PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7 | PART 8

To be honest, Shariah has helped us a lot. Before Shariah, we had gamblers, alcoholics and prostitutes. Now these have been banished and new learning centers have opened where we can learn things like business skills. Men can't go around beating their wives - thanks to Shariah, they can't now. — Christian woman in Nigeria, 2007 [More about this in Part 8]

ISLAMIC law has no parallel in history. It has been the most successful legal system in the world. A system in practice, though sometimes inadequately, for over 1400 years by people of diverse cultures and ethnicities. The Muslim civilization has been governed by Shariah right from when Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) established the first Islamic state in Madinah in 622 CE. Though colonial powers in the last century or so weakened it considerably, the Shariah has never ceased to be an integral part of Muslim societies.

Shariah law’s record history renders void any attempt at comparing it with other systems of law, simply because there hasn’t been a system that has stood the test of time like the Shariah has. Muslims ruled, with this system, over Muslims and non-Muslims, whites and blacks, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, and men and women for over a MILLENIUM! And that is a lot. An unjust system cannot hold on for so long. This should put to rest any delusion that Islamic law is backward and cannot be relevant in modern society. The flexibility of the Shariah law and how it addresses modern challenges has been explained in the Second Part of this series.

But what impact did it have on societies? To answer that, let’s take a short ride from the 7^th to the 21^st Century and stop over at some notable examples.

Prophet’s era

Just what evil practice did not exist in Pre-Islamic Arabia? Idolatry, superstition, tribal wars, burying females alive, prostitution, alcoholism, filthy rituals, unethical marriages, and the list goes on.

Twenty three years, yes 23 years, and all the above evils were eradicated. I mean E.R.A.D.I.C.A.T.E.D. Almost nil. They were replaced by virtues like monotheism, brotherhood, charity, lawful marriage, proper rights and responsibilities for men and women, and so on.

In which society have warring tribes, fighting each other for over a thousand years, turned into brothers-in-faith? In which country, when a law was passed, have its people rushed to implement it? (When alcohol was declared Haraam, Madinah’s streets overflowed with alcohol – Muslim businessmen had emptied it all.) Which leader, the Prophet of God in this case, has sat with his people in a manner that it wouldn’t be possible to recognize who the leader among them was? In which community has a man offered to divide his property into half for a stranger who merely shared his faith? In which family have parents put their children to bed hungry only to feed a poor guest?

Islam transformed the individual and the society.

The Shariah was implemented in the best manner humanly possible during the Prophet’s time. This has been confirmed in the Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). It cannot be hard to understand why: the society was after all nurtured under the leadership of the Prophet himself. The community had all types of problems – internal and external and all types of people – righteous, sinners, hypocrites, and disbelievers. But it was how each situation was dealt with in the Prophet’s time that made all the difference.

As a result, the early generation of Muslims became the role model for all Muslim generations to come. Conversely, Muslim societies after that era will necessarily have shortcomings in their application of the Shariah – this must be kept in mind.

Companions’ era

After the death of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) came the period of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs – Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali (who were all close Companions of the Prophet). Volumes^[i] have been written about their character, justice, simplicity and asceticism. Despite the immense responsibility (and power) they had, they never considered themselves more than simple slaves of Allah. For example, Abu Bakr, the First Caliph, would go secretly every night to an old, blind woman’s house to sweep the floor and cook her food.

When he was elected caliph by the general consent of Muslims, Abu Bakr said in his inaugural address:

“O people, I have indeed been appointed over you, though I am not the best among you. If I do well, then help me; and if I act wrongly, then correct me. […] Obey me so long as I obey Allah and His Messenger. And if I disobey Allah and His Messenger, then I have no right to your obedience.”^[ii]

Leadership was a responsibility the Caliphs knew they will be held accountable for on the Day of Judgment. The pains they took to discharge their duty cannot be overemphasized.

