the Qur’an were diligently documented for posterity, and not swept under the carpet. In a methodical manner, the Qur’an was combed, questioned, and answers were sought.

► It was realised that many of the hadeeth were outright fabrications. Hence, a system was devised to categorise them based on their reliability.

Historically, the most significant aspect of Imam Shafi’s rule was not in the inclusion of ahadeeth but the exclusion of 1) sayings of the Salaf (a rule followed by Ahl-al-Hadeeth) and 2) opinions of contemporary of jurists (Ahl-ar-Ra’ay). The reason for this exclusion was the lack of authenticity of the Salaf’s words and evidence for jurist’s opinions. Truth can be derived by consistent proofs, and both of these sources lacked them.

The two warring intellectual groups of Islam (Ahl al-Hadeeth and Ahl ar-Ra’ay) could now follow a method, a path, to derive rules that aimed to be transparent and consistent.

Why spend time on things when the truth can never be reached?

So why spend time and energy authenticating the sayings of the Prophet, and why devise processes to figure out the truth, when truth can never be known with certainty?

The Muslim scholars also had the job of dispensing justice but were accountable to the rulers of the day. They attempted to deliver it using the best means of reaching the truth.

The Qur’an had the promise of guardianship of Allah; the ahadeeth didn’t. Hence, the time and energy to find the truth. It was by no means perfect, but it was the best means of reaching out for justice, equality, fairness – which are all abstract human concepts, and on which civilisations are built and humans have prospered.

Their attempts to reach the truth also led them to scientific discoveries too. But that is the topic for another day.

Internal Criticisms

The people who missed out on Islam’s Golden Age were the Shi’a, a non-homogenous religio-political group. For their practice of politics-first, the Muslim scholars excluded the Shi’a factions from all of their scholarly work. The Shi’a count this among the many persecutions they perceive by Sunni Islam.

The Shi’a did catch up with the hadeeth scholarship. Though they (Najashi and al-Tusi were born in late 10th century CE) were at least 100 years late on the scene, at the time when Sunni Ulema had already closed their doors on the research of ahadeeth and went on to the next step of formulating the system of deriving rules called Usul al-Fiqh.

External Criticisms

The message of Qur’an is hard to criticise. Hence the constant attempts to shoot the Messenger by the critics of Islam, on an almost daily basis across the world.

In the multi-prong attack strategy by Islam’s critics, ahadeeth are an easy prey. Both because Muslims have forgotten how their system works, and because many practices that were acceptable in the past are viewed with horror today. The naive fall for the bait.

The precedent rules of Anglo-Saxon nations may be undemocratic, but they check our democracy from descending into mobocracy. Our concept of Human Rights and Values are deeply upheld by these rules.

In Islam, Ahadeeth forms the ‘precedent rule’. Other precedents (sayings of the Salaf, Jurists or the Auliya) lacks the credible chain-of-narrations, and hence, are presumed to be non-trustworthy. However, these precedent rules are subjected to facts and lofty human concepts of justice, fairness and equality. Pretty consistent with modern values, I believe.

—> Usul al-Fiqh