Islam Rediscovered
13. The Shariah and Its Application
~ 244 ~
Quran was a book of an ephemeral nature. What is
meant is that the initial nature of a command
should be properly understood in order to discover
its vaster application, so that it may be correctly
applied at a later date.
Most of the injunctions in the Quran are brief in
nature. For instance, the Quran states:
Believers, if an evildoer brings you a piece of
news, inquire first into its truth, lest you
should wrong others unwittingly and repent
of what you have done (49:6).
According to the traditions of the causes of
revelation this verse was revealed following a
particular incident. But the verse neither mentions
that incident nor the people involved in it. In order,
therefore, to understand the actual meaning and
message of the verse, it is essential to study it in the
light of that particular incident—the cause of the
revelation.
In this way, that incident mentioned in detail in
traditions gives us the knowledge of the
background in the light of which we can properly
