The Significance of the Holy Qu'ran to Islam

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The Holy Quran, most sacred book of Islam, is a collection of revelations from Allah to the Prophet Muhammad. The Quran acts as a guide for the Muslim, covering all aspects of everyday Muslim life. The Quran is by far the most important and influential foundation of Islam, but it is not the only source of authority. In addition to the Quran, the Sunnah of the Prophet, preserved in the hadiths, offers guidance on proper Islamic conduct. The approved practice of the community (ima) is another source of authority, while ljtihad is the practice of finding judgement on issues not covered in the Quran.

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Additionally the Sharia is the body of laws which govern the Islamic state. While there are several sources of authority in Islam, the Quran is overwhelmingly the most important, and it is only through the Quran that other sources gain their stature.

It cannot be doubted that the Our'an is the 'supreme authority' of Islam. Allah is the ultimate source of authority, and it is his word revealed to the Prophet Muhammad that is preserved in the Created Quran - a direct copy of the Uncreated Quran, written in Arabic and existing in heaven with Allah.

The Angel Gabriel revealed the words of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad regarded this as Allah's 'standing miracle' - Muhammad himself was illiterate, so, claim Muslims, the Quran had to be the word of Allah. Furthermore the Quran is considered a literary masterpiece, a collection of beautiful prose unrivalled in the Muslim world, and surely a heavenly text.

The Quran states, 'In the month of Ramadan the Koran was revealed, a book of guidance for mankind with proofs of guidance distinguishing right from wrong' (2:185). The Quran includes an immense amount of guidance in many areas. There are rules regarding; modesty, marriage, divorce, inheritance, feuding, intoxicants, gambling, diet, theft, murder, fornication and adultery. Exploitation of the poor, weak, widows, women, orphans and slaves is vividly condemned. False contracts, bribery, abuse of women, hoarding of wealth and usury are denounced.

Some Muslims claim that 'everything' can be found in the Quran. Huston Smith argues that it is not possible to place too much emphasis on how central the Quran is to the Muslim, and to how important it is in the creation of other Islamic doctrines and hence sources of authority. It is expected that children memorise large sections of the Quran, and it shapes the understanding of every part of Muslim life . Philip K. Hitti notes; 'not only is it the basis of the religion, the canon of ethical and moral life, but also the textbook in which the Moslem begins his study of language, science, theology, and jurisprudence'.

Often described as second in authority, or complementary to the Quran is the Sunnah of the Prophet. 'Sunnah' means the 'trodden path'. Originally referring to the accepted practices and traditions of a community, which too is a source of Islamic authority in itself, the Sunnah came to refer to the Sunnah of the Prophet, used as a term to describe the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. The Sunnah is given its authority by the Quran itself. It states, ...obey God and obey the Apostle and those in authority among you. Should you disagree about anything refer it to God and the Apostle' (4:59). Islamic legal scholar Muhammad al-Shafii (d.819) proclaimed that the Sunnah of the Prophet was as much of a 'divine revelation' as the Our'an and should therefore have the same status and have as much influence. Muslims today are obliged to follow the example of the Sunnah of the Prophet in all matters not discussed in the Quran.

The Sunnah of the Prophet were passed down through tradition for hundreds of years after the death of Muhammad until they were eventually recorded as a collection of books known as the hadiths. Unlike the Sunnah, the hadiths were written traditions whose authenticity had to be verified before they were accepted as valid sources of authority. The hadiths, or traditions, had to be traced back through those who passed it down to prove its connection to the Prophet Muhammad or Companion of the Prophet. Six collections were accepted as authoritative, with the hadiths of Ismail al-Bukhari (d.870) and Muslim in al-Hajjaj (d.875) having a particularly high standing as respected sources of authority.

Shah Abdul Hannan asserts that the Quran and Sunnah are primary sources of Islamic law, while ijma and itihad are secondary sources, dependent on the primary sources for their value and authority. Ijma is the practice of addressing problems by seeking the consensus of the community. The community use the Quran as guidance in their decision. The authority of ijma comes from the saying of the Prophet, "My community will never agree upon an error". ljma became a common practice after the death of Muhammad, when his guidance could no longer be sought. ijma has allowed different Muslim groups the freedom to implement their own laws and rules whilst still remaining faithful to Islam. Ima has been a very important factor in the establishment of Islamic law and has markedly increased the corpus of legal interpretation.

litihad, the other 'secondary source' of authority, is the method of interpreting the Quran in such a way as to find answers to problems not already given. Itihad literally means to 'strive or struggle intellectually', by way of Qiyas - or analogical reasoning. When new problems present themselves that are not discussed in the Quran, hadiths or lack a ruling of general consensus, they are likened to similar situations in the Quran in order to find the best solution. Caliphs, judges, jurists or legal scholars have used itihad as a source of authority throughout Islamic history - like ijma, ijtihad has played a very important part in the formulation of Islamic law. There are also other forms of itihad, although less practiced than the Qiyas method; Isthsan is the juristic preference from different interpretations', and Masalaha refers to moral consideration. Since the 19th century Islamic theologians have emphasised the merits of ijtihad as a valued source of authority as it allows the interpretation of Islam from within the context of the modern, changing world.

Islamic governments are not secular - there is no division between 'church' and state - therefore law is an important part of, and is prescribed by, religion. Sharia is the holy law of Islam and throughout history has been the law of many Islamic countries. Today both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan uphold Sharia as supreme law. Needless to say, the Sharia holds an immense amount of authority in such countries. There are four 'official' sources of Islamic law; the Quran, Sunnah, ijma and itihad. These four sources of authority, already discussed, come together in the Sharia to form an extensive body of laws. The authority of the Sharia comes from these four sources, the authority of those originating from the Quran itself, from the revelations given to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel. By the 10th century the basis of Islamic jurisprudence, drawn from these various sources came together as the Sharia. Since that time the Sharia has recognised further sources of authority. Fatwas, ('formal, legal written opinions based on the interpretation of law'), have grown to become authoritative sources of law. In addition, the practices of the first four caliphs of Islam, the decisions made by judges and the customs of Muslim communities are considered further sources of Islamic law.

The Quran stands today as probably the most recited and read, and without doubt the most memorised text of all time. All sources of Islamic authority can be traced back to the Quran, and hence ultimately to Allah Himself. While the Quran is not the only source of authority it is certainly the most powerful and it is only through the Quran that the other sources have any authority at all; the Sunnah and hadiths are based on the actions of the Prophet Muhammad to whom himself the Quran was revealed, and Islam was born. Ima is only ever considered with the Quran in mind and itihad is the interpretation of the Quran. Since Sharia is dependent on these four sources, it too gains its authority from the Our'an. Without the Our'an Islam itself would have no foundation. Therefore Allah is the ultimate source of authority - it is his word in the Created Quran, and it is from the Quran that other sources of authority are fashioned.

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