Dialectics between Texts and Contexts

D. Dialectics between Texts and Contexts

Understanding the legal text in the Qur’an and Hadith cannot underestimate the context of texts within community. The texts of Syari`ah ( al-nushus al-syar’iyyah) often can be understood correctly and thoroughly only if the historical context (space and time) are known and understood. Very often, erroneous understanding occurs when the historical context of the text is ignored.

For example, the Quran, al-Ma’idah/5:93 says:

“ Those who believe and do righteous good deeds, there is no sin on them for what they ate (in the past), if they fear Allâh (by keeping away from His forbidden things), and believe and do righteous good deeds, and again fear Allâh and believe, and once again fear Allâh and do good deeds with Ihsân (perfection). And Allâh loves the gooddoers..” (QS. al-Ma’idah, 5:93)

If the verse is understood textually without understanding the context, the outward understanding is “if someone believed, fear Allâh and do good deeds, there is no blame whatsoever on what he eats and drinks, even though that is forbidden.” This kind of understanding will be very dangerous if it is taken in the context of corruption, which means “there is no sin to do and enjoy the corruption if the perpetrator is faithful, devoted, doing good deeds and spreads kindness.” This misconception is caused by the neglect of the context of the text when it was revealed. This verse can only be understood correctly when it is known that it came down with regard to the anxiety of the Prophets’ companions after the prohibition of drinking wine ( khamr). They were anxious because previously many companions, both living and deceased, drank alcoholic beverage. Anxiety was healed by Qur’anic verse al- Maidah verse 93 mentioned above. Therefore, the permission to consumpt If the verse is understood textually without understanding the context, the outward understanding is “if someone believed, fear Allâh and do good deeds, there is no blame whatsoever on what he eats and drinks, even though that is forbidden.” This kind of understanding will be very dangerous if it is taken in the context of corruption, which means “there is no sin to do and enjoy the corruption if the perpetrator is faithful, devoted, doing good deeds and spreads kindness.” This misconception is caused by the neglect of the context of the text when it was revealed. This verse can only be understood correctly when it is known that it came down with regard to the anxiety of the Prophets’ companions after the prohibition of drinking wine ( khamr). They were anxious because previously many companions, both living and deceased, drank alcoholic beverage. Anxiety was healed by Qur’anic verse al- Maidah verse 93 mentioned above. Therefore, the permission to consumpt

Aishah, the Prophet’s wife who was well-known for her intelligence, often corrected erroneous understanding of the companions of the verses of the Qur’an, simply because sometimes the context of the verse was ignored. For example:

Muawiyah once wanted to appoint Yazid caliph after him. He later wrote a letter about his wish and sent it to Marwan, a governor in Medina at the time. Marwan then collected and encouraged people to pledge allegiance to Yazid after the death of Muawiyah. Abdurrahman Bin Abi Bakr refused allegiance to Yazid. Seeing this, Marwan almost did violence against Abdrurrahman because he referred to verse al-Ahqaf, 46:17 that a rebellious child mentioned in the verse is none other than that Abdurrahman. Aisha was luckily there, she explained that the rebellious child referred to is not Abdurrahman ibn Abi Bakr, but someone else. 40

A’ishah also often criticized the companions of the Prophet for narrating

a Hadith while ignoring its context. For example, as narrated by Abu Hurairah, a Hadith says that women are the sources of bad luck, similar to houses and horses. Hearing these words, A’ishah said that Abu Hurairah only heard the end of the Hadith and did not hear the beginning. Actually, at that time, the Prophet was condemning the views of Jews who say that the sources of misfortune are women, home and horses. Abu Hurayrah was late entering the majlis (learning circle) of the Prophet and only heard the last words of the Prophet. In fact, the last sentence was not a statement of the Prophet, but the Jewish’s view. Abu Hurairah lost initial context of it and cost him a mistake looking at the issue. 41

39 Jalaluddin as-Suyuti, Ad-Durr al-Mantsur (Beirut: Darul Fikri, nd.), vol. 3, p. 159, Abu al-Fida’ Isma’il Ibnu Katsir, Tafsir Ibnu Katsir, (np.: Dar Thayyibah, nd.), vol. 3, p. 182.

40 Manna Khalil al-Qhatthan, Mabahits fi Ulum Al-Qur’an, (t.tp.: Mansyurat al-Ashri al- Hadis, nd.), p.80. 41 Abu al-Fadl Ibnu Hajar al-Asqalani, Fath al-Bari (Maktabah Syamilah), vol.6, p.61 .

