27/04/2026
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๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฐ
Excerpt from "Outlines of Islamic Jurisprudence" by Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, (2019), Advance Legal Studies Institute.
Islamic law has no parallel in history. It has, indeed, been the most successful legal system, a system that has been practised for more than fourteen hundred years by many peoples and nations with widely differing cultures and local conditions. If the current population projections are to be believed, Islamic law will, within another hundred years, be practised by more than half the population of the world.
One reason why Islamic law has been so successful is that it deals with every conceivable relationship that human beings can establish. It deals with relationships that are established between individuals, between individuals and the community, between different communities, between the individual and the Creator and even between the community and the Creator. The law provides detailed rules for each of these areas, but above all this law provides an identity to Muslims in a way that no other religion or system can. The law influences and creates a common culture, a culture that may reflect different shades in different geographical regions, but is essentially the same at its core. A Muslim can comfortably associate with another Muslim, whatever his race or nationality. He will always feel the strength of the bond that ties them together, a bond that cannot be provided by a common nationality or race.
There is no denying the fact that it is Islamic law and its requirements that strengthen this culture and the Muslim brotherhood. Without the law, the driving forces of this culture will be considerably diluted. This has been witnessed in the last two hundred years when Islamic law was weakened by colonial powers almost to the extent of elimination, at least at the level of the state.
Islamic law is a living organism that cannot be eliminated. It has a central core that is indestructible. Even if the body of Islamic law or large parts of it are cut off or annihilated, the central life-giving core regenerates the body once again. This central core, as is obvious, is the Qur'ฤn itself. As long as it lives in the hearts of the Muslims and is recited, Islamic law will continue to rise and serve its purpose. This it will do despite all rivalry and opposition.
The biggest rival that Islamic law, or Islam if you like, is expected to face in the future is "secular humanism" with its appeal for universal brotherhood and human rights. Yet, secular humanism cannot influence culture the way Islamic law can. It yields, almost always, to nationality, race and even discrimination. Islamic law, on the other hand, eliminates nationalism, racism and all forms of discrimination. It is, perhaps, the only system that has a solution for such evils and has been very successful against them in many regions of the world throughout history.
The main difference between the two, however, is that Islamic law believes that human reason and human desires are not always right; they are in need of divine guidance that may sometimes go against human desires and even the ideas of good based on human reason. For example, Islamic law upholds that true distributive justice cannot be established unless usury and interest are eliminated completely from society. Secular humanism, based upon human reason and ideas of fairness and supported by powerful economic interests and the capitalist lobby, is not prepared to accept such an idea.
One has to admit that in strengthening Islamic culture, the criminal law of Islam has a minimal role to play, but it is this law that draws the maximum criticism and objections from different parts of the world and from various groups. The most powerful influence on Islamic culture is exercised by its various forms of worship and personal law. These laws operate even when Muslims are living as minorities in non-Muslim states.
In the coming years, we feel, that the influence of Islamic commercial law will increase in the area of commerce and finance. To some extent this can be seen already in the shape of Islamic banking and financial transactions. This development is probably seen, in certain quarters, as an attempt by the developing Muslim world to gain greater control of their resources, both material and financial. We feel, however, that this part of the law provides the real test case. It is likely to become the battleground where the systems of distributive justice offered by secular humanism and Islamic law will compete and try to achieve domination. Today, secular humanism is far ahead in this area, and Islamic law has a lot of ground to cover in terms of its implementation. Much will depend on how Muslims understand, interpret, organise and implement their law. The first thing to be done in this direction is to organise and restate Islamic law in a manner that it becomes easily accessible to readers. Indeed, we must do this for it is a duty that lies on the shoulders of every person who is part of the Muslim community.
