Voices of Islam (39 page)

Notwithstanding their many advantages, the codes discussed above were confi to personal law alone, which isolated the wider legacy of
fi h
in other areas. These codes also had a restrictive effect in that they confi

The
Shari‘a:
Law as the Way of God
179

judges and legal experts to specific provisions within
fiqh
law and minimized the need to maintain regular contact with the sources of
fiqh
in general. Fol- lowing a call by the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) for the com- pilation of a comprehensive encyclopedia of
fiqh,
the University of Damascus began such a project in 1956. The government of Egypt had already started a similar project in 1951, and Kuwait followed Egypt and Syria in 1971. The Kuwait
Encyclopedia of Islamic Law
(
al-Mawsu‘a al-Fiqhiyya
) is presently nearing completion after the publication of 45 volumes. Compilations such as this depart from the scholastic tendencies of traditional writings by treating all the major schools of
fiqh
strictly on the merits of their contributions to the reform effort. By their very terms of reference, the encyclopedia projects consolidate rather than reform existing
fi h
by providing the raw materials of reform.

Collective
ijtihad
continued as the principal method of arriving at con- sultative decisions through the parallel establishment of international Islamic law academies, which were made up of prominent jurists from various Islamic countries. The first Islamic law academy was the Islamic Research Academy (
Majma‘ al-Buhuth al-Islami
), which was opened at Al-Azhar University in Egypt in 1961. The Muslim World League (
al-Rabita al-‘Alam al-Islami
) subsequently inaugurated its own academy in Mecca and held its first session in 1978. Then the OIC created another academy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which consisted of Islamic law experts from the OIC member countries, and convened its first session in 1984. India and Pakistan also formed Islamic law academies. In addition, a number of international research institutes undertake research on Islamic legal subjects.

The OIC and Muslim World League academies have permanent head- quarters and hold periodical meetings that deliberate topical issues. Wide- ranging and important issues including artificial insemination, in vitro fertili- zation, organ transplants, the expropriation of private property for public purposes, issues of concern to marriage and divorce, and Islamic banking and finance have been submitted to these academies. Typically,
fatwas
are issued by the academies on such subjects through the practice of collective
ijtihad.

Whereas the Islamic law academies mentioned above are nongovernmental organizations, Pakistan gave the process of collective
fiqh
a state mandate by forming an Islamic Ideology Council at the government’s initiative. Malay- sia’s National Fatwa Council is a similar statutory body. The various states of Malaysia also maintain
fatwa
committees that aid the Muftis of each state in their deliberations.

The creation of self-contained Islamic universities also aided the develop- ment of new methods of teaching and scholarship. National Shari‘a faculties began to address the needs of students at undergraduate and higher levels of competence. Research-oriented scholarship in doctoral programs take into consideration not only the traditional subjects but also new areas such as the

180
Voices of Tradition

Islamic law of obligations, Islamic constitutional law (
al-fiqh al-dusturi
), Islamic economics, Islamic banking and finance, human rights studies, and so forth. Greater attention is now being paid not only to the methodologies of the traditional schools of Islamic law but also to works outside the estab- lished schools.

A more recent development along these lines is the introduction of Shari‘a advisory committees in major banks and financial institutions of the Islamic world, which are charged with the task of ensuring compliance with the Sha- ri‘a in banking operations. In addition, new
fatwa
collections, sometimes in several volumes, by prominent twentieth-century Muslim jurists and scholars are too numerous to name. Future collections are likely to feature landmark decisions of prominent courts and judges in a number of Muslim countries. For example, in 1967 the Supreme Court of Pakistan verified and expanded the kinds of divorce that can take place at the initiative of the wife. Similarly, in 1999 the Pakistan Federal Shari‘a Court decreed the elimination of usury (
riba
) from the banks and financial institutions of Pakistan.

The twentieth century marked a milestone in the history of Islamic legal thought. During this period, the scope of
fiqh
was no longer confined to per- sonal law but was extended to the sphere of public law and government. For the first time in Islamic history, Shari‘a and
ijtihad
became part of the agenda of modern parliaments and legislatures in Muslim countries. Given contin- ued public support for the Shari‘a and sustained progress in innovative thought and
ijtihad,
the twenty-fi century is likely to see more develop- ment of the Shari‘a not only in civil law and commercial transactions but also in civil litigation, laws of evidence, contracts, and constitutional law. As before, such changes are likely to be gradual and selective. The overall ten- dency of change will likely be toward the establishment of greater harmony between the Shari‘a and statutory legislation.

NOTES

1. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Shatibi,
   al-Muwafaqat fi usul al-ahkam,
   ed.
   

