Sources of Legislation

The main sources of religion are based on the Qur'an and Sunna which are the major sources of the evidences supporting legislations and judgments. Prophet Muhammad says: "I left among you the Qur'an and Sunna which will guide you. If you behold them, you will not go astray."

Qur'an and Sunna are the two major sources of legislature in Islam. Islamic rules concerning belief, legislation (Shari'ah) and morality are all based on these two sources.

Qur'an

The Qur'an is the word of Almighty Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad on intervals through the period of twenty three years which the prophet lived after the first revelation. It is kept in both written material and at the hearts and memory of Muslims generation after generation. It is the everlasting miracle and the in-elusive constitution of Islam which meets all the needs of humanity in both life and afterlife.

Almighty Allah says :

1–And the day when We shall raise up a witness in every nation against them from amony, themselves, We shall bring you as witness against these. And We have sent down upon you the Book (The Qur'an), elucidating everything, and a guidance, and a mercy, and good tidings to the surrenderers (Muslims).

(Al Nahl "The Bee") 89)The guidance of the Qur'an, is no doubt, the best of guidance for it is from Allah the Knowing and Judicious.

Almighty Allah says:

2 – "Truly this Qur'an guides to that which is most upright, and gives glad tidings to those who do righteous deeds that they will have a great wage". (Al- Israa "The Night Journey": 9) The Qur'an includes all what man needs in matters of belief, religion, behavior as well as the basics of social life like the dignity and freedom of man. It also includes the basics of equality and cooperation among people. The Holy Qur'an tells us many

stories of previous nations and how they treated the apostles. These stories work as warning and lessons to Muslims.

The Holy Qur'an also includes reference to several of cosmic facts as well as social and natural phenomena as being an evidence of Allah's power and the greatness of His creation, All of these facts mentioned in the

Qur'an coincide with the new scientific discoveries and laws. The Holy Qur'an is also a Book of religious guidance and a call to virtue. It motivates believers to abstain from doing bad deeds and warns those who

disobey Allah and who sin against His law. It also brings good tidings to those who do good and abstain from evil. It also reminds its readers of previous prophets and messages, in a way that shows the inter-relatedness of previous messages and the Oneness of Allah's revealed religion, It is based on the oneness of its source, Allah; and of emphasis on good work in life and on the punishment of sinners in the afterlife.

The Holy Qur'an has started a revolution in human knowledge, Books on the interpretation of the Qur'an and on matters of belief, morals, anthropology, legislature and sociology as on natural phenomena, have been

written since it was revealed to prophet Muhammad. Muslims has and me having pat interest in memorizing and reading The Qur'an since it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad. No word has been changed and Muslims at the present time read it exactly as Prophet Muhammad read it the first time it was revealed to him through Gibreel.The Qur'an is a miracle supporting Prophet Muhammad who challenged the non-believers of his time to come out with a book like it or even like a very small part of it. This challenge has not been met by the non believers till today, The language of the Qur'an is sublime and beyond any human capability. Anything other than the exact words of this holy Book is not Qur'an. Translation of the text of the Qur'an is not Qur'an-an. But if a translation of The Qur'an is considered an excellent and expressive one, it can be used to explain and understand matters of belief in Islam and the Islamic rules.

.AL-QURAN AT A GLANCE

What is the Quran ?

Al-Quran is the eternal miracle. It is the last Book of Allah sent for the guidance of humanity through the last Prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him (PBUH).

Revelation of the Quran:

The Quran was revealed piecemeal throughout a period of about 23 years. The Prophet received the first revelation in 6IOCE, in the Cave of Hira in the Mountain of Light (JabaleNoor),two and a half miles away from the House of Allah in the city of Makkah in Arabia.

The first revelation was the first five verses of Surah (chapter) Al-Alaq: “read in the name of your lord who created created man from a clot.read for your lord is most generous who teaches by me and of the pen,teaches man what he does not know (96:1-5)

The last revelation was the third verse of Surah Al-Maidah, which was sent down to theProphet in 632CE: "Today I perfected your religion for you and completed my favor to you and have chosen for you Al-Islam as your religion. " (5:3)

Surah Al-Fatiha (The Opening Chapter) was the first complete chapter to be revealed And Surah Asr was the last. Divisions of the Quran:

Al-Quran is divided into thirty equal divisions, which are called jzi : in Arabic. There are 114 chapters, of varying length . The longest chapter is Al-Baqarah consisting of 286 verses and the shortest chapter is

Al Kawthar consisting of three verses only.

The chapters revealed before the migration of the Prophet to Madina are called Makkan whereas those sent down after the migration are called Madinan.

Topics of the Chapters

Makkan chapters generally consist of brief sentences which are full of enthusiasm, poetical, lofty and brilliant . They stress the Unity and Majesty of Allah, the Most Exalted, Most High SWT),denounce idle worship,

promise paradise for the righteous and warn wrongdoers of their punishment in hellfire, confirm the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH), and remind humanity of the past prophets and saints of their time.

On the other hand, the Madinan chapters are lengthy and the verses are more prosaic They outline ritualistic aspects of Islam such as Zakah, Fasting, and Hajj, lay down moral and ethical codes, criminal laws, social,

economic, and state policies, give guidelines for foreign relations, rules and regulations for battle and the captives of war. They also contain descriptions of some of the early battles of lam, condemnation of

hypocrites, emphasis on the unified basic message of all the past prophets, and on that the process of prophethood and revelation is complete, so that no Prophet will come after Muhammad [PBUH], no new book will be revealed, and Allah's religion is complete through Al Quran.

