[4.59] O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination.
I've highlighted the crucial point. This whole argument rests upon authority. The question is, who has authority to make pronouncements such as this?
In interpreting the words of Allah, Muslims trust the Islamic scholars. They have studied the Qur'an and Sunnah in great detail, to the exclusion of anything else, it seems. However, an argument from authority proves nothing except the exponent's willingness to trust that authority, so for an outsider, such an argument is futile.
In Western society, to be convinced by a text or argument, the only judge is one's own mind. That may be influenced by many things, but ultimately we all have the freedom to make up our own minds. There is no "correct" interpretation of Shakespeare, for example - what you bring to a text will determine how you interpret it. In a similar way, since Islamic scholars are convinced of the truth of Islam, their interpretations will always head in that direction. They are not making any new discoveries in thinking; they are simply coming up with additional ways to support what they already believe. This does not represent progress, it is instead a prominent example of intellectual stagnation.
Hi Callum,
I hope you don't mind that I've moved your post to a sperate thread here; the other thread has been derailed enough as it is
About the topic,
First of all, I would just like to point out a misunderstanding of the verse. This verse is not referring to the argument from authority at all, it is referring to obeying the government and political leadership of the Muslims. As the Prophet Muhammad pbuh made it clear, Yield obedience to my successors, even if he is a black ethiopian slave. So this verse would be more relevant in a discussion on civil disobedience, not logical argumentation.
On the subject of the argument from authority, it should be noted that this is only a fallacy when the one referenced is not an authority on the subject. So in issues of Islamic law, quoting the Qur'an or the Ahadith or the understanding of the companions, is not fallacious, because they are the authority. As for believing Islam is the truth, no one ever said that, "islam is true because Shaykh so-and-so said so." Everyone must accept the truth for themselves, but once it comes to matters of Islam, then one can consult the authorities on the religion.
So for interpreting the Qur'an, there is a proper methodology. First we see how the Qur'an explains itself, then we see how the Qur'anic teachings were implemented and explained by the Prophet Muhammad pbuh and then we see how they were understood by the direct recipients of the message, because their understanding was the correct understanding endorsed by the Prophet.
Peace!
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Surely I was sent to perfect the qualities of righteous character" [Musnad Ahmad, Muwatta Mâlik]
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