The three examples above show that the context of the text ( nushus), in all its social, economic, cultural, and political backgrounds; that is, under what condition it was addressed, or to whom it was referred is very important to

be understood. Al-Syatibi, a scholar from the Maliki school of Usul Fiqh, reminded the importance of understanding asbab-nuzul (reasons behind the revelation) in specific, also the traditions or customs of the Arabs in general when a verse of the Qur’an was revealed. Al-Syatibi said:

of the Arab community in their speech, attitude, and cultural interactions when the verse was revealed, even when there is no special reason for it. People who want to dive into the science of the Qur›an must master this. If not, they may fall into the maze of texts, and may experience problems not easy to solve. 42

Nowadays Muslims face the problem of the limited quantity of text ( tanahiyatu an-nushus) and infinity of problems facing humanity (ghairu tanahiyati al-waqi’). That is, the guiding text is limited in quantity, not sufficient in coping with all obstacles, while humanity continues to face problems without an end. This fundamental problem will be resolved only by the scholars capable of understanding the characteristics of the verses of the Qur’an and the Hadiths of the Prophet.

The scholars divide the verses of the Qur’an into four characteristics. First, the specifics (nash juz’iy), namely, the verses of the Qur’an that regulate specific issues. For example, verses regulating prayer, fasting, charity,

42 Ibrahim bin Musa al-Syatibi, al-Muwafaqat fi Ushul as-Syariah (np.: Dar Ibnu ‘Affan,

1997), vol. 3, p. 351.

pilgrimage, alcoholic beverages, adultery, theft, marriage, riba (usury), awrat (parts of the body which needs to be covered), ‘iddah (waiting period), divorce and others. Second, the universals (nash kulliy), the verses of the Qur’an which explain and confirm the values between good-bad, right-wrong, halal- haram, appropriate-inappropriate, morality, virtue, akhlaq (conducts), and other religious principles. Third, the texts referenced as secondary arguments, namely, the verses of the Qur’an which instruct Muslims to stand on the secondary sources when they could not find a clear answer in the Qur’an and the Sunnah (prophetic traditions), such as verses that order to stand on maslahat (benefits to community), which can later be extracted through methods called by ijma’ (consensus), Qiyas (analogy), Maslahah mursalah (public benefit), Istihsan (juristic preference), and ‘Urf (custom). Fourth, the texts that refer to the purposes of Syari`ah ( Maqahashid ash-Syari`ah), that is, the verses that describe the objectives of law in general.

Understanding the characteristics of the verses of the Qur’an is very important to capture their intent not only harfiyyah (literally), but also contextually. It is also very useful to determine whether the formulation of the laws of the particular text ( nash juz’iy) is aligned with the principles and objectives of law. Its lack of understanding can create the very literal- formalistic products that do not touch the substance of the law. Particular text ( nash juz’iy) cannot be separated its understanding from universal text ( nash kulliy) and the objectives of Syari`ah (Maqhashid ash-Syari`ah). Al- Syatibi in al-Muwafaqat said:

Whoever adheres to the particular text (nash juz’iy) and ignores the universal text (nash kulliy) is wrong. Similarly, whoever stands on nash kulliy and neglects nash juz’iy is wrong. 43

Reading religious texts, especially concerning the issues of law ( fiqh), requires a mastery of science of Islamic jurisprudence called Usul Fiqh, here is a set of methods to do the reading of the dialectics between the religious

43 Al-Syatibi, al-Muwafaqat, vol.2, p.153.

text ( nushus syar’iyyah) and the empirical reality of society elaborated. Therefore, a grand agenda Usul Fiqh has is the analysis of text on the one hand and maqashid ash-Syari`ah on the other hand. A text analysis is directed to understanding religious texts, in this regard the Qur’an and Hadith, correctly, while the maqashid al-syari`ah analysis is intended to interlink the meaning of the text with the empirical reality and the real necessities of the community where the text about to be implemented. The text analysis, together with the analysis of maqashid ash-syari`ah, must be done when someone is about to do ijtihad in solving the problems of humanity. Ijtihad, when based solely on the text will bear verdicts void of human values. On the other hand, ijtihad which only rests on maqashid al-syari`ah will result in unpredictable public chaos, or at least difficult to be accepted by the majority of people who put the holy texts in high regard.

To meet the requirements of text analysis, Usul Fiqh offers incredibly complex and appealing linguistic rules. For example, in lafzh (word) categories such as: al-amm (generality), al-khas (particularity), al-mutlaq (absolute), al-muqayyad (restricted), al-amr (command), an-nahi (proscription), al- musytarak (equivocal), al-muawwal (unorthodoxy), al-haqiqah (denotative), al-majaz (metaphor), al-kinayah (allegory), al-zhahir (literal), an-nass al- mufassar (interpreted text), al-muhkam (solid), al-khafi (hidden), al-musykil (abstruse) , al-mujmal (global), and al-mutasyabih (ambiguous). In addition to these categories of words, there are also othersentences, such as al-manthuq (explicit) and al-mafhum (implicit) in Shafi’ite school of law, ibarah an-nass (expression of the text) , isyarah an-nass (sign of the text), dalalah an-Nass, (indication of the text) and iqtidha an-nass (necessity of the text) in Hanafite school of law. Theories about the text can be used for splitting, digging and opening many hidden meanings of the text, as suggested by Ali bin Abi Talib, that the Qur’an contains many possible meanings ( al-Qur’anu hammalun dzul aujuh). Its meanings are abundant like water of the ocean trapped in the crevices of the text which can only be read by someone competent and has rich variety of theories. Usul Fiqh is the science that provides those theories of the text analysis.

