ISLAM AND THE WEST - 4

Every time we have made these presentations, sooner or later someone always asks the question "why?" For example, Why is alcohol forbidden?" Why has pork been declared Haraam (unlawful in Shariah)?" etc. Learning from the first workshop, we put this slide up really early on, that we can tell people WHAT Islam says, but we cannot always tell them WHY. I will use the two verses of the Holy Qur’an below as an example to illustrate why.

 

The first verse in which alcohol and gambling were prohibited, clearly states that these lead to malice and enmity between people, and prevent them from the remembrance of Allah. It is implied that these are some of the reasons why indulging in these acts may have been forbidden. In the second verse however, Allah Ta’ala simply says that the disbelievers say that sale (business) and Riba (interest) are the same, but Allah has permitted sale but has declared Riba Haraam. The verse does not give any reason as to WHY Allah Ta’ala has permitted sale but has declared Riba to be Haraam. 

 

We explain that other than those specific circumstances where the reasoning behind a particular commandment has been described in Qur’an or Sunnah (practice and teachings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ) it is just someone’s guess why these commandments have been issued. It is true that some people’s guesses may be much more educated than others, depending on the depth of their knowledge of Deen (religion), but they still remain guesses unless the reasoning has been described in Qur’an or narrated by the Holy Prophet ﷺ.