After we learned about the concept of God in Islam and the duty of man, we need to examine the message that is given to him by God (Allah) to fulfill his duty as vicegerent on this earth. This message is Islam, which literally means full submission to God (Allah), the creator of all creations. It is the Call (Da’wah) of all Prophets, from Adam (A.W.) to Muhammad (S.A.W.) is to invite people to submit their will to the will of Allah and to bear witness that there is no god but Allah. Islam has divine laws governing the relationship of man with his Creator (Allah) and his relationship with his fellow creations. His responsibility, as vicegerent, is to follow and carried out this Divine Law in accordance with the objectives of Islamic Shari’ah Law.
OBJECTIVES OF ISLAMIC SHARI’AH LAW:
Muslim scholars have classified the entire range of objectives [maqasid] and benefits [masalih] into three descending categories of importance: the essentials [dharuriyyat], the complementary [hajiyyat], and the desirable or the embellishments [tahsiniyyat]. The essential objectives of Sharia’ah are enumerated, based on the general understanding of the Qur’an and the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.), as five, namely: life, intellect, faith, lineage, and property. These are considered as absolute requirements to the survival and spiritual-well being of individuals, to the extent that their destruction or collapse would result chaos and the demise of normal order in society no matter it is Muslim or non-Muslim society (*).
Shari’ah, on the whole, seeks primarily to protect and promote these essential values and validates all measures necessary for their preservation and advancement. Jihad has thus been validated in order to protect religion, and qisas, to protect life. One may ask question why qisas could protect life, while you are killing another one instead of only one? The wisdom of qisas is to safeguard the blood of human being because the blood of human being is sacred in Islam. Allah says: [Whoever kills a person for other than manslaughter or corruption in the land, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoever saves the life of one person, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind] (Al-Qur’an: 5:32). In many places in different parts of the world conflict that leads to killing between the families or tribes happened sometimes because of the ignorance of this divine Law. If someone kills somebody, the family of the victim will put the law on their hands and take revenge even to the innocent members of the culprit one (**). Indeed, the Shari’ah takes affirmative and even punitive measures to protect and promote these values. Theft, adultery, and the drinking of alcohol are punishable offences as they pose a threat to the immunity of private property, the well-being of the family and the integrity of the human intellect, respectively. In an affirmative again, but at a different level, the Shari’ah oblige the rich to give Zakat for the needy to enrich them, It also encourages work and trading activities in order to enable the individual to earn living. Shari’ah prohibits Riba to prevent the rich to monopolize economy and market. Thus, theft does not have valid reasons for his actions. With regards to adultery, Shari’ah encourages individuals to get marry in many traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.). It is also mentioned in one of the Hadith of the Prophet “that the less dowry (Mahr) the marriage is, the more Barakah (blessings) in it” (*). Shari’ah also commands the pursuit of knowledge, in fact, the first revelation revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) is Iqra (read), so as to develop the intellectual well-being of individual to contribute to the advancement of sciences and civilization, in other words, to fulfill his mission as khalifah on earth.
The second category of Maqasid or Masalih, known as Hajiyyat [complementary benefits] are not in themselves a completely independent category. They seek to protect and promote the essential objective or Masalih [benefits], they are secondary capacity. In definition, Hajiyyat are defined as the benefits that seek to remove severity and hardship in cases that severity and hardship do not pose a threat to the very survival of normal order. An example of this category is the concessions of shortening of Salat [prayer] by the traveler and so on.
The third category of Masalih [benefits] is Tahsiniyyah; they are in the nature of desirabilities. They seek to attain refinement and perfection in the customs and conduct of the people at all levels. Example of this category is the cleanliness of body and attire for the purpose of worship [Ibadah], the wearing of perfumes during Friday prayer (***).
WHY AN ISLAMIC STATE?
All mentioned above will remain theoretical so long as there is no worldly power responsible for enforcing Islamic Shari’ah Law by protecting its objectives and preventing rebellious behavior. This responsibility, in my humble understanding, can be discharged only through an agency invested with the powers of command [Amr] and prevention [Nahyu] according to the Qur’an and Sunnah: that is, the Islamic State in its true sense of the word, not a state inhabited predominantly or even entirely by Muslims but its laws and polities are founded or semi-founded with secular concepts which deny to Religion.
REFERENCE:
(*) Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Principle of Islamic Jurisprudence (Kuala Lumpur: Ilmiah Publishers SDN. BHD., Second Edition, 1998), p397.