In addition to text analysis, analysis of maqashid al-syari`ah or analysis of substantive purposes of the rule of law is also important. Eminent scholars such as al-Ghazali (d. 504H), al-Thufi (d. 716H), and also al-Syatibhi (d. 780H) have provided interesting and in-depth exploration of this discourse. Although their concept of Maslahat still seems theocentric, but there is a speck of light that we can use as a lantern to build a more humane Maslahat and give a kind of assurance that Islam indeed aims for the welfare of all humankind. Thus, an urgency to understand the text by combining the text and context has actually been called by almost all scholars, both classical and contemporary. It’s just that the spirit of excessive formalization of Islamic Syari`ah is not accompanied by the ability to use adequate methodology of interpretation. This tendency has led the literal understanding of religious texts becomes more popular. Therefore, bringing back Islam to the understanding and contextual ijtihad becomes an urgent agenda that should

be executed so as not to get caught up in mere outer skin of Syari`ah.

Theoretically, ijtihad is divided into three categories, namely Ijtihad Bayani or al-ijtihad min an-nushus, Ijtihad Qiyasi, and Ijtihad Ishlahi. Ijtihad Bayani is directed on understanding the contextual text. This Ijtihad necessitates a mujtahid to master the four things, namely:

a. Asbab an-Nuzul or reason behind the text. It may come either because specific reason ( khash), general (am), or emergent present situation (asbab an-nuzul al-jadid).

b. The rules of the language ( al-qawa’id al-lughawiyyah).

c. The ability to associate a legal text with other legal texts ( rabthu an- nushush ba’dliha bi ba’dlin). It is because many verses and Prophetic traditions cannot be understood except by linking them with other verses or Hadith which comes before or after those verses or hadith.

d. The ability to associate legal texts with the benefit of the people as the ideal of law ( rabthu an-nushush bi maqhashidi ash-Syari`ah). Legal text and purpose of the law cannot be separated because both require one another because maqhashid al-syari`ah are essentially extracted from the particular text ( an-Nushus al-Juz’iyyah).

Ijtihad Qiyasi and Ijtihad al-Istislahi are the types of ijtihad that use derivative arguments using methods such as Ijma’, Qiyas, Maslahat Mursalah, Istihsan, and ‘Urf. These three methods are not only required to respond to new issues, but also ‘classical’ issues such as criminal cases in the context of the new social context, in order that the application of the law formulated in the classical period can be applied in the present time. That way that it does not become disoriented, and that the purposes of the whole building of Islamic law can work and be benefitial as hoped.

In ushul fiqh, the above three types of ijtihad are called ijtihad bi takhriji al-manath, that is, ijtihad which seeks to draw message, hidden meaning, or legal assumption out of the Qur’an and as-Sunnah texts. The task of a mujtahid is not only ijtihad bi takhriji al-manath, but also ijtihad bi tahqiqi al-manath, namely to communicate and interlink the message and meaning of the text to the reality. Therefore, it is not correct that ijtihad can only be done to the texts in the category of zhanniy al-dalalah(conjectural religious evidence). Instead, ijtihad must also be done to the texts of qhat’iy al-dalalah (definite religious evidence)because message of the text drawn either from zhanniy al-dalalah and qhath’iy al-dalalah still needs to be discussed against reality through ijtihad bi tahqiqi al-manath. This is indeed the essence of jurisprudence, the nature of Islamic law, namely al-jadaliyat nushush bi al- waqa’i, the dialectics between text and context.Chapter Two

The Philosophy Of Islamic Law

L applying syari`ah-based regulations and laws. Unfortunately, its important

ike other laws, Islamic law has a philosophy as its foundation upon which it is regulated and enacted. As a foundation, the philosophy of Islamic law is central as it plays a very important role in making and

position is often neglected in making and enforcing Islamic syari`ah. The Qur’anic verses and the Prophet’s tradition are often approached with

a very formalistic and textual approach. As a result, the formulation and implementation of Islamic law is not felt in reality and do not take the objectives of Islamic law into account. This chapter will discuss how Islamic law can be made and implemented in line with its philosophy so that the objectives of Islamic law can be attained in this changing world.