Quran, Hadis, ljma & Qiyas
The Holy Quran provides fundamental laws in respect of beliefs, prayer morality, finances as well as political setup of society. As regards beliefs and morality, the laws provided by the Holy Quran are complete, final and exhaustive for all times to come. For the financial and political setup of human Society, however, the position is different.
The Holy Quran has laid down some basic laws of universal application in connection with the affairs of human life, yet it has left room for further legislation by the Holy Prophet PBUH, and after him, by his followers, according to the need of the time, fundamentally keeping in view the limits provided by the Holy Quran.
Human life is not rigid or beyond change. The basic principles of life remain the same in all ages and countries, but the ways and means of solving them have undergone various changes with the passage of time. Islam provides for both. It has bestowed upon mankind an ideology that satisfies the demands of both stability and change.
Islam has also given sanction for framing subsidiary 1aws to the Muslim community to meet particular situations and regulate the affairs of their daily life within the scope of the Quran and the Sunnah. When a verdict about a certain issue is not found in the Quran and the Sunnah, the scholars of Islam.
keeping in mind, the interest of Muslim Ummah, try to come up with the best possible verdict to regulate the behaviour of Muslims.
Since that behaviour required revelatory criteria and directives, there had be evolved other sources of law continuous with the first and second. The structure of Islamic law is generally regarded as complete with the establishment of two other regulative sources namely ljma and Qiyas - consensus and analogy.
For a Muslim all laws and legislation must be according to the Islamic Shariah. They must be used in the order they were given. A verdict on any issue is first searched in the Holy Quran, then the Sunnah of the Prophet PBUH, If no verdict is found in these two sources, then the scholars of Islam must look at the issue, research and study it and come up with a suitable verdict.
Muslim scholars have seen permission for this in the following verse which says:
"O you who believe!
Obey Allah and obey the Messenger,
And those charged with authority among you.
If you differ in anything among yourselves,
refer it to Allah and His Messenger,
If you do believe in Allah and the Last Day:
That is best and most suitable for final determination." (4:59)
In this verse, the scholars found the mention of the bases of the Sunni Islamic law:
1) The Holy Quran
2)The Sunnah of the Holy Prophet PBUH
3) The consensus of Muslims and Analogy based upon the Quran and Sunnah
The basic guidance is eternal and permanent whose function is to provide a foothold to man to have a grip over a world which exhibits perpetual change while there is a mechanism to apply it to the needs of every successive age.
Islamic law is eternal yet progressive and that is why Islam always remains fresh and modern.
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