DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHARIAH AND DEEN

Here it is necessary to clarify that the sequence of conditions and events in the 23-year span of Muhammad’s prophethood is a part of the history of Islam, and not a part of Islamic creed. For instance, the Prophet engaged in peaceful dawah (conveying the message of God) in Makkah. He then quietly migrated (hijrat) to Madinah. Thereafter, there were incidents of jihad (in the sense of qital or war). Finally there was the victory over Makkah. If someone takes this sequence of events to argue that the Islamic movement is but a name for three stages—Dawah, Hijrat and Jihad—it would be incorrect. This sequence of events was not based on any sacred concept but was wholly a result of temporal conditions, and not of any ideology. It is related to minhaj, and not to the deen; to method, and not to religion. Its status is entirely relative. It is an event of history that happened because of prevailing conditions and there is nothing sacrosanct about it. Differences in matters of method were not specific to earlier prophets. This principle will continue to operate among the Muslim ummah even after the last prophet, the Prophet Muhammad. This is because the principle on which it is based is an eternal one—that is, of differences arising in the external circumstances. Hence there will be repeated need for differences in method. In ancient times, much of the world was under despotic monarchism. A single tyrannical ruler controlled all the affairs of a country. Given this, one option for a God-worshipping people to lead a life of faith was by departing from the ruler’s domains, as the Prophet Moses did. He could not lead a peaceful life worshipping the One God in Egypt under the rule of the Pharaoh. That is why, he left Egypt, taking the entire community of the Children of Israel with him, and went into the uninhabited Sinai desert to establish a God-worshipping society. Another example is provided by the Companions of the Prophet. In their time, the powerful Sassanid and Byzantine empires ruled in the neighbourhood of Arabia. Both these empires were based on political coercion. Under their rule, it was not possible for the votaries of monotheism to fulfil their responsibilities. The aggression of these rulers led the Prophet’s Companions to confront them. With God’s special help, the Prophet’s Companions were victorious. These oppressive empires were finished off and the votaries of monotheism got the opportunity to lead a life pleasing to God on God’s earth. When stagnation sets in and a community loses the spirit of worship, God commands, through His prophets to changes in some external forms of worship.