Islam Rediscovered
13. The Shariah and Its Application
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which of the commands is to be applied to any
given situation and which of the commands is to be
considered abrogated for the time being. This
nature of the command was earlier determined
directly by revelation, while now this has to be
determined by the exercise of
ijtihad
.
Let’s take up another aspect of this subject. The
idolaters were there in Makkah when the Prophet
and his companions lived in the city, and it was the
same idolaters who lived in Makkah after the
migration of the Prophet up until the conquest of
Madinah.
But the policy for dealing with them changed in the
second of these two phases. History shows that the
command given in regard to these idolaters in the
first phase was simply to warn them by adopting
peaceful means: “Arise and warn, call them to the
path of their Lord with wisdom.” According to this
injunction, the Prophet and his companions used to
visit those people in Makkah and recite to them the
verses of
da’wah
from the Quran. They used to
address their gatherings in these words: “Say there
is no God but God and you will earn salvation.”
