PRESERVATION, UPDATING, DA‘WAH

~ 28 ~ The Shariah, or external structure of the commands of Islam, and the minhaj, or method varied from prophet to prophet, but only in a partial, not a total sense. It should be borne in mind also that such differences as these were related not to individual prophets but to the changed situations. The different circumstances of the times each prophet lived in were taken into account in the commands they were given in terms of the Shariah and minhaj. These variations were based on the practical wisdom rather than related to the person of a particular prophet. That is why this principle of Shariah is valid even today. The principle of the change in situations governing partial and temporal alterations in the Shariah and minhaj is duly adopted. While in the past this change was carried out through the Prophet, modifications are now arrived at through ijtihad and carried into effect by the Islamic scholars. That task in reality is not synonymous with bringing about a change in the Shariah but it is only a reapplication of the Shariah in terms of altered circumstances. The task of effecting such