These days, Muslims have begun to ask how to overcome problems associated with changes in life and say we have to re-interpret some verses in the Quran. This is due to wrong teaching and misunderstanding, and this can be corrected by re-educating the Muslims properly, not by following the West.
EVERY rightly guided Muslim holds that he is obliged to follow the law of Allah, namely the Syariah. It is the revealed law, the path shown by Allah through His messenger, Muhammad.
To the mind of an unbeliever, perhaps, it is rather strange that the Muslims today still want to maintain and follow the law that was revealed more than one thousand years ago.
The command to follow the law is evident in this Quranic verse: “We made for you a law, so follow it, and not the fancies of those who have no knowledge.”
The Quran, which was revealed to Muhammad, is something very important to every Muslim, not just personal to the Prophet. No Muslim has the authority to add anything to it, or to make alteration, or to omit anything from it. They have the duty and responsibility to preserve the Book for the guidance of all mankind till the end of the day.
They are also constantly reminded of what the Jews and the Christians had done to their holy books and warned not to do the same to the Quran — “Have you any hope that they will be true to you when a party of them used to listen to the Word of Allah, then used to change it, after they have understood it knowingly?” (2: 75).
Unless the person accepts the authority of the Quran he will never understand why the Muslims are like that. What a Muslim can do is to convince that person that the Quran is the word of God for all mankind.
In the beginning, the Meccan Arabs also refused to accept the teaching of Muhammad, preferring instead the way of life they inherited from their forefathers. Their attitude is condemned by the Quran: “And when it is said unto them: Follow that which Allah has revealed, they say: We follow that wherein we found our fathers. What! Even though their fathers were wholly unintelligent and had no guidance?” (2:170). This argument is still relevant now.
Professor Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, founder and ex-director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC), always reminds his students of the need to have a proper response and attitude towards the challenge of modernity.
Today, he said, among the Muslim intellectuals and leaders are those who are bringing the same problems as what the Christians are having. This is because there are a lot of changes happening, and the Muslims begin to ask how to overcome problems associated with those changes. That means, they say, we have to re-interpret some verses, otherwise the Muslims will refuse to accept the teaching of the Quran.
This is very dangerous and if we allow it to happen there will be no end to it.
When discussing the economic problems of the Muslims, for example, some Muslim scholars blame the Islamic law of inheritance, suggesting it to be changed to keep up with the time. But how are they going to change it when the Quran is very clear on it?
They, nevertheless, argued that in those days women did not work while today women work with some of them even getting higher income than their husbands, and because of that the provisions for inheritance should be made equal. This, they said, would help correct the economic imbalance among the Muslims.
We cannot simply accept the given reason without asking for proof that Islamic law of inheritance is the cause of Muslims’ economic problem. We are not going to accept it as if it is an undeniable fact, whereas it is just an unproven assumption.
Some others called upon the Muslims to look into the spirit of the verses about inheritance because now the situation has changed, and looking at the spirit of it now, they say, inheritance between male and female should be made equal.
That is not a correct argument, because regarding the verses of the Quran that are unambiguous one cannot say that one must look into the spirit of the matter. That is precisely the way Western people look at law, for their law is written by man and therefore they can always look into the spirit of the law.
Similarly, when confronted with the problem of women and gender equality, many Muslim thinkers do not realise that some of these problems are not actually relevant to the Muslims. Some of the problems about equality and demand for justice arose because of the early doctrines of Christianity on the position of women. The Muslims did not have such problems, but now they do have it, not due to something inherent in Islam, but due to the Muslims’ misunderstanding of their own religion.
Some of our modern ulama, according to al-Attas, are to be blamed for not teaching people properly, so sometimes there is injustice. They are often seen to be on the side of men in matters of law, for example in matters of divorce and polygamy, whereas women are not given clear understanding of their rights.
This is due to wrong teaching and misunderstanding, and this can be corrected by re-educating the Muslims properly, not by declaring equality and trying to follow the West. We can’t abolish any law that is clearly stated in the Quran.
This is, sadly, the state of affair of the Muslims, who have generally become ignorant and confused. As a result, false leaders thrive among them.
All these have to be changed, and in order to do that the Muslims have to look into themselves to find out what are they lacking, and whether they are thinking correctly. The real problem with the Muslims today is the corruption of knowledge which can be seen in the way we believe and the way we do things. At the same time our people are trying to follow the footsteps of the Western people including the way they observe religion.
We must be precise in our thinking, and be able to see how the logic goes. That is what we can learn from the science of kalam, which, unfortunately, people today do not care to learn any more. As a result they cannot think properly, nor can they argue or understand arguments.
-Taken From The Star 22/12/09-
Now this article is quite a read when you go through it, at first my thoughts go to like"what?" in utter confusion, then a "huh" in utter disbelief, then another "really?" in surprised, and finally a "ohh macam tu rupanya" in agreement.
Really you can't deny, that as much as you have to admitted it, there are still many Muslims whom are uneducated about the Islamic teachings, even more when it is about Syariah Court Law. Some Muslims even are afraid of it, who wouldn't when the law could decree that someone could be "stone to death" or "cut their hands off", what they don't understand in the first place is the reason why Islam chooses these methods and what effects it has towards the society as a whole. Really we shouldn't care how cruel the law is, who in the world ordered you to do the sin in the first place, if you're so afraid of it?
When a debate like this comes out, it is essential to understand that people don't actually understand what's going on. When you want to introduce something you firstly need to make sure the public understands what your doing, they need to be educated. In this type of motion about Syariah Court Law, the Muslims especially need to be educated about this movement.
"There is a problem in the solution", politicians used to say it. Everyone is afraid of a something they don't understand. If I would say that I was a cult that drank the blood during the seventh day of Ra. maybe you would be freak out. We, Muslims of all people need to be open minded on what Islam teaches us.
Understanding breeds empathy, and Empathy breeds tolerance, Tolerance breeds actions that would satisfy everyone.
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