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Talha777 · **Re: What things can be questioned in Islam? -** 11-04-2007

Quote:

If this is so, then why is it necessary to have interpretors, scholars, and others who serve the role of helping people to understand what is obviously unclear to many. If it were clear, I would think that there would be no questions and certainly no differences. But we do see differences in Isalm, be it question about who is to be in authority after Muhammed's (pbuh) pasing, or the various schools of law, there isn't even agreement about the beginning and end of Ramadan.

Opinion's come to the fore in Islam all the time. A recent thread on LI showed that just in discussing what was appropriate and not appropriate for a Muslim to do in relating to non-Muslim family members at Christmas time. And both were able to produce ahadeeth to back up their various opinions. So, how is it that one can say that Islam is not a religion of opinions?

Well I think the first thing you have to understand is that Islam is a divinely revealed religion, everything which we are taught and commanded to do in this religion is from Allah glorified and exalted is He and therefore cannot be questioned or doubted.

However, to truly understand the teachings of Islam, it requires a great deal of knowledge, knowledge which comes from an intensive study and memorization of the Holy Quran, and even more difficult, the sayings of the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa salam) which have been mass documented in thousands and thousands of reports compiled in dozens of different books.

So for the lay man, for the ordinary Muslim, it is beyond his capacity to know about the intricate details and rulings of Islam with regard to many issues, especially new and contemporary issues. Because Islam gives the guidelines to deal with contemporary issues, mastering these guidelines is the occupation of a certain class of Muslims known as the ulama (the learned teachers of Islam). This class of Muslims has been encouraged to emerge by the Holy Quran itself:

Nor should the Believers all go forth together: if a contingent from every expedition remained behind, they could devote themselves to studies in religion, and admonish the people when they return to them, that thus they (may learn) to guard themselves (against evil).
(At Tauba 9.122)

Islam with regard to its fundamental commandments and beliefs is not a religion of opinions. However, with regard to minor contemporary issues, Islam has only given some valuable guidelines and principles to deal with such issues, which is why there may be sometimes a difference of opinion among the learned Muslim scholars. Some of the guidelines to ensure there is no difference of opinion and that Muslims understand the teachings of their religion with regard to these tricky issues is as follows. 1) First the Muslims must consult the highest standard and source of guidance, Allah's Word (The Holy Quran), if they fail to get a specific answer therein, 2) then they consult the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa salam) who is another source of guidance - which is known as sunnah and hadith, 3) then if the answer still cannot be determined, than this is where man's judgment comes into play, but it must be based on the principles laid down in the these primary sources of divine guidance.

And so in short, sometimes difference of opinion in these trivial matters is allowed and does not damage the practice of Islam. One such dispute occured in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa salam) himself. He told them to hastily go on a certain expedition to a certain town, and to emphasize the urgency of getting there on time he instructed his followers to delay their offering of the obligatory prayer of asr until they reached the town. However, while they were on their way, the time for the obligatory prayer came, but they hadn't reached their destination yet. So a party of them decided to continue on, following strictly the instructions of the Prophet, but another party thought the Prophet was not issuing a religious commandment, but simply giving them a sense of the urgency, but that didn't mean they could ignore their religious obligation of offering the prayer on time. When this dispute was relayed back to the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa salam) he explained that both parties, though they had differed, were correct and no blame was upon them. So this shows that Islam even allows for slight difference of opinion as long as it is based on valid principles with regard to the teachings of Islam.

I hope that helped to answer your question.