Part One: SEERAH (Biographical Sketch) CHAPTER

C:\Users\Admin\Dropbox\The Message - Material of Maulana\16. Books and Review\Apa's Books\Life And 75 commandment of the Quran is undoubtedly eternal in nature, but that its reapplication will be sought according to modern circumstances. And that plans for making progress will now be made in peaceful arenas. In modern times, Russia provides one example of the accumulating of all sorts of weapons, including 30,000 nuclear warheads. On the contrary, Japan did not make any military preparation, rather made plans on a vast scale to go ahead in the fields of education and economy. The result was totally different. Russia with all its military force collapsed, while Japan has become an economic superpower in the modern world. Islamic Ijtihaad, on parallel with the above, would entail a fresh planning of the Muslim Ummah or Muslim State according to the demands of modern times. Progressing beyond ancient traditional thinking, the plan of progress and development should be chalked out in the light of modern requirements. This matter of Ijtihaad relates to all walks of life. For instance, there is a tradition which says: “Start your fast after sighting the moon of the month of Ramadan, and break your fast (to celebrate Eid) after sighting the moon.” (Abu Dawood) According to the words of the tradition it was held that ‘sighting the moon’ depended on seeing with the eyes. That is to say, the first of Ramadan was to be fixed by sighting the moon with one’s eyes and the same applied to the first of Shawwal (the day of Eid). Thus fasting as well as Eid would both depend on the sighting of the moon. However, in modern times something new has been brought into existence which had never existed before—the observatory. The moon, like other astronomical bodies, is sighted by the latest telescopes and other scientific devices in the observatory and the correct and precise movement of the moon is determined by modern machines, which carry out the necessary mathematical calculations. This system is so perfect that an absolutely accurate estimate can be made in advance as to the date and exact time that the new moon will be sighted.