Chapter 4: Sources of Shari'ah: The Qur'an

Question 1

What are the two primary sources of Islamic Law?

Answer 1

There are two primary sources of Islamic law: Quran and Sunnah.

Quran and Sunnah make up Shariah (pathway), the source of all principles of Islamic law.

Question 2

What is Al Qur’an?

Answer 2

Qur’an is derived from the Arabic word ‘qara’, which usually means ‘to read’ or ‘to recite.’

So, the word Quran, means “A book that is recited.”

The Qur’an is the sacred word of Allah (S.W.A.). It was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) by Jibreel A.S in the year 610 CE. Over the course of 23 years, the piece-wise revelations in the Qur’an touched upon every aspect of human life, including:

• Inheritance.
• Marriage, divorce.
• War & peace.
• Ties regulating the relations.
• Moral teachings.
• Punishments for offences.
• Laws of maintenance.

Reference Material

“It is the Quran which we have didvided into parts from time to time in order thou mightiest recite it to men at intervals: we hence revealed it by stages.” 

Surah Al-Isra | Verse 106
[17:106 Qur'an]

Tawatur

• The Holy Quran has been transmitted to us through a method known as tawatur, which involves its authentic transmission through both written text and oral recitation.

Ijaz

• Ijaz is the doctrine that asserts the Qur’an’s extraordinary nature, encompassing both its content and form, surpassing any human speech.

Verses of the Quran can be categorized into two groups:

- Muhkamat (explicit commands)
- Mutshabehat (non-explicit commands)

Types of Rulings in Islam:

• Obligatory (Fard)
• Recommended (Mustahab)
• Prohibited (Haram)
• Permitted (Halal)
• Disliked (Makrooh)

The rulings and doctorines written in the Qur’an are irrefutable, and they are the primary source of Shari’ah that all Muslims must adhere to.

The Qur’an carries precedence over all other sources of Shari’ah, such as Hadeeth and Sunnah.

Since the Qur’an cannot cover every single possible aspect of human life, it is important for Muslims to familiarize themselves with Hadeeth and Sunnah.

Question 3

How does the Qur’an compare to other Holy Books?

Answer 3

Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri outlines several criteria for verifying the authenticity of a revealed book, which includes examining the following:

• Genuineness
• Authenticity
• Integrity.

How does the Bible fail to meet the criteria mentioned above?

Exhibit A: Uncertainty with regards to the integrity of the Torah

Hazrat Luke is referred to as the human author of certain parts of the Scriptures, such as Injil, which implies that his scriptures certainly deviated from the word of God

There is no indication in the writings attributed to Hazrat Luke that he compiled the Bible on the instruction from God.

Instead, it suggests that Hazrat Luke collected and arranged material on his own, implying that the Bible is not purely the word of God according to this perspective.

It is evident that Hazrat Luke selectively compiled religious texts and synthesized a erroneous version of the Torah, thereby desecrating it.

Consequently, there exists no complete original version of the Bible in Greek or Hebrew.

Exhibit B: Language

The language of the Bible is uncertain, and debate about its original language has been ever-present.

• The original language of the written Injil (a term used for the Gospel in Islamic tradition) is said to be Greek.
• Historians have differing views on the Bible’s original language, with some suggesting it was not written during the era of Jesus because Aramic was the medium of communication during his time, and not Greek or Hebrew.
• Biblical scripts were rendered in various languages, including Early Hebrew, Square Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
• The English Bible, which is widely available today, was rendered between 1525-1611 and was not originally considered a translation but rather as the original language of the Bible.

Exhibit C: Disagreements within their own community

While Christian scholars continue to propogate this notion that the English Bible is an accurate original replica of its Hebrew predecessor, rebuttals to the former are on the rise:

"Yes, the Bible is not a revealed book it was compiled by the 
humans."

~ Dr. Graham Scroggie of the Mody Bible Institute Chicago

"Not so the New Testament... There is a condensation and editing, 
there is a choice, reproduction and witness. The Gospels have come 
through the mind of Church behind the authors"

~ Kenneth Cragg

"The history of the development of the New Testament Canon is 
the history of the process by which books written for the most part for 
other purposes and from other motives come to be given this unique 
status"

"This study has of necessity become one largely of internal criticism 
of the New Testament documents themselves, because such external 
evidence on matter of origin, authorship, sources and date as has come 
down from second and succeeding centuries is very meagre, and, when 
itself subjected to critical examination, turns out to be of dubious value,  
if not worthless."

"According to a report there are 50, 000 errors in the Bible. 
Jehovah's Witnesses frequently claim that the Bible contains "50,000 
errors". The claim by .Jehovah's Witnesses of 50,000 mistakes in the Bible can be traced back to their magazine Awake! (8 September
1957)."

~ Cambridge History of the Bible

John Mill in the Encyclopedia of Americana estimated that there
are 30,000 variations in the New Testament.

Why the Qur’an is an Authentic Text

Exhibit A: The Language of the Qur’an

The language of the Qur’an is Arabic, and has remained so throughout its revelation to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.)

Furthermore, Arabic has not been rendered obsolete. It is a language that is spoken throughout the world.

Moreover, the Qur’an was meticulously recorded by Prophet Muhammad’s (S.A.W.) scribes under his watchful eye. The Prophet dictated every word of the Qur’an by himself, and cross-referenced each record to eliminate uncertainties.

This is one of the many reasons as to why the Qur’an is absolute and has no alternate versions.

Thousands of Companions memorized the Qur’an alongside Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) , which further bolstered its integrity.

No other book has been memorized in such a way as Muslims memorize the Quran.

~ Yusuf Estates: A Christian priest that reverted to Islam.

During the Caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakr, the Qur’an was only compiled in
the supervision of the Hazrat Zaid bin Thabit and Hazrat Umar. They
collect verses after the shahdah or witness of two Companions, so that
every chance of mistake can be eradicated.

During the caliphate of Hazrat Usman, the entirety of the Muslim Ummah agreed on one dialect of the Qur’an: the Qureshi Dialect, the authenticity of which can be proven using carbon dating conducted by the University of Birmingham.

In fact, the original manuscript of the Qur’an can be found in the University’s museum.

Conclusions

The Quran is the most authentic book on face of earth. It has been
mentioned already that there are no different versions of the Quran.
All the Muslims have only one Quran and there is no difference of even
a single alphabet.