Foundation: The Sunnah - The Second Source of Law

3) Continuation: Realization of Public Welfare

Islam gives preference to the general welfare over the welfare of a specific individual. This is preventing the greater evil by doing the lesser evil.

Polygamy is a classic example of this. On an individual scale, most women are emotionally hurt by it. Why then does Islam allow it? Because its prohibition creates a greater harm to society. Its consequence is prostitution, illegitimate children, etc.

Islam didn’t institute it, it regulated it to 4 and identified people’s rights in it.

“The ends justify the means”

Islam rejects this principle. The means determine the end. If you use Halal means, you will get a Halal end. If you use Haraam means, you will get a Haraam end.

4)  The Realization of Universal Justice

Islam regards all human beings as being equal in regards to their obligation to submit to divine laws and they are all equally responsible for breaking them.

The laws mentioned in the Qur’an are general:

E.g.

The Sunnah – The Second Source of Law

Evidence:

1) The Prophets job was primarily to convey the message.

2) It was also to explain the Qur’an:

3)  The Prophets clarifying the Qur’an wasn’t limited to statements. Sometimes it was through his actions, and other times by both statement and action

E.g.  The Qur’an commanded the believers to establish prayer. The Prophet prayed amongst the companions and said, “Pray as you have seen me pray”

4) The Sunnah also specified many generalities mentioned in the Qur’an:

E.g.  

The Prophet prohibited the eating of domesticated donkey meat.

5) The instruction of the Prophet may involve the deduction of rulings from the principles which exist in Quranic rulings.

E.g. The Qur’an prohibits marrying a woman and her daughter, or the simultaneous marriage of two sisters. After that Allah says:

But Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said, “One should not combine a woman and her father’s sister in marriage, or a woman and her mother’s sister”

The Prophet explained why, “If you do that you will break family ties”

The rivalry that tends to arise with co-wives could potentially break the relationship between family members if the man were to marry two sisters, or a woman and her aunt.  Allah approved this because no law came after this statement to prove otherwise.

6) However there were some laws which the Prophet approved and Allah corrected him.

E.g. The case of Thihar. When Khawlah complained to the Prophet, The Prophet accepted it as a valid form of divorce, however Allah clarified that it wasn’t in (58:1-2):

7) There is another category of unconfirmed deduced rulings to clarify that the religion excludes personal habits and customs of the Prophet which he did not instruct the companions to follow.

E.g. The Prophet saw the people in Madinah artificially pollinating date trees and suggested that they don’t do it. When they abandoned this practice the yield of date palms became less. So the Prophet said, “I am a human being. So when I tell you to do something pertaining to the religion, accept it, but when I tell you something from my personal opinion, keep in mind that I am a human being”

One may ask, why didn’t Allah just protect him from any mistakes in this regard? The point is to clarify people that he is not infallible. It is natural for people to want to elevate leaders beyond their status, so he allowed him to be fallible.

Furthermore it was training for the companions of the Prophet in Ijtihad. The Prophet clarified that whenever a judge makes Jihad and is correct he gets two rewards, and if he is incorrect he gets one. However, these decisions need to be based on knowledge.

8) The Prophet on different occasions would cause the companions to make Judgements.

E.g. “Allah’s Messenger sent me to Yemen as a judge, so I asked, “O Messenger of Allah! You are sending me and I am young, and I have no knowledge of giving judgment?” He replied, “Allah will guide your heart and keep your tongue firmly (attached to the truth). When two litigants sit before you, do not decide until you have heard what the other has to say the way you heard the first, for it is more suitable for the correct judgment to become clear to you” – Ali ibn Abi Talib

Whatever Ijtihad was made by the Prophet was either confirmed or corrected by Allah. It wasn’t left independent. Similarly, the Ijtihad made by the companions was either corrected by the Prophet or confirmed. Everything goes back to revelation.

Why then was there any need for Ijtihad? This was training for a time when the Prophet would not be there.