The Islamic law is generally recognised as all inclusive regulating all aspects of human life. As such, it should in principle have defined the nature of the Islamic state, the method of its government, and the relation between political power and society.
In fact, however, it did not more than define in very broad terms the particular responsibilities and moral duties related to the exercise of power.
It may sound paradoxical, yet it is a fact that on the one hand, Islam claims the entire allegiance of man to God and on the other; it leaves a vast field of human activity, free from shackles.
Where the mind would benefit from following its own inclinations and exploring new avenues, it has been left free.
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Mohammad Asad exhorts the Muslims to give up their sterile reliance on what to previous generations appeared to be “final” verdicts on the socio-political laws of Tslam.
Instead, they must begin to think about them a new, in a creative manner, on the basis of their own study of the original sources.
He is convinced that if the Muslims approached their task in the spirit of free enquiry, they would arrive at two important conclusions.
First, the concept of Islamic Law especially with regard to public law would acquire once again that simplicity which had been envisaged for it by the Law-giver, but was subsequently buried under many layers of conventional and frequently arbitrary interpretations.
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Second, the outward forms and functions of an Islamic state would not necessarily correspond to any “historical precedent”.
All that would be required of an “Islamic state is the embodiment in its constitution and practice of those clear-cut, unambiguous ordinances of Islam which have a direct bearing on the community’s social, political, and economic life.
As it happens, those ordinances are very few and very precisely formulated; and they are invariably of such a nature as to allow the widest possible latitude to the needs of any particular time and social conditions.”
The message of Islam is eternal and must, therefore, always remain open to the searching intellect of man.
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The more our knowledge of the world progresses, the better we can understand the wisdom of the Law of Islam.
Thus our right to independent ijtihad on the basis of Quran and Sunnah is not only permissible but mandatory, and particularly so in matters on which the Sharia is either entirely silent or h’as given us no more than general principles.