Prof. Abou El Fadl on The Modern Dynamics and the Islamic Legal Tradition, part 3

What is Islamic law? Is it an amalgamation of positive rules or commandments (pl. ahkam, sing. hukm)? If Islamic law consists of a group of positive commandments saying "do this" and "do not do that," then one must conclude that Islamic law in the contemporary age is thriving. The mass production of ahkam (rules) goes on unhampered in the contemporary age. [12] Nevertheless, the ahkam are only the external manifestations of the law, but they are not the law. The law, which is the Shari'ah, consists of objectives (maqasid), principles (qawa`id), methodologies of analysis and understanding (usul al-fiqh), and positive commandments (ahkam). In a sense, the ahkam are the completed sentences of the language of Shar'iah, and the remainder is the vocabulary and grammar. In a sense, the contemporary writers are prolific in producing sentences, but because they lack proficiency in vocabulary and grammar, their discourse is incoherent. Seen differently, the pharmacists are writing the prescriptions. Yet this, by itself, is not the cause of the suffocating atmosphere. It is not only that the ahkam have become the focal point in Shari'ah discourses, and that there is a lack of competency in the usage of legal objectives and methodologies, but also that the objectives and methodologies of Shari'ah have not been developed to meet contemporary advances in epistemology, hermeneutics or social theory. In the contemporary age, Muslims end up with a rather ironic and painfully non-sensical paradigm. Modern inquiries in epistemology and hermeneutics are declared as contrary to the authentic classical methodologies and systems of knowledge, and therefore, are rejected out of hand. At the same time, the authentic classical methodologies are treated as too obscure, obsolete, or simply difficult and are, therefore, ignored or awarded the most cursory and superficial treatment. Having ignored the systems of juristic knowledge that prevailed in the past, and rejected those that exist in the modern age, what remains? What remains is a slavish and frantic adherence to the positive commandments as the vehicle for the salvation and perseverance of the Islamic identity.

-And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses by Khaled M. Abou El Fadl, pg. 110-111