Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
12. The Relevance of the Quran and Sunnah in Modern Times
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In this verse “burden” and “shackles” mean human addition. It
is these human additions which make a religion irrelevant in
succeeding ages. When a religion is purified of human additions,
the question of irrelevance with the time automatically vanishes.
Since Islam is free from all these additions, there is no possibility of
Islam being irrelevant at any time or in any situation. In actual fact
the commands given in Islam are totally timeless in character. As
the Quran says:
He has prescribed for you the religion which He
enjoined on Noah, and which We have revealed to you,
and which We enjoined on Ibrahim and Moses and
Jesus, saying, ‘Remain steadfast in obedience, and be
not divided therein. (42:13)
In this verse the believers are commanded to follow those
teachings of religion which were given to all prophets. These are:
monotheism, sincerity, good virtues, character, and good deeds for
the Hereafter. We learn from this verse that there are four parts of
religious teachings sent down by God. One part encompasses all
that is common to all the prophets sent to any part of the world.
These teachings do not change with the changing times. These are
the basic essence of religion. If we have to follow this real part of
religion, the question of relevance or irrelevance does not arise,
whatever the age. For its tenets are based on eternal values.
Another part of God’s religion covers Shariah (Law) and Minhaj
(Method) (see the Quran, 5:48). In this second part of the
teachings some concessions had to be made according to the age