So here Allah [SWT] exhorted the followers of truth to make Al-Quran as their only guide.

The Importance of the Quran

The Quran is considered the eternal miracle of Islam. It is the complete and best guide for living's life and seeking Allah's pleasure. The teachings of the Quran are universal, addressed to all people throughout

the world regardless of their creed and color. They enlighten man's soul, purify his orals, condemn all wrongs, order good deeds and call for the establishment of justice and fraternity rough obeying Allah as the supreme authority. The Quran provides the regulations that create the proper relations between man and Allah and man and man. It leads man to understand his role in this world, encourages him to think and ponder, and guides him in the usage of natural resources. In short, the Quran provides all the guidance that humanity needs. Without the guidance of the Quran, humanity would still be groping in the darkness of ignorance.

Compilation of the Quran

The Quran was revealed piecemeal,according to the needs of the time. Angel Jibrail [PBUH] brought it to the Prophet [PBUH] who would memorize it. Afterwards, it was preserved in two ways.

First, through memorization. There were a number of early Muslims who would memorize each revelation as soon as it was revealed and thus had the whole Quran memorized at the time of the final revelation. The tradition of memorizing the entire Quran still continues, and a per son who does so is called a Hafize Quran.

Second, the Quran was preserved through writing. Whenever any revelation took place, it was written at once on tablets, palm branches, shorn of leaves, or animal skin.

This was done primarily by Zaid bin Thabit, who was the main scribe out of the 42 scribes of the revelation. The Prophet [PBUH] set the order of the chapters under the guidance of Angel Jibrail [UH] and ordered his

companions to maintain that order. Abu Bakr, the first caliph of Islam, compiled the Quran, and Uthman, the third caliph, made numerous copies and sent one copy to each state capital.

Eternal Miracle

Al-Quran is the only ever living miracle. Today no other miracle of any prophet exists. According to a survey, the number of Huffaz: (persons who have memorized the whole Quran) today is more than 10 million.

Millions of editions and copies were printed and handwritten in almost every part of the world .They were also translated into most of the languages of mankind. During the period of over 1400 years since the Quran

was revealed not a single letter was changed This is one of the greatest miracles of the Quran .

Sunnah

It is all what the Prophet said, did, or attested, and it works as an explanation of the Qur'an.

Almighty Allah says:

1- "With plain proofs and al zubur and We have sent down to you the zikr that you may elucidate to the. people what has been sent down to them, and that perhaps they may reflect". (Al-Nahl "The Bee": 44)

Many of the details of religion have been pointed out by the Sunna, It tells us the member of prayers required a day and the quality of these prayers. Sunna also assigns the amount of the alms given to the poor and

needy as well as the rituals of fasting and pilgrimage. Sunna, sometimes comes out with new rules, revealed also from Allah like the illegality of marrying a woman and her aum at the same tinge, so as to keep strong the ties between relatives.

Almighty Allah says :

2 – "Neither does he speak out of whim. It is naught but a revelation inspired". (Al-Najam "The star" 3,4) Sunna includes the prophet's sayings and deeds a well as his performance of worships before Muslim Muslims were careful in conceiving every word from the apostle and following it, and to learn from his saying and deeds.

Almighty Allah says :

3 – " You have had a good example in Allah's messenger for whoever hopes for Allah and the last Day and mentions Allah frequently"'. (Al-Ahzab : 21) Muslims are required to accept Sunna as a source for legislation.

Almighty Allah says:

4- Whatever spoils given by Allah to His Messenger from townspeople belongs to Allah and to the Messenger-, and to the nearest of kin and to the orphans, an the indigent, and the wayfarer, so that it may not circulate amongst the rich of you. And what the Messenger gives you, take it then, but forsake what he forbid you. And venerate Allah, for He is stern in retributions (Al-Hash "Mustering": 7)

Almighty Allah also says:

5 – "Say: obey Allah and the Messenger. But if the turn away then Allah loves not the unbelievers". (Ala-Imran a The Family of Imran : 32)The prophet says in a Hadith :"I was given the Qur'an, and akin to it. If I

forbid you to do something do not do it and if I ask you to do something do it, as much as you can".

This Sunna was authenticated and recorded carefully by the companions of the prophet and the specialists after them. They revised and authenticated and documented everything about it, including the content and form as well as the narrators. They followed very strict rules in their work and they can be considered as more accurate than any of the modern methods adopted by modern critics. These books are known as books on the verification of the good and the bad. The Sunna is collected in many books. The most

reliable of these books are "Al-Bukhari's" collection of the Authentic Hadiths, and "Muslim's" similar book. Al Bukhari died in 256 (Hijra Calendar) and Muslim died in 261 (Hijra Calendar).

If the Qur'an and Sunna texts are limited their general principles can be used as the criteria for similar and parallel situations. This helps to put rules for human beings till the final day. So, did generations of well-educated and knowledgeable scholars of Islam. They recognized the general principles and the objectives of the rules and followed the spirit of these rules in their judgments of the new situations. They left a very good stock of books on Jurisprudence. This flexibility of the religion kept it alive and will keep it alive till the Day of Judgment.