Rafed English
site.site_name : Rafed English

Adapted from: "The Uprising of Ashura and Responses to Doubts" by: "‘Ali Asghar Ridwani"

Some maintain that if creation or establishment of religious ceremonies has been entrusted to the discernment of common sense and wisdom, the result will be vain sporting with the fundamental doctrines of Islam and futile play with the fixed bounds of the religious law [shari‘ah].

Response

It seems that one who raises such an objection desires to reject the holding of religious ceremonies and perhaps harbours fears about acts which actually amount to spreading and publicizing the shari‘ah not distorting it as they contend. In fact, propagating the shari‘ah is an act that Qur’anic verses have emphasized.

Allah, the Exalted, says,

﴿ ... اَللهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ ﴾

“Allah has willed to spread His light and religion and shari‘ah.”

He also says,

﴿ ... وَکَلِمَةُ اللهِ هِيَ الْعُليا ﴾

“And Allah has willed that His religion should be high and honored.”

Holding religious ceremonies is one of the many ways of propagating the shari‘ah. It is one way of exalting the divine law and completing the light of Allah. This is something that Allah has willed in a general way.

If the intended goal of propagating the religion and shari‘ah is to bring about some change and transformation in these two, then without doubt this act is null and void. However, applying the general concept of the signs of Allah to new cases and different themes does not automatically change or transform the religion and shari‘ah.