From: jakhan@iastate.edu (Javed A Khan)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: Importance of HADEETH in muslim societies
Date: 3 Apr 92 21:50:49 GMT
Reply-To: jakhan@iastate.edu (Javed A Khan)
Distribution: soc
Organization: Iowa State University
Status: RO
Originator: hanan@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu

In article <1992Apr2.211223.1121@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>,
bc994@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Naseer M. Khan) writes:
> 
> In a previous article, jakhan@iastate.edu (Javed A Khan) says:
> 
> >
> >
> >After seeing the debate concerning the validity of the Hadeeth in this group
> >I was still not clear why there is so much emphasis on using the Hadeeth to
> >mould muslim social life. The Hadeeth is basically a historical record of
the
> >life of the Prophet and his times. Using this record as the sole guide in
> >shaping modern muslim society is ,in my view, faulty. The reason being that
> >the actions of the Prophet in dealing with problems of his day were
necessiated
> >by the values prevalent in the society of his days. Transliterating his
> >decisions to present day problems may not necessarily solve todays them.
> >It makes sense if only his guiding principles are used to arrive at a
solution
> >to our problems. The present day opinion makers in muslim society seem to
make
> >the fundamental mistake of trying to apply his methods to our problems
> >leading to a confrontation with values we hold today.
> >
> >-- javed.
> 
> 
> Do you suggest that we look to L. Ron Hubbard, a man of the times, for
> our guidance if we need to reject the Prophet's (pbuh) example?
> 



Did I imply that? 



> The importance of Hadeeth is precisely because of the universal
                                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> applicability that is inherent in them.  By saying that the Prophet
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Thats your view with which i dont agree.



> Muhammad (pbuh) was making decisions only for his existing situation, do
> you mean to imply that Allah (swt) gave him the wisdom only to cope with
> the world of 1 A.H.? 


I don't imply that at all. In fact this is what I'm driving at. The 'wisdom'
that God gave the Prophet is enshrined in the Qu'ran and  is the primary source
of guidance. The prophet used that 'wisdom' to solve the problems of his day.
The actual decisions he made are relavent to his times, which are recorded in
the Hadith. Using this record as sacred and applying it blindly to our problems
is not going to solve them. One can surely study the spirit behind his decisions
but saying that all our problems will be solved  by searching for an
equivalent incident in his life and then replicating his decisions, is IMO
unworkable. 




 I believe full well that Islam, as it was sent
> down to us and demonstrated by the Prophet (pbuh), is a complete way of
> life for all people and all times.  The only reason you might see a
> conflict between the all-pervasive secular values of today and the correct
> values of Islam are because they stem from entirely different roots; one
> if from a humanistic, man-centered view and the other is handed down by
> our omniscient Creator (swt).
> 
> We need to use the Qur'an, the Sunnat, and the Hadeeth to form our
> Shari'ah by a process of deep discussion and consensus.
                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^




That is what I'm saying. But where is this "deep discussion" being done and a
"consensus" being arrived at? All the decisions seem to be taken by a select 
band of "Islamic scholars" and are being accepted without debate by the rest of
the "commoners". 





  But we can't be
> basing any practices on the doings of the secular world and popular
> thought that is based in a "humanistic" philosophy.  I use humanistic
> here to mean the current Man-Knows-Best wave of thinking.
> 
> -- 
>       |      |                        Signed:  Naseer Khan
>       | (o)(o)                                 ___________
>      C      _)                               
>       | ,___|				       khan@us17501.mdc.com





---javed
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam