UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE A mong the sciences developed to interpret and explain Islam is a field called Hikmat al-Deen (Wisdom of Religion) or Asrar al-Shari’ah (Secrets of the Shariah). This discipline focuses on understanding the wisdom of religious teachings and recognizing the underlying rationale behind them. For example, when someone explains the obligations and rites of Hajj and how Hajj should be performed, that is Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). But when someone describes the benefits of Hajj and says, “Hajj creates a global brotherhood of believers centered on the worship of God,” that is called Hikmat al-Deen. Just as other sciences began in the early Islamic period and later developed technical details, Hikmat al-Deen has also been a topic of discussion among Muslims from the beginning. Ample information on this subject is scattered throughout the vast Islamic literature. However, dedicated books on this subject are rare. In other Islamic sciences, one can cite dozens or even