ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Introduction to the Science of Tafsir of the Quran Part 6: Examining the Authentic Ahadith Some of the verses of the Qur`an pertain to Islamic law and jurisprudence. They talk about the acts and deeds of those obligated to observe the Islamic laws and explain their rulings. The number of such verses in the Qur`an are not few and some scholars enumerate such verses as being around five hundred!

Although the actual number of such verses is fewer than this, however benefiting from them, without referring to the relevant authentic Islamic traditions is incorrect. This is because a majority of these are either general guidelines whose conditions and restrictions have been mentioned in the traditions of the Noble Prophet (‘s) and his Infallible (‘a) or are universal laws whose exceptions were later explained by the sunnah of the Noble Prophet (‘s).

It goes without saying that establishing a law by the absoluteness of the absolute form or the universality of the universal without referring to the limitations and exceptions is incorrect. In order for this issue to be clear in the minds of the readers, we present the following examples. There are issues in the Noble Qur`an, for which there can be found no explanation save in the Islamic ahadith and the conduct of the early Muslims.

For example, the Qur`an has made salat, sawm, zakat, khums, and hajj obligatory, while it has given no details about them. Thus, we have no choice but to seek the details of these general acts from the Islamic ahadith and the conduct of the early Muslims. Hence without referring to these sources, any other kind of commentary and explanation about them would be equal to aspiring for the impossible.

In explaining such verses, the method adopted by all the Muslims of the world from the early days of Islam until today has been the same [i.e. referring to the relevant authentic ahadith and the way of life of the Muslims]. In the Noble Qur`an there are general and absolute laws whose exceptions and limitations appear only in the sunnah of the Prophet (‘s) and the traditions of the Infallible Imams (‘a). This custom of not incorporating notes alongside laws is not restricted to the Qur`an.

Rather, even legislative bodies of the world follow the same method: over a period of time in implementing the laws of a country, points of enlightenment and exceptions are incorporated into the laws.