Why is the implementation of Allah's deen through power and authority not mentioned more explicitly in the Qur'an?
1 Answer
If you approach or believe the Quran to be a religious manual then you'll never see that it as a den. The mindset is the problem here. Despite there being a lot of ignorant people in the UK, I've never seen anyone go outside and hand paint double yellow lines on the road and then start charging their neighbours £120 penalty fine every time they park there (with £60 discount if they pay within 14 days). It just doesn't happen. Nobody has spelled that out to you. Has anyone ever had to tell you: "that's not your job mate". Have you ever read somewhere that you are not permitted to draw your own double yellow lines and hand out penalty notices? No... and you never even asked for it... because we are institutionalised and therefore do not need such matters spelled out to us. If you approach any legal system, the way modernist ideological mindsets wish to approach the Qur'an, then you could individualise it to absurdity. If your neighbour doesn't pay you the fine you could drag him into your lounge and start legal proceedings - all by yourself... but we know that's not normal so it doesn't happen. We recognise the patently obvious context when reading legal text. Like any legal system, the Qur'anic injunctions sit within an institutional and civilisational framework. There's no other way a society can function - Islamic or not. There is an Islamic version of normal which has been missing for nearly 100 years. Without it, you get situations that are akin to someone driving to the UK from abroad and saying: "Where does it say I must follow road signs and traffic lights when driving? Somebody should have told me. Should I follow every sign? To the same level? Will I be punished? So many different interpretations. Different groups tell me different things. Why is it so complicated? Oh I'm so confused, I give up!" Sound familiar? If this individual were a reality, we would immediately recognise that he is the one that is not “normal” rather than reject the Highway Code in its entirety. So a major step forward has to be to re-establish the Islamic “normal” just as Muhammad (saw) established it the first time around.
If you approach or believe the Quran to be a religious manual then you'll never see that it as a den. The mindset is the problem here. Despite there being a lot of ignorant people in the UK, I've never seen anyone go outside and hand paint double yellow lines on the road and then start charging their neighbours £120 penalty fine every time they park there (with £60 discount if they pay within 14 days). It just doesn't happen. Nobody has spelled that out to you. Has anyone ever had to tell you: "that's not your job mate". Have you ever read somewhere that you are not permitted to draw your own double yellow lines and hand out penalty notices? No... and you never even asked for it... because we are institutionalised and therefore do not need such matters spelled out to us. If you approach any legal system, the way modernist ideological mindsets wish to approach the Qur'an, then you could individualise it to absurdity. If your neighbour doesn't pay you the fine you could drag him into your lounge and start legal proceedings - all by yourself... but we know that's not normal so it doesn't happen. We recognise the patently obvious context when reading legal text. Like any legal system, the Qur'anic injunctions sit within an institutional and civilisational framework. There's no other way a society can function - Islamic or not. There is an Islamic version of normal which has been missing for nearly 100 years. Without it, you get situations that are akin to someone driving to the UK from abroad and saying: "Where does it say I must follow road signs and traffic lights when driving? Somebody should have told me. Should I follow every sign? To the same level? Will I be punished? So many different interpretations. Different groups tell me different things. Why is it so complicated? Oh I'm so confused, I give up!" Sound familiar? If this individual were a reality, we would immediately recognise that he is the one that is not “normal” rather than reject the Highway Code in its entirety. So a major step forward has to be to re-establish the Islamic “normal” just as Muhammad (saw) established it the first time around.