By Cyril Anderson

Part 2 of 4

The purpose of the Divine law is to optimize, in an overall global sense, the lives of humans and to allow the advancement, both materially and spiritually of humanity.  The idea is that when people follow these laws, the best possible state of affairs will be brought into effect, where, on average, everyone is happy and in the best state of affairs, psychologically, physically, mentally, and socially, with positive factors maximized and negative factors minimized.  Humans differ from inanimate objects, and from living creatures other than man, in that humans have free will, the power to choose, within the constraints under which we live out our physical existence, the course of the actions we undertake.  Inanimate objects and other animals are constrained by their creator to follow natural laws.  As such, they follow optimal paths through this universe according to the natural principles assigned to them.  This is seen in the universal principle of least action, a reformulation of physics, and by extension, of other sciences, that recognizes that all natural laws can be expressed as the optimization of some physical quantity.  Light takes the path of least time between any two points.  Soap bubbles form so as to minimize surface area.  Many other examples exist.  Humans are different.  They are not forced to follow an optimal path, but are shown the right way through their inner conscience and reason, of which they are reminded by prophets and messengers, and by thinkers who have reflected carefully on the necessary principles, and are then given the choice to follow the optimal path.

Free will is a gift given by God to humanity.  But we need to restrict ourselves voluntarily in order to respect the freedom of others.  We are free, but not to the extent that we are allowed to do harm to others or to society, or to humanity as a whole.  If we go out of bounds and oppress others, then we disturb the overall balance and move away from optimal conditions.  And this has consequences beyond human society as well.  Everything in the world, everything in the universe, is connected.  Inanimate objects and animals are constrained by physical law to trace out what should be an optimal path.  But because, we, who have free will to choose our actions, are connected to the earth and the universe as a whole, our sub optimal behavior disturbs the harmony of the universe as a whole.  This becomes more and more relevant the more we develop, and the more we become powerful over the universe with scientific and technological progress.  While this is a little abstract, the idea may be seen more concretely in the contemporary example of environmental degradation.  Divine law does not require that we do not actively pursue technological and economic progress to raise the level of humanity.  However, unprincipled and uncontrolled development leads to imbalance and causes harm in the earth, imbalance that can eventually return to cause suffering to humans.

There is therefore a great need for proper leadership to guide people to the right way of conduct.  Needed are pure hearted guides, since pure hearts allow one’s reason to see most clearly the right way in given situations, much as a polished window allows one to see much more clearly than one that is caked with dirt and grime.  Thankfully for humanity, according to Islam, such guides have been sent to us who were purified from spiritual uncleanness, allowing them to guide by their words and ideal example.  These are the prophets and imams sent to humanity as guidance.  Their leadership is the best, and most sure and effective.  In the absence of direct guidance by such a figure, the best guide for the ethical code to follow are those who are the purest of heart among people, and who have the best knowledge of what the prophets and imams that have come to humanity have taught.

Ijtihad: the engine of revitalization

 A key feature of the shariah is the adaptiveness of the Islamic religious law to new situations.  This is the way the law stays vibrant and alive.  As time goes by, the economic, political, and technological infrastructure of life evolves.  Islamic law recognizes this reality.  Contrary to popular belief, the shariah is not frozen in place in the 7^th century, unchanged and stagnant from the time when the prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hf) walked the earth.  While the guiding, base principles on which the laws are held to be based are timeless and constant, based upon the Creator’s insight into essential human nature, the details of how these principles are expressed in the actual code of the law depend to a certain extent on the details of the age in which one lives.  In Islam, it is the duty of the religious scholars, the ulema, who are responsible for determining the application of the law to the contemporary environment, to keep up with developments in science, technology so as to be better informed of the needs and reality of the people so as to better understand the proper judgments.  A Muslim is not required to shun science or technology.  On the contrary, the height of Islamic civilization represented a bright light of human culture in the twilight of the dark ages, producing an explosion of scientific knowledge and progress whose offshoots, when transplanted to Medieval Europe, germinated to give rise to the Renaissance.  True Muslims are not afraid of “modernity” if what is meant by modernity is simply the advance of science and technology.  True Muslims are not afraid of “The West” because the Islamic culture forms, along with the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian cultures, one of the three great roots from which the West grew strong.  What Muslims, and other people of faith are afraid of is the unbridled, unprincipled use of technology and science, and the (false) belief that religion and belief in God and in absolute notions of Truth and morality are incompatible with the modern world.  

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