2. The Need for the Sharī‘a
Man’snaturedictatesthathecanonlyfunctionproperlywithinasociety.
Humanbeings are interdependentby nature. Thisinterdependency of
human beings on each other is beautifully expressed in the following
passage:
“The bakertoldmeto bakemy own bread;the tailortoldme tocut
andsewmyownclothes;theshoemakertoldmetomakemyownshoes;
similarly, the carpenter, theengineer, the farmer, andall the labourers
and workers told me to do everything by myself. It was then that I
looked atmyselfand realizedthat Iam naked,hungryand powerless
withnoshelterovermyhead,waitingfordeathtoovercomeme.Itwas
thenthat IrealizedthatIcannotsurvivewithoutmyfellowhumanbe-
ings; my survival depends on living in the society.”[19]
Asociety,however,dependsforitsexistenceonlawsandregulations.
Iftherearenolawsinasociety,itisovertakenbythelawofthejungle:
thestruggleforexistenceandthesurvivalofthefittest.Sothe needfor
laws to regulate the lives of human beings is beyond any doubt.
Islamteachesthat becauseofthe imperativeneedof lawsforacivil-
izedsociety,Godhassent aseriesofmessengersandprophetswithdi-
vinelawsforman'sguidancefromtheveryfirstdayofhiscreation.The
last Messengerwas Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings of
Godbeuponhimandhisfamily)whobroughtthefinalandtheperfect
set of laws, Islam, as a guide for mankind till the end of time.
ManypeoplethinkthatthereisnoneedforGod-madelaws, wecan
make laws by ourselves. Islam believes that a human being is a very
sophisticatedcreature;andsincehehasnotmadehisownbody,nordid
hecreatethe worldinwhichhelives,he,therefore,isnotthe bestcan-
didate for making lawsabout himself. Common sense says that when
youbuyacomplicatedpieceofequipment,likeacomputer,youshould
use itaccording to the ‘instruction manual’ preparedby the manufac-
turerofthatparticularmachine.Tolearnthecomputerbytrialanderror
isnotthesmartway.Similarly,GodastheCreatorofmanandtheearth
knows better how the human being should live.