Islam Rediscovered
13. The Shariah and Its Application
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has remained in the hands of later Muslim
generations till today.
By the very law of nature, circumstances keep
changing, and this fact must be borne in mind that
the divine book we possess comprised of
revelations made at different times and collected
together in the form of the Quran. These scriptures
contain various commands, injunctions pertaining
to all kinds of situations—all collected together in
one book. Then how are Muslims of later times
supposed to receive guidance from the Quran?
The answer is that the study of Quranic verses
should be done in the light of the causes of
revelation (
asbabal-nuzul
). That is, first of all, those
in search of guidance should determine objectively
the state of affairs in a given situation, then strive to
find the verse or verses revealed in a similar
situation in the first phase of Islam. And when that
injunction is found, it should be applied to the
present situation. That is, the purpose served by the
immediate revelation in the first phase, will now be
served by pinpointing
similarity
between the past
and the present situations.
