Objectives of Shariah A Quranic Perspective

Objectives of Shariah: A Quranic Perspective

By Nouman Ali Khan

Opening and Greetings

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Before I begin, can you give me a time limit? 20 minutes? Okay, excellent.

(All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and prayers and peace be upon the noblest of prophets and messengers, and upon his family and all his companions)

(Then, as for what follows, I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed)

(Indeed, Allah orders you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing) - Quran 4:58

(My Lord, expand for me my breast and ease for me my task and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech) - Quran 20:25-28

(Then, as for what follows)

Appreciation for ICNA Volunteers

I'd first like to take a minute or two and express my appreciation for the effort that all of the volunteers and all of the workers at this wonderful organization at ICNA have made to make this conference possible. Those of you that were here last year are seeing an unprecedented amount of growth and that's from the blessing of Allah. A lot of times these people's efforts and them running around and making 20 calls about where I am or, you know, whether I'm on stage or not, etc. goes unappreciated. And it's really something that we all have to be grateful for. So, inshallah ta'ala, let's all give them a round of applause and appreciate what they're doing for us.

The Distinction Between Scholars and Da'is

Acknowledging Limitations

Secondly, inshallah, I want to make an admission and that is that the topic that was given to me, the objectives of shari'ah, a Qur'anic perspective, is beyond my scope. And I want to make that clear and not out of humility, but it's something that I think Muslims need to be very clear and distinct about. A lot of times in the Muslim community, especially in a community that's trying to find itself, and we're really trying to figure this religion out for ourselves, almost afresh, in this modern setting and in this very American setting, there's a lot of intermixing between different ideas and different strata.

Traditional Distinctions

What I mean by that is, traditionally there has been a distinction between scholars and da'is. People of knowledge, people of scholarship, and people that invite people to Islam, they give reminder, they give counsel, and they speak in the language of the people. These are two different categories of people.

But in our times, more and more, these two categories have mixed in with each other. What I mean by a scholar, I need to tell you, is someone who's really literally given up their life to study, to sit at the helm of other scholars, to research, and to really dedicate themselves to specialize in an area within the large ocean of Islamic studies, to become a resource in that area. Sharia is one of those many areas, and within Sharia you have several seas and oceans running.

The Role of a Da'i

And then you have people like myself, and again, I'm not saying this out of humility, this is a reality check. There are people like me who claim to be da'is, who may know some things that we have learned from scholars, but by no stretch of the imagination, or reality, are scholars ourselves. We are da'is.

And what a scholar talks about, and the subjects and the issues that a scholar deals with, are at a different level. And what a da'i does is completely different. It really is, it's completely different.

Understanding Limitations

A da'i's job is to take from what the scholars say, and then reiterate that, and communicate that to the masses of people, while, and here's the important thing, while understanding their limits. A da'i needs to understand his or her limits. There are certain areas within Islamic studies that is, this is personally my conviction, and I'm wanting to share it with you, at least this can give rise to a healthy conversation, insha'Allah ta'ala.

It's my conviction, that a da'i should not enter into discourse about scholarly issues that lead to conflict, or that lead to very intense differences of opinion, that are really only suitable for scholars, that are beyond the scope of someone like myself.

A Practical Example

I'll give you a practical example, so you know what I'm talking about, because it seems like I'm talking in theory. Somebody came up to me today and said, brother, I have a mohawk, is that halal? Because my friends tell me it's haram.

I said, I don't know. He said, come on, what do you think? I said, I think something, but I won't tell you. He's like, so you're saying it's haram, right? I said, I didn't say that.

I would never say that. Why won't you tell me? Because I'm not a scholar, ask a faqih. That's not my field.

And even if I went to ask a scholar for you, I wouldn't tell you. Because fiqh issues, it's dangerous when people who aren't qualified start talking about them. It just gets dangerous.

The Danger of Unqualified Opinions

And we start, I mean, I've seen like 18-year-old kids at MSA's pass fatawa about what's halal and what's haram. Fatawa about the length of people's beards, or whatever else, or whatever kind of food they're eating. And these are issues that people that study the same issue for 20 years, still don't say with absolute certainty, he eats this way or the other way.

Watch yourself. Understand your restrictions, your limitations. This is why it's really important for the da'i to be connected with scholars. So when people ask a question that's literally above your pay grade, you say, talk to him. Here's a number, go ask them. Here's a council, here's a board, here's a resource, talk to them.

The Proper Role of a Da'i

What Can a Da'i Discuss?

But then the question arises, what does the da'i talk about? If the da'i can't talk about this stuff, then what's he gonna talk about? There is plenty to talk about. The fundamentals of this religion, the fundamentals of this religion that are supposed to be communicated to non-Muslims and to Muslims alike. This is the job of the da'i.

