Islam Rediscovered
15. Preservation, Updating, Da‘wah
~ 274 ~
The
Shariah
, or external structure of the commands
of Islam, and the
minhaj
, or method varied from
prophet to prophet, but only in a partial, not a total
sense. It should be borne in mind also that such
differences as these were related not to individual
prophets but to the changed situations. The
different circumstances of the times each prophet
lived in were taken into account in the commands
they were given in terms of the
Shariah
and
minhaj
.
These variations were based on the practical
wisdom rather than related to the person of a
particular prophet. That is why this principle of
Shariah
is valid even today.
The principle of the change in situations governing
partial and temporal alterations in the
Shariah
and
minhaj
is duly adopted. While in the past this
change was carried out through the Prophet,
modifications are now arrived at through
ijtihad
and
carried into effect by the Islamic scholars.
That task in reality is not synonymous with
bringing about a change in the
shariah
but it is only
a reapplication of the
shariah
in terms of altered
circumstances. The task of effecting such