“If a dog dies hungry on the banks of the River Euphrates, Umar will be responsible for dereliction of duty,” Umar bin al-Khattab, the Second Caliph, is reported to have said. And “to ensure that nobody sleeps hungry in his empire, he used to walk through the streets almost every night to see if there is any one needy or ill”.^[iii]

When Umar, whose powerful rule touched Europe in the West and Indus Valley in the East, took over Jerusalem in a bloodless conquest, everyone there witnessed his humility and justice. He rode the camel in turns with his slave, for example.

He allowed Jews to live in Jerusalem. It was first time, after almost 500 years of oppressive rule of the Romans, that Jews were allowed to enter and worship freely in the holy city.^[iv]

The wealth of the Third Caliph Uthman bin Affan who was also a successful merchant did not prevent him from leading an ascetic life or taking care of the needs of his people. He fed people with fine food, but he himself ate vinegar and olive oil.^[v] As caliph, he allocated a stipend from the bayt al-mal for those who were in need. Urwah bin az-Zubair said, “I lived at the time of Uthman and there was no Muslim soul who did not have a right to the wealth of Allah, i.e., the bayt al-mal.”^[vi]

Ali bin Abu Talib, the fourth Caliph, was no different. One incident during his caliphate would drive home this point. Ali once saw some armor of his with a Christian. He decided to take the matter up legally, so he took the dispute to Shurayh (the judge). Ali said, “This is my armor, and I have not sold it nor given it away.” Shurayh asked the Christian, “What have you to say about what the Amir al-Mu’mineen claims?” The Christian replied, “It is my armor, although I do not regard the Amir al-Mu’mineen to be a liar.” Shurayh then turned to Ali, “O Amir al-Mu’mineen, do you have any proof (of ownership)?” Ali laughed and said, “Shurayh is correct, I have no proof.” So Shurayh judged that the armor was the Christian’s. The Christian took it and began to walk away but then returned. He proclaimed, “As for me, I testify that this is the judgment of the Prophets – the Amir al-Mu’mineen himself takes me to his judge and the judge rules against him! I bear witness that there is no deity deserving worship but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. By Allah, the armor is yours, O Amir al-Mu’mineen. I followed the army when you were on your way to the Battle of Siffin and the armor came out of your equipment.” Ali said, “If you have accepted Islam the armor is yours.”^[vii]

It may seem almost wondrous to read how a people so backward could transform and become a prominent superpower in a few decades – surely a lot must have changed for that to happen. That change has been well described in the following narration by Abu Ishaq Al-Fazari (d. 777 CE):

The enemy was never able to stand up to the Companions of Allah’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم), so when the news of the defeat of the Romans came to Heraclius at Antioch he asked [his people], “Woe to you, tell me about these people who fight you, are they not humans like you?” They replied, “Indeed, they are.” He asked, “So are you more in number or them?” They replied, “We outnumber them greatly in all places.” He said, “So how is it that you are defeated whenever you meet them [in battle].” A senior and esteemed elder amongst them replied, “Because they stand in prayer at night, fast during the day, fulfill their agreements and promises, enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil, they are fair and just amongst themselves; and because we drink wine, fornicate, commit sin, break our agreements, steal, oppress and do injustice, enjoin the committing of what angers Allah and forbid what pleases Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and we cause evil and corruption in the land.” Heraclius said, “You are the one who has told me the truth.”^[viii]

One of the criticisms levied against Islamic scholars nowadays is that scholars want to take our society “backwards” to the seventh century and force every one to live in “caves”. They spread such horrendous conclusions from the Islamic requirement of following the early Muslims. When scholars talk about going back to our roots, they’re talking about beliefs, principles and virtues. Modern society may have progressed scientifically, but it has regressed socially. And we are certainly in desperate need of many of those Islamic virtues that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) so well nurtured in the early generation.

PART 5 | Impact of Shariah: When Muslims strayed to be published on Tuesday, March 29, Insha Allah.