Reminder is the job of the da'i. To instill in themselves and into others a reminder of Allah's authority over us, a reminder of the jannah that awaits, a reminder of sticking to justice no matter what, a reminder to be good to your family, a reminder to fulfill the rights of your neighbor. You don't need a scholar for that, you need a da'i for that.

That's not necessarily a scholarly endeavor. And you don't need to be a scholar to address those fundamentals. So we need to first of all, define very clearly what a da'i is and what a scholar is.

Misunderstanding Leadership

And you know what's happened nowadays? Let me tell you your definition. For many of you, you know what your definition is? Your definition is, if the guy speaks well and cracks a couple of jokes and has a lot of hits on YouTube, he must be a sheikh. If a few Arabic words come out of his mouth, he's gotta be a alim, he's gotta be a scholar, he's gotta be a faqih.

It's not like that. We have to have a more refined and more mature understanding of our leadership. Da'is are a part of our leadership but they're not at the top of this leadership chain.

There are scholars above them. And we need to respect these lines.

The Dangers of Elevation

And you know what happens? Here's the danger that has come before us and might even affect us. The danger is when we start elevating our da'is so much that they start thinking that they're scholars. They start believing that really they're qualified to speak about issues that they shouldn't be opening their mouth about. And man, what that leads to, you probably have seen at your local masjid.

What that leads to. What kinds of drama ensues after that. And then when a da'i becomes like that and now people come to us and ask them what's halal and haram and they get used to. They get kind of a high in answering those kinds of questions. And then a scholar comes along, they say, well that guy, you know, he's a little this way or the other. And almost a competition ensues within those who represent, that are ambassadors of Islam.

It's a very sick thing that can happen in a Muslim community where speakers are bad-mouthing other speakers because they feel like it's taken away from their market share. Subhanallah. And that happens. It's happening in the Muslim world. And don't pretend it's not happening here.

The Objectives of Shari'ah: A Da'wah Perspective

Introduction to the Topic

My topic was the larger objective of shari'ah. And I started by saying, when it comes to shari'ah, I have to learn how to implement it in my life, learning it from scholars. But to talk about shari'ah, you better learn to listen to a scholar. But on that note, in a general sense, in a da'wah sense, I want to share with you two things.

Two places, both of them come from the same surah. This surah, by the way, subhanallah, Allah عز وجل revealed this beautiful surah, and it gives us a very comprehensive picture of social ethics, social norms, social values. And this is surah an-Nisa.

The Beauty of Surah An-Nisa

Surah an-Nisa is a very beautiful surah and delivering to us anecdotes, wisdoms, counsel, advice, laws that are the foundation of a healthy Muslim community. And within that framework,Allah عز وجل revealed a lot of laws about inheritance. I mean, really complex laws about inheritance.

If you even read a translation of the Qur'an, you're gonna read it four or five times on certain ayat and still say, what's going on here? I wrote down all the proportion and it still doesn't add up to me. Because this is complicated stuff. At the end of all of that, Allah says something very profound.

Allah's Purpose in Revealing Law

His concluding remarks. That's what I want to share with you. Allah عز وجل says:

(Allah wants to make clear to you [the lawful from the unlawful] and guide you to the [good] practices of those before you and to accept your repentance) - Quran 4:26

Allah only intends to clarify for all of you. And to guide you to the path of those who came, the legacies of those who came before you and accept your repentance. Listen to this very carefully.

A Conversation with a Pastor

In the Christian tradition, there's this concept. I had a chance to take a flight with a pastor recently and we just got into a conversation because he saw me reciting Qur'an in the plane. You might think that's a bad idea but I make it a habit. So I do that and usually I try to review whatever Qur'an I memorize on the plane. But what ends up happening is before I get past the first page, I pass out. And then I wake up after landing. But this guy didn't let me go to sleep.

He goes, what you got there? This was a flight from Houston to New York so hence the accent. What you got there? I was like, the word of God. He had the Bible in his hand. He goes, me too. And I said, tell me about it. Let's talk.

I spent a three-hour flight just asking him questions. He got really annoyed with me at some points but I try to keep it very friendly. And I just asked him, what happened to all that law? You guys have a lot of law in your book.

The Purpose of Divine Law

You know, what's the point of it? He goes, well the point of it was to cleanse us. These are his words, not mine. The point of it was to cleanse us. But now that the blood of Jesus has been spilled, the blood of Jesus cleanses us so the law is no longer what cleanses us. Now there may be different denominations of Christianity. I acknowledge that. But this was the particular brand that I was speaking to.