(Part 47)
The Ninth Topic:
Jurisprudence and Fulfilling the Legal Needs of the Societies
Social order and human relations in any society, which serve as a foundation for comfort, security, growth, and prosperity, are based on defining rights and obligations and respecting those items. Laws, governments, social institutions, and enforcement agencies are all tools and agents to establish the secure and progressive system which a human society need.
The essential regulation for a society to keep peace and order are of two kinds: divine laws and man-made laws. Human-made laws are those which are created by people according to the needs of the society. However, divine laws are the rulings which have been brought by prophets in the course of history for different nations. Those laws are revealed by the All-Wise Creator, taking into account all aspects of societal welfare and aiming solely for the benefit of humankind.
The Holy Qur’an enforces and emphasizsez the implementation of the Islamic laws and obedience to Allah (swt), His Messenger, and those who have the authority. Islam requires all Muslims in a community to follow and obey the Islamic ruler as part of their obedience to Allah (swt) and His Messenger (peace be upon him). Therefore, drafting divine laws within a government or adopting a particular school of jurisprudence falls within the responsibilities of those who have the authority. Those leaders, to fill legal gaps, may draw upon the rich Islamic jurisprudence of various schools, the jurisprudence that has for over a thousand years addressed the legislative needs of Islamic caliphates.
There is no unanimous agreement about legislating based on the Islamic jurisprudence, and this matter will now be further explained.
The First Speech: Legislating Jurisprudential Rulings
Legislating jurisprudential rulings refers to altering the existing rules of the Islamic jurisprudence into modern human-made laws, such as civil law, criminal law, commercial law, and so on, which are made through specific processes. Islam has provided a complete and comprehensive package of rules for human life and fulfills all the legal needs. Therefore, the jurisprudence of Islamic schools of thought can satisfy all these needs. In fact, the legislation of jurisprudential rulings has existed since early caliphates such as the Umayyads, Abbasids, and especially the Ottomans. Majallat al-Ahkam al-Adliyyah is an example of codified Islamic rulings that served as official regulations under the Ottoman Caliphate.
The difference between Islamic jurisprudence and secular laws is that secular law is straightforward, prescriptive, and often uniform. Meanwhile, codifying jurisprudential rulings because of their scope, diversity, and the presence of differing interpretations, on a single issue across one or multiple schools of thought is complicated. It requires a group of knowledgeable expertise in jurisprudence and law who, considering the needs of the time and place and the strength of evidence, select from the opinions of jurists. Nevertheless, those laws, are difficult to formulate, would then be presented to the Islamic government, freeing Muslims from reliance on secular laws. Codifying jurisprudential rulings also means pushing judges forward to follow specific jurisprudential rulings without the right to oppose.
Imitation in The Present Age