   M. Hasanayn Makhluf (Cairo: al-Matba‘a al-Salafi 1341/1922-3), Vol. 3, 219.
   

2. See Mohammad Hashim Kamali,
   Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence
   (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Ilmiah Publishers, 1998), 367; idem, ‘‘Issues in the Understand- ing of
   Jihad
   and
   Ijtihad,
   ’’
   Islamic Studies
   41 (2002), 623f; Taha Jabir al-‘Alwani, ‘‘Ijtihad,’’
   Occasional Papers
   (Herndon, Virginia: The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1993), 4.
   

3. See for the text of this hadith, Abu Dawud,
   Sunan Abi Dawud,
   Kitab al-Aqdiya, Bab Ijtihad al-Ra’y fi’l-Qada’ (Book of the Juridical Process, Chapter on Personal
   Ijtihad
   in Juridical Decisions).
   

4. See Jamal al-Banna,
   Nahwa Fiqh Jadid
   (Cairo: Dar al-Fikr al-Islami, 1996), 73.
   

   The
   Shari‘a:
   Law as the Way of God
   181
   

5. See for details on the movement toward a more goal-oriented
   ijtihad,
   M. H. Kamali, ‘‘Issues in the Legal Theory of
   Usul
   and Prospects for Reform,’’
   Islamic Stud- ies
   40 (2000), 5–23.
   

6. Albert Hourani,
   Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age
   (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 151.
   

7. Muhammad Rashid Rida,
   Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Hakim
   (also known as
   Tafsir al-Manar
   ), 4th edition (Cairo: Matba‘a al-Manar, 1373/1953-4), vol. 3, 30.
   

8. Muhammad Amin ibn ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abidin,
   Majmu‘a rasa’il Ibn ‘Abidin
   

   (Beirut: Dar Ihya’ al-turath al-‘Arabi, 1980), vol. I, 24.
   

9. See Shatibi,
   al-Muwafaqat,
   vol. 2, 385; see also Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya,
   I‘lam al-Muwaqqi‘in ‘an Rabb al-‘Alamin,
   edited by Muhammad Munir al-Dimashqi (Cairo: Idara al-Tiba‘a al-Muniriyya, n.d), vol. III, 92.
   

10. See for details M. H. Kamali
    , Freedom, Equality and Justice in Islam
    (Cam- bridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 2002).
    

11. The Qur’an (11:114) conveys the ruling on the daily prayers, and on Zakat (24:56). However, these verses only provide partial information, which is supple- mented by Hadith. The same is true for the rules of fasting in Ramadan; 2:185 con- veys the fi ruling but the earlier practice is indicated in Hadith. To give all the relevant evidence on these issues would require more detail than is practical in this chapter.
    

12. Yusuf al-Qaradawi,
    Madkhal li-Dirasat al-Shari‘a
    (Cairo: Maktaba Wahba, 1990), 131.
    

13. Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani,
    Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim
    (Beirut: al- Maktab al-Islami, 1407/1987), 6th edition, 322, hadith no. 1226.
    

14. Ibn Maja,
    Sunan Ibn Maja,
    edited by Muhammad Fu‘ad ‘Abd al-Baqi (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya, 1407/1987), hadith 4011.
    

15. Albani,
    Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim,
    16, hadith 34.
    

16. See Shatibi,
    al-Muwafaqat,
    vol. 4, 105 and Muhammad Tahir ibn ‘Ashur,
    

    Maqasid al-Shari‘a al-Islamiyya
    (Tunis: Matba‘a al-Istiqama, 1966), 15–16.
    

17. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya,
    I‘lam al-Muwaqqi‘in,
    vol. 4, 1; see also Muhammad Salam Madkur,
    Madkhal al-Fiqh al-Islami
    (Cairo: Dar al-Qawmiyya li’l-Tiba‘a wa’l- Nashr, 1384/1964), 85–86.
    

18. See for details, Mohammad Hashim Kamali,
    Equity and Fairness in Islam
    (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 2005), 112. This book is a study of equity and
    istihsan.
    

19. Ibn Qayyim,
    Hukmiyya fi al-siyasa al-shar‘iyya
    (Cairo: Mu’assasat al-‘Ara- biyya, 1380/1961), 16.
    

20. Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari,
    Tafsir al-Tabari
    (Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘rifa, 1400/1980), vol. 28, 43.
    

21. Sayyid Qutb,
    Fi Zilal al-Qur’an
    (Beirut: Dar al-Shuruq, 1397/1977), 5th edition, vol. 2, 689.
    

22. Ibn Maja,
    Sunan Ibn Maja,
    hadith 2340.
    

13
‌

A M
AN ON THE
R
OAD TO
G
OD

•

Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

I met a man on the road to God with the intense face of an owl—

A closeness of diamond-white feathers in the perfect space of an owl

Eyes of divine penetration burn all the way through to our souls And ignite us in a blaze of love— the secret grace of an owl

Now, the owl is not revered universally as being spiritually wise –

In some places
‘‘owl’’
means
‘‘stupid’’
—what abject disgrace for an owl!

