THE DIVINE SOURCES

The most impressive and characteristic monument in the religious culture of Islam is the shariʿah. This is the expression of the will of Allah manifested in his guidance of Muhammad and preserved by the community in their scripture, the Qurʾan. The will of Allah, the sole metaphysical reality, was both eternal and immutable. Allah had not, however, disclosed his will solely through the medium of revelation, but also through the deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Once the text of scripture had been established, the attention of the ʿulamaʾ turned to the community's affairs under the Prophet, for Muhammad had been ordered to guide his followers saying to them, if you love Allah, then follow me, and Allah will love you and forgive you your sins; and Allah is forgiving, a dispenser of grace (3:31).

A keynote of the Muslims' faith is implicit here. This is the emphasis upon direct human responsibility before Allah. Each individual who personally chooses to obey him directly confronts the divine will expressed in the shariʿah and strives to conduct his or her life according to that imperative. This is without the aid of either an intermediary or some manner of collective responsibility. The essence of the obligation to Allah is to act as his vicegerent on earth, ordering the good and forbidding wrong (3:104 and 3:110). In other words, it is a duty to accept responsibility for the establishment of proper public order. The law, as the concrete expression of Allah's will and guidance, is therefore central to the individual and collective Muslim identity. It constitutes the sole blueprint for the good society.