No matter what needs arise in life, and no matter how much progress and development call for the promulgation of new laws to deal with the new developments, those efforts remain based on a fixed principle which Allah wants to remain in the Muslim Society, so that it continues to be unique and distinct from other societies.
Thus shari'ah is like a fence that permits the factors of development and progress to have their effect on the Muslim Society, but within the limits of that fence which protects the authentic, unique and distinct nature of that society and prevents it from being assimilated or lost.
One may ask, is it a good thing for the development of society to remain attached to a fixed principle when life is constantly developing and its requirements and relationships are constantly changing, when it needs new laws and systems to address the ever changing needs of life?
In order to answer this question we need to have a deep knowledge of that fixed principle and the extent to which it encompasses the basic issues of life. We must also compare the basics of the fixed principle, which produced the Muslim Society, and the basics of other principles which produced other human societies, in a precise and objective manner. If it is understood that the fixed principle of Islam are established in such a way as to allow stability and ongoing development, and that they are still ─ after fourteen hundred years ─ superior to all the systems ever known to mankind, then the fixed nature of these principle will be seen as an advantage that guarantees ongoing progress and development, far removed from the pursuit of whims and desires, and offers protection against being influenced by whims and desires, deviation and misguidance under the guise of progress and renewal.
Open to Growth And Development
This objective and precise comparison, governed by academic logic, between the social system in the true Muslim Society and other social systems, will show us the great truth that this fixed basis on which Islamic shari'ah is founded is flexible and is more able to respond to the needs of new development in human life than all the new systems that mankind has invented and dubbed "progressive" but which, when compared with the holistic principles of Islam, appear to be backward in general, with many contradictions, shortcomings, irrational elements and features that go against human nature.
This Islamic shari'ah that shaped Muslim society has many features that enabled the Muslim Society to grow and develop, and made it able to meet the ever-changing needs of mankind.
Some of the most important of these features are:
1. It is in accordance with the basic features of human nature, because it was created by Allah Who knows the nature of His creation and what is best suited to this nature.
2. It came in the form of universal holistic principles which can be implemented in detail with regard to ever-occurring minor issues and changing circumstances in detail with regard to ever-occurring minor issues and changing circumstances. So Zakah ─ for example ─ is a fixed and clearly-defined obligation, but the means of collecting it, calculating it and distributing it to those who are entitled to receive it are all things that are open to development in a manner that suits the time when it is collected and that best serves the interests of the poor.
This basic principle of Islamic shari'ah were perfect and progressive from the outset; they did not start out imperfect and gradually make up for their shortcomings; they were not backward and then tried to address the problem and become progressive. Islamic shariah is still able to achieve this perfection and be progressive whenever it has the opportunity to be implemented correctly.
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