Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
12. The Relevance of the Quran and Sunnah in Modern Times
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contrary, the prerequisite for the enforcement of these commands
is that first of all they should be acceptable in society. As long as
they remain unacceptable they will remain in abeyance.
Then there is Minhaj, that is, method. In this field also there is
no clash between Islam and modern times. For, in social matters
Islam will adopt whatever method is worthy of being implemented
according to the spirit of the age. For instance, no attempt will be
made to impose the system of caliphate by force in a country which
has a democratic system. Rather by cooperating with the times,
peaceful Islamic dawah work will be performed as demonstrated in
the lives of the various prophets. In such matters, there is no single
method which emerged among the prophets or the pious caliphs.
We deduce an imporant principle from an incident in the life of the
Prophet of Islam. A person named Musaylama rose in Yaman, who
falsely claimed to be God’s prophet and to have been appointed as
co-prophet along with the Prophet Muhammad. Musaylama sent a
two-member delegation to Madinah to meet the Prophet of Islam
and ask him to acknowledge his prophethood. The Prophet asked
the delegates what opinion they had about Musaylema regarding
his claim to prophethood. They said that they believed in his claim.
At this the Prophet of Islam replied that, had there been no rule in
this world that envoys should not be harmed, he would have had
both of them killed. (
Seerat
ibn Hisham).
From this incident in the life of the Prophet of Islam, we learn a
very important principle of
shariah
. That is, if a principle is
generally accepted, at the international level, then the relevant
