Preservation, Updating, Dawah

Addressing Prophet Muhammad God Almighty has declared: We have sent you forth as a mercy to all mankind. (21:107). Similarly, the Quran states:

Blessed be He who has revealed Al-Furqan (the criterion), that is, the Quran, to His servant, so that he may be a warner to all mankind. (25:1)

In another chapter the Quran says: “We have sent you forth to all mankind, so that you may give them good news and warn them.” (34:28)

These passages in the Quran tell us that Prophet Muhammad was sent for all humanity and for all present and future generations. He was appointed by God Almighty to give a divine lead to all mankind, and this process has to be continued, generation after generation, till the last day of the world. During his lifetime he fulfilled this duty directly and, after his death, this task has to be continued indirectly through his Ummah. The task to be performed by later generations has been divided, basically, into three categories:

(a)     Process of Preservation,

(b)     Process of Updating,

(c)      Process of dawah

The goal of the first process is to keep the book brought by the Prophet intact in its original form, generation after generation. There must be no human interpolations and none of its parts should be destroyed.

The first major step in the process of preservation was undertaken, after the passing away of the Prophet, during the life of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr Siddiq. At that time tens of thousands of the companions of the Prophet had learnt the complete Quran by heart. It was thus completely preserved in human memory.

But as far as the writing of the Quran was concerned, it existed only in fragments on different kinds of writing materials. The first Caliphs, therefore, engaged scholars of the Quran from amongst the companions to prepare a single volume of the Quran. By employing the double-checking system, that is, the Quran as memorized was checked with the Quran in its written form and the Quran in written form was checked with the Quran preserved in human memory. Thus, the first Caliph prepared the first bound volume of the Quran, which served as the standard copy. All the later copies of the Quran were made from this original volume.

Thus, the Quran was preserved by following the double method—writing and memorizing, generation after generation, until it reached the age of the printing press, whereupon any possibility of human interpolation in the text was ruled out.

Contribution of Muhaddithin (Scholars of Hadith)

In addition to this, a huge number of eminent Muslim scholars arose among the first few generations of Islam to prepare a totally authentic and unparalleled historical record generally known as Hadith, Sirah and Maghazi. Within a surprisingly short period of time, they produced a vast and systematic body of literature that contains almost each word uttered by the Prophet, every action done by him, anything approved of or disapproved of by him, including other chronological details about his companions and the succeeding generations. This literature, as a whole, is rightly considered to be the second basic source of Islam after the Quran. The authentic part of Hadith literature coupled with the Quran, provides an all-inclusive text of Islamic ideology. Thus, by both the sources having been committed to writing, the original version of Islam has been so perfectly and permanently preserved, that until the coming of doomsday, anybody can at any time confirm how Islamic teachings were revealed from God, and then how they were explained and practiced by the Prophet and his companions.

Religious Institutions

Right from the days of the companions of the Prophet up till the present times the majority of Muslims, both rulers and ruled, have shown the greatest of interest in and concern about imparting a theoretical as well as a practical knowledge of Islam to their offspring. For the purpose of learning how to practise Islam in day-to-day life in accordance with the prophetic role model, numerous institutions came into existence. The religious schools of the traditional type were called a Madrasa, while the spiritual training centre was called a Takya. Starting in the remote past and continuing right up to the present day, a tremendous network of such religious institutions has proliferated all over the Muslim world, and in recent times has been marked with renewed vigour and vitality. Without doubt these institutions have been successful in at least one of their fundamental objectives, that is, to preserve and transmit the practical form or applied aspect of Islam from generation to generation. In the present century, the same purpose has also been achieved by a number of other religious organizations and movements. The movement of Tabligh may be cited here as an example.

Updating

The second point in this connection is the process of updating. The religion handed down by the Prophet remains one and the same. However, since the situations in human society are subject to change, it becomes essential that the original religion (al-din) could be reapplied to changing sets of circumstances. For instance, the shariah permitted the touching of leather socks with wet hands for purification instead of the normal washing of feet during ablution. Now when socks made of artificial fibers came to be used, the question arose as to whether doing masah (rubbing with water) was lawful or not. Then it became necessary to re-apply the old injunction to the new situation; after the exercise of ijtihad, permission was given to do masah on these socks.

In every age the necessity arises of re-applying divine injunctions. And this has happened in modern times on a large scale. In ancient times, war was a means of settling conflicts, but with the invention of the latest deadly weapons, war today serves no positive purpose. Now power lies in peace alone. Such is the state of affairs that the commands of war in Islam require a reapplication. In days gone by, kingship, whereby the ruler unilaterally possessed absolute power, was the order of the day. Now it is the age of democracy, which is another name for the politics of power sharing.