(**) Professor Dr. Anwarullah, the Criminal Law of Islam (Kuala Lumpur: A.S. Noordeen, 1997), p31.
(***) Muhammad Al-Tahir Al-Misawi, Maqasid Al-Shari’ah Al-Islamiyah (Al-‘Amman: Dar al-Nafais, Second Edition, 2001), p299.
OBJECTIVES OF ISLAMIC SHARI’AH LAW:
Muslim scholars have classified the entire range of objectives [maqasid] and benefits [masalih] into three descending categories of importance: the essentials [dharuriyyat], the complementary [hajiyyat], and the desirable or the embellishments [tahsiniyyat]. The essential objectives of Sharia’ah are enumerated, based on the general understanding of the Qur’an and the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.), as five, namely: life, intellect, faith, lineage, and property. These are considered as absolute requirements to the survival and spiritual-well being of individuals, to the extent that their destruction or collapse would result chaos and the demise of normal order in society no matter it is Muslim or non-Muslim society (*).
Shari’ah, on the whole, seeks primarily to protect and promote these essential values and validates all measures necessary for their preservation and advancement. Jihad has thus been validated in order to protect religion, and qisas, to protect life. One may ask question why qisas could protect life, while you are killing another one instead of only one? The wisdom of qisas is to safeguard the blood of human being because the blood of human being is sacred in Islam. Allah says: [Whoever kills a person for other than manslaughter or corruption in the land, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoever saves the life of one person, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind] (Al-Qur’an: 5:32). In many places in different parts of the world conflict that leads to killing between the families or tribes happened sometimes because of the ignorance of this divine Law. If someone kills somebody, the family of the victim will put the law on their hands and take revenge even to the innocent members of the culprit one (**). Indeed, the Shari’ah takes affirmative and even punitive measures to protect and promote these values. Theft, adultery, and the drinking of alcohol are punishable offences as they pose a threat to the immunity of private property, the well-being of the family and the integrity of the human intellect, respectively. In an affirmative again, but at a different level, the Shari’ah oblige the rich to give Zakat for the needy to enrich them, It also encourages work and trading activities in order to enable the individual to earn living. Shari’ah prohibits Riba to prevent the rich to monopolize economy and market. Thus, theft does not have valid reasons for his actions. With regards to adultery, Shari’ah encourages individuals to get marry in many traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.). It is also mentioned in one of the Hadith of the Prophet “that the less dowry (Mahr) the marriage is, the more Barakah (blessings) in it” (*). Shari’ah also commands the pursuit of knowledge, in fact, the first revelation revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) is Iqra (read), so as to develop the intellectual well-being of individual to contribute to the advancement of sciences and civilization, in other words, to fulfill his mission as khalifah on earth.
The second category of Maqasid or Masalih, known as Hajiyyat [complementary benefits] are not in themselves a completely independent category. They seek to protect and promote the essential objective or Masalih [benefits], they are secondary capacity. In definition, Hajiyyat are defined as the benefits that seek to remove severity and hardship in cases that severity and hardship do not pose a threat to the very survival of normal order. An example of this category is the concessions of shortening of Salat [prayer] by the traveler and so on.
The third category of Masalih [benefits] is Tahsiniyyah; they are in the nature of desirabilities. They seek to attain refinement and perfection in the customs and conduct of the people at all levels. Example of this category is the cleanliness of body and attire for the purpose of worship [Ibadah], the wearing of perfumes during Friday prayer (***).
WHY AN ISLAMIC STATE?
All mentioned above will remain theoretical so long as there is no worldly power responsible for enforcing Islamic Shari’ah Law by protecting its objectives and preventing rebellious behavior. This responsibility, in my humble understanding, can be discharged only through an agency invested with the powers of command [Amr] and prevention [Nahyu] according to the Qur’an and Sunnah: that is, the Islamic State in its true sense of the word, not a state inhabited predominantly or even entirely by Muslims but its laws and polities are founded or semi-founded with secular concepts which deny to Religion.
REFERENCE:
(*) Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Principle of Islamic Jurisprudence (Kuala Lumpur: Ilmiah Publishers SDN. BHD., Second Edition, 1998), p397.
(**) Professor Dr. Anwarullah, the Criminal Law of Islam (Kuala Lumpur: A.S. Noordeen, 1997), p31.
(***) Muhammad Al-Tahir Al-Misawi, Maqasid Al-Shari’ah Al-Islamiyah (Al-‘Amman: Dar al-Nafais, Second Edition, 2001), p299.
No comments:
Post a Comment