The Shariah and its Application

and this fact must be borne in mind that the divine book we possess comprised of revelations made at different times and collected together in the form of the Quran. These scriptures contain various commands, injunctions pertaining to all kinds of situations—all collected together in one book. Then how are Muslims of later times supposed to receive guidance from the Quran? The answer is that the study of Quranic verses should be done in the light of the causes of revelation (asbabal-nuzul). That is, first of all, those in search of guidance should determine objectively the state of affairs in a given situation, then strive to find the verse or verses revealed in a similar situation in the first phase of Islam. And when that injunction is found, it should be applied to the present situation. That is, the purpose served by the immediate revelation in the first phase, will now be served by pinpointing similarity between the past and the present situations. For a better understanding of this, one should take into account the four different stages of the period of prophethood of the Prophet of Islam: (a) The first half of the Makkan period; (b) The second half of the Makkan period; (c) The first half of the Madinan period; (d) The second half of the Madinan period. Basically, these four periods keep repeating themselves throughout human history. By studying the Quran in depth, the parallels to present-day circumstances can easily be discovered: it is very necessary if guidance is to be received from the Quran in later periods of history. As mentioned above, the Quran which exists with us