Changed situations in every age demand that efforts be made towards adaptation of the injunctions of Islam to meet new exigencies. This is the way that the Islamic shariah continues to be updated. This task of updating is performed through ijtihad, a process which, in any community, requires creative thinking. And the essential condition for creative thinking lies in people having full freedom of expression, including that of criticism. That is why Islam has accorded such freedom to everyone, an atmosphere in which everything and everyone is open to criticism that creativity is developed. Creative minds alone can perform the task of ijtihad at the highest level. Where there is no such open intellectual atmosphere, the process of mental development will come to a halt and that of updating as well.

Updating: Reapplication of Shariah

According to the Quran, there are two major parts of Islam—religion (din) and the law (Shariah). Din or al-din is basic and absolute, always remaining the same, without the slightest change. It is obligatory for all believers, whatever the circumstances, and entails belief in the One God, and the worship of Him alone. The Shariah, on the other hand, may differ, depending upon times and places.

On the subject of al-din the Quran has this to say: He has ordained for you the same din which He enjoined on Nuh (Noah) and which We have revealed to you and which we enjoined on Ibrahim (Abraham) and Isa (Jesus) (saying): Observe this din and be not divided therein. (42:13).

On the other hand, there is another verse of the Quran which tells us that the shariat given to different prophets were not always identical. The Quran states:

We have ordained a law (Shariah) and a path for each of you. And had God so willed He would have made you all a single community, but He wanted to try you by what He had given you. Vie with each other then in good works, for to God you shall all return and he will resolve for you your differences. (5:48)

The Shariah, or external structure of the commands of Islam, and the minhaj, or method varied from prophet to prophet, but only in a partial, not a total sense. It should be borne in mind also that such differences as these were related not to individual prophets but to the changed situations. The different circumstances of the times each prophet lived in were taken into account in the commands they were given in terms of the Shariah and minhaj. These variations were based on the practical wisdom rather than related to the person of a particular prophet. That is why this principle of Shariah is valid even today.

The principle of the change in situations governing partial and temporal alterations in the Shariah and minhaj is duly adopted. While in the past this change was carried out through the Prophet, modifications are now arrived at through ijtihad and carried into effect by the Islamic scholars.

That task in reality is not synonymous with bringing about a change in the shariah, but it is only a reapplication of the shariah in terms of altered circumstances. The task of effecting such reapplication, which was undertaken in the past, will in like manner, continue to be carried out in the future. It is this process of continual adjustment which helps to keep Islam permanently updated.

Dawah

The third requirement for this continuation of the Prophetic mission is dawah work. That is, to communicate the message of the Prophet to all people in all ages.

Though this dawah work is carried out by human beings, it is, in fact, a divine task. That is why the Quran has called it nusrat of God i.e., helping the Almighty (3:52).

According to the Quran, dawah work means to make oneself nasih and amin, that is, an honest and sincere well-wisher of all. (7:68)

In short, it is to become wholly honest in relation to God and to feel and evince total goodwill towards all of one’s fellow men. Dawah work can be properly performed only by meeting this standard. One important condition for the performance of dawah work is patience. This virtue was exemplified by the conduct of the early da‘is: “We will exercise patience regardless of the harm inflicted upon us.” (Quran, 14:12)

This verse of the Quran tells us of the character of the da‘i. The da‘i in relation to the mad’u adopts the attitude of patience unilaterally. He continues his process of da’wah work in a peaceful manner despite provocation from the other party. This is an extremely essential condition. If the da‘i is provoked by the behaviour of the madu, the normal atmosphere between da‘i and mad’u will be disturbed,—and the whole process of da’wah work will be ruined. It goes without saying that a conducive atmosphere is necessary for the successful carrying out of dawah action.

The most important aspect of this dawah work is that through it, God’s message continues to be communicated to people in every age. Another aspect, no less important, is that people from different spheres continue to enter the fold of Islam. It is like the introduction of new blood into the believer. In this way the Muslim community saves itself from the natural process of degeneration. This is the only way of keeping the Muslim community revitalized at all times. On the other hand, the more the true message of Islam spreads through the da’wah process around the globe, the more its textual, ideological and practical preservation is ensured, and the more Islam gains from the enlightenment and genius of freshly initiated minds—a factor which will keep its teachings updated for the generations to come.