A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is adapted from a paper by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ghafur ‘Abd ar-Rahim.   One of the factors which stand against change and reform of Islamic law is the current rigid conceptualisation of some basic terms.   The development of fiqh led to the construing of the terms “ diyn ”, “ islam ”, and “ shari’ah ” in concrete fiqhi terms.   The underlying ethical principles which the concrete fiqhi values embodied became insignificant or of secondary importance.   Consciously or not, this in turn led to the equation of forms and principles, thereby making change extremely difficult.   Any proposed change came to be conceived as undermining the principles themselves embodied in the fiqhi forms.   “ Islam ” is commonly explained as “submission to the will of God”, which finds its expression in the shari’ah with its detailed formulations in fiqh .   As Islamic law did not take its final form until around th...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a paper by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ghafur ‘Abd ar-Rahim.   One of the factors which stand against change and reform of Islamic law is the current rigid conceptualisation of some basic terms.   The development of fiqh led to the construing of the terms “ diyn ”, “ islam ”, and “ shari ’ ah ” in concrete fiqhi terms.   The underlying ethical principles which the concrete fiqhi values embodied became insignificant or of secondary importance.   Consciously or not, this in turn led to the equation of forms and principles, thereby making change extremely difficult.   Any proposed change came to be conceived as undermining the principles themselves embodied in the fiqhi forms.   The term “ diyn ” occurs in jahili , pre-Islamic, Arabic literature.   The jahili poet, ‘Amr ibn Kultsum at-Taghlibi said, in his mu’allaqah :   “ Wa ayyamin lana ghurrin fi awwalin, ‘aswayna al-malka fiha ...