Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur

Muhammad Al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur
Title Shaykh ul-Islam
Born 1879 CE[1] – 1296 AH[2]
Died 1973 CE[1] – 1394 AH[2]
Nationality Tunisian[2]
Religion Islam
Denomination Sunni
Jurisprudence Maliki[3]
Creed Ash'ari[4]
Notable work(s) Tafsir al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir, Maqasid al-Shari'ah al-Islamiyyah, A laysa al-subh bi-qarib

Muhammad Al-Tahir Ibn Ashur (1879–1973)[1] was the most renowned Zaytuna Imam and one of the great Islamic scholars of the 20th century.[5] He studied with reform-minded 'ulamā' and mastered classical Islamic scholarship. He became a judge then Shaikh al-Islām in 1932, and was a prolific writer and author in the area of reforming Islamic education and jurisprudence. He is perhaps best remembered for his Qur'anic exegesis, al-Tahrir wa'l-tanwir (The Verification and Enlightenment).[5]

Early life

Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur was born in Tunis 1879 to an affluent family of high social standing and died in 1973 at the age of 94. Originally of Andalusian origin dedication to the pursuit of knowledge seems to have been a continuous and established tradition throughout the successive generations of the family's ancestors. He came from a family of scholars, with his grandfather being especially renowned. When he entered Zaytuna, special care was made to provide him the best teachers. He was a teacher at Zaytuna all his life. His masterpiece is the Maqasid al-Shari'ah al-Islamiyyah, the Intents, or Higher Goals of Islamic Law, published in 1946. He is famous for standing up for the right cause: when the the the militant secularist and president of Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba, wanted a fatwa to justify abandoning the fast of the month of Ramadhan because it harmed productivity,[1] he made his response by reciting "Prescribed for you is fasting," and announced on the radio, "God has spoken the truth and Bourguiba has spoken falsehood."[1] He was, as a result, dismissed from his post.[1]

Influenced by a visit to Tunisia by Muhammad Abduh, Ibn Ashur combined a thorough knowledge of the classics with a desire to revive Islamic civilization. In his writings, it is clear that he saw himself as a bridge between the classical Islamic legal heritage and the needs of a modern world. His references to the great works of law are respectful, but he does not hesitate to point out shortcomings, and responding to modern challenges to Islamic traditions, Ibn Ashur called for substantive reforms in Islamic education. His work on the ultimate purposes of the Shari‘a represents not only an attempt to revive the maqasid theory of Shatibi, but also a significant addition to modern efforts to renew Islamic legal theory.

Personal Views

Ibn Ashur situates his work to be relevant for the modern world. He believes that the discipline of usul al-fiqh has reached its limits and become over-burdened with methodological technicalities. We cannot generate legal responses to situations in the modern world by delving deeper and deeper into the meaning of a word. Instead, we must take up the perennial challenge to discover and implement the higher goals of the shari'ah.

Scholarly Work

Ibn Ashur asserted the view that language is fundamentally, by its very nature, ambiguous. Language by itself is not enough to determine the intent of a speaker. Further, while written words are less subject to distortion, the spoken word is actually more likely to convey the speaker’s intent. Taken as a whole, the entire field the word resides in must be studied and understood. One cannot simply take a word and endlessly delve into its meaning without understanding the larger context. In contrast, the example of the subsequent generations going back to Madinah to ask people about the meaning of a statement shows the importance of studying and understanding the big picture, the full context of a statement.

Because one cannot really ascertain the intent of a speaker from a single sentence, Ibn Ashur questioned the juridical weight of a single, isolated hadith in determining legislation. Instead, legislative value should be sought from the totality of the shari'ah. Ibn Ashur was so sure of this that he suggested that comments seemingly to the contrary from Imam al-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal must be distortions of their work. He worried that taking a solitary (ahad) hadith in isolation from the body of the shari'ah, the quest for understanding in context would be abandoned. Preferring the solitary hadith over a rational deduction based on established context would therefore be problematic. Ibn Ashur believes that al-Shafi'i has been misunderstood as accepting a solitary hadith over the totality of the shari'ah; and that Ahmad ibn Hanbal has also been misrepresented as accepting a weak hadith over qiyas. Ibn Ashur says that a weak hadith is open to error, and qiyas is open to error, but in addition, the weak hadith may be a lie, and the consequence of using it would be worse than using qiyas.

Ibn Ashur understood that the basis of the shari'ah must be rational. He said, One of the greatest things required by the universality of the shari'ah is that its rules be equal for all the communities following