I was walking in the woodsy hills above Bolinas Bay years ago

And a white owl landed high and stared at me—inspected by an ace of an owl!

I may be thinking of that owl when I say this man was owl-like to me— Maybe in Paradise they’re the same—interconnected birthplace of the owl

All I know is my heart opened in his gaze on the road to a Beloved God—

Love flooded and obliterated us both as God’s effect in place of an owl

Ameen—in the world-thick woods hearing the
Hu-Hu’s
1
of that voice so clear—

Feathers still tickle along my pulse-tingling arms—
unexpected embrace of an owl!

NOTE

1. The
Hu-Hu
sound of the owl in this poem recalls the Arabic word,
huwa,

‘‘He.’’ In Islam, the ultimate ‘‘He’’ is God.

14
‌

W
HAT
I
S
S
UNNI
I
SLAM
?

•

Feisal Abdul Rauf

INTRODUCTION

This chapter is intended as an introduction to Sunni thought and practice for contemporary readers. The reader might be a modern Muslim—Sunni or Shi‘a—seeking to better understand Sunni belief and theology, and specifi- cally as it pertains to the development of political thought—what became known as
siyasa shar‘iyya
and which today might more accurately be rendered ‘‘political science.’’ The reader may be interested in knowing how her ances- tors experienced their faith and contended over the issues that birthed the Sunni–Shi‘a divide, and the basis on which they forged the term
Sunni
in the first few centuries of Islamic history. The reader would then want to know which of the issues that led to this schism are relevant today and which are impediments that need revisiting in the struggle of Muslims to defi

themselves as a global
Umma
(community of believers) within a globalized world community.

By contrast, the reader might be a non-Muslim interested in understand- ing ‘‘Sunni Islam’’ in the contemporary context, hoping that reading this chapter will help to understand what lies behind the current tensions in Iraq between Sunnis, Shi‘as, and Kurds (notice the addition of a cultural or ethnic meaning here, with
Sunni
meaning in this case Sunni
Arabs
) and expecting that it will equip one to improve the situation on the ground. Or the reader might hope that in understanding the tension between the Saudis, who are Sunni, and the Iranians, who are Shi‘a, one would get a better sense of what American foreign policy vis-a`-vis relationships with Saudi Arabia and Iran entails.

Given the space constraints of this chapter, I shall limit myself to describing the factors that led to the rise of the
Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jama‘a
and the formalized content of their beliefs, bearing in mind that the typical

186
Voices of Tradition

twenty-first-century Sunni Muslim may neither personally be aware of many of these issues nor find them relevant to her worldview.

We will see, in fact, that the division between Sunnis and Shi‘as, as it devel- oped in the first three Muslim centuries, was driven by political struggles, even though it is often described as a difference in theology. Over the course of the centuries, both the political and the theological views of the opposing factions continued to develop and change, so that today the divide between Sunnis and Shi‘as is less a divide in theology, jurisprudence, or even political thought than one of hardened sociological identities independent of their original features. That is, today, Sunnis and Shi‘as do not necessarily hold the same set of beliefs or theologies that they held in the first generations nor are they divided by them. Modern Sunnis and Shi‘as overlap in their con- victions on nearly every position in the spectrum of theology, political thought, and law.

The reader should bear in mind that some key terms that Muslims now use to describe their faith were unfamiliar to the Prophet’s contemporaries and his immediate successors. The vast majority of modern Sunnis, in fact, are unaware that the phrase
Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jama‘a
did not exist during the time of the Prophet Muhammad or in the era just after him (the seventh cen- tury
CE
). What is more, even the core term
Sunna
took almost three centuries to acquire the signification that it carries today. Most contemporary Muslims are also not aware that the term evolved out of a fierce debate common to many faith traditions, that is, how to maintain the core principles of the reli- gion across different generations and contexts of time and culture. In the process, Muslims came to define the boundaries between what was deemed orthodox and what was heretical in the many opinions that were evolving among the new religion’s adherents.

The word
Sunni
comes from the Arabic word
sunna,
meaning ‘‘way,’’ ‘‘tradition,’’ or ‘‘custom.’’ In English, the term ‘‘Sunni Islam’’ refers to the larger of two groups of Muslims: the Sunnis, who represent approximately 85 percent of the global Muslim population, and the Shi‘a, who represent most of the remaining 15 percent. However, it is important to note that in Arabic, the terms ‘‘Sunni Islam’’ and ‘‘Shiite Islam’’ do not really exist. Classical Muslim thinkers rather speak of
Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jama‘a,
‘‘The
People
of Tradition and the Community of Believers’’—those called in En- glish ‘‘the Sunnis’’—and
Ahl al-Shi‘a,
‘‘The people of the Faction’’ of ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib, the fourth Caliph. The word
Sunni,
for Arabic speakers, most properly refers to a community of people, not to a type of religion. This dis- tinction is important because the term ‘‘Sunni Islam’’—an English construc- tion—suggests meanings not present in the Arabic. To English speakers, it refers to beliefs and practices of Sunnis that are both religious and nonreli- gious and further suggests that these practices originate in religious belief. However, for Muslims the term
Sunni,
as a term of identity, often refers to the history and politics of the Sunnis—aspects that may have little or nothing

What Is Sunni Islam?
187

to do with religious beliefs per se but which, as we will see in this chapter, shaped the nuances of Islamic thought that became associated with the Sunnis.

BIRTH OF THE SUNNI–SHI‘A DIVIDE

The first challenge that faced the nascent Muslim community after the Prophet’s death in the year 632
CE
was how to select a new leader, given that no one could truly and completely replace the Prophet. The Prophet’s fol- lowers, during his lifetime, had experienced his leadership as an organic whole: legislative, executive, and judicial functions, along with the primary and defi Prophetic role of a spiritual teacher and instructor, gathered into the one individuated person of the Prophet Muhammad. However, after his death, the community was faced with the challenge of maintaining the quality of spiritual and moral life that people experienced with the Prophet in the absence of his physical presence.

The Sunni–Shi‘a divide grew out of two distinct views of what qualifi

tions the leader of the community should have. Those who became known as Shi‘a maintained the vision of the political leader discharging the roles of religious and spiritual leader, lawgiver, and supreme judge. Those who became known as Sunnis accepted the great diffi ty in finding a single human being who was qualified—let alone skilled—in all leadership areas as was the Prophet. Thus, in Sunni circles these roles became firmly separated. By the end of the first three centuries of Islamic history, Sunnis accepted the
Caliphs
(literally, ‘‘successors’’ of the Prophet) as those who wielded just political authority. The role and title of
Imam,
religious leader, devolved upon the greatest theologians and scholars, especially the founders of the Sunni schools of law. Those who exercised legal authority as the interpreters of divine law became jurisconsults (
muftis
) and legal scholars (
faqihs
), who issued legal judgments, or judges (
qadis
). Leaders having purely spiritual authority became known as masters (
shaykhs
) of the spiritual ‘‘way’’ (
tariqa
) known as
tasawwuf
(Sufism). Each specialty developed its own body of study, knowledge, and expertise, with each affecting the development of the others.

Eventually, the group consisting of those who thought the political leader of the community should be required to fulfi political functions only and not presume religious, spiritual, theological, and legal qualifi began calling themselves the ‘‘People of the Tradition and the Community,’’
Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jama‘a.
This naming move was a political one, designed to fi this group’s views firmly at the center of tradition or societal precedent (that is, the
Sunna
of the community). In fact, Sunnis were no more tradi- tional or orthodox than were Shiites; the meanings of tradition and ortho- doxy in the area of political thought, the development of theology and law, and spiritual practice were still being worked out. Sunnis simply sought to

188
Voices of Tradition

establish their position over that of the Shi‘a and other groups as the more orthodox one.

The political struggle between those who became Sunnis and those who became Shi‘as took place so early in Islamic history that it shaped the devel- opment of the entire spectrum of Islamic thought, including its political theory, theology (
kalam
), sense of tradition, and understanding of the law. Even so fundamental a matter as which Hadith
1
texts were deemed authentic was shaped by this political struggle, so that even Hadith collections came to be divided along Sunni–Shi‘a lines.
2

One of the major factors contributing to the success of the Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jama‘a is the confl of its political dominance with a moderating viewpoint developed by its jurists. These jurists held the public interest (
mas- laha
) as the highest objective of Islamic law and therefore saw that—outside of a core set of theological beliefs and ritual practices, on which there was uni- versal consensus (
ijma‘
)—there was room for disagreement. By recognizing competing interpretations as equally valid and orthodox, they provided more leeway in the nonritual aspects of Islamic thought. Therefore, their moderat- ing position bridged certain political differences that had hitherto divided the community.

The factors precipitating the split between those who came to be called Sunnis and those who became Shi‘as may be classified roughly into three cat- egories: (1) political struggles, (2) legal questions (especially regarding the formation of the Hadith), and (3) theological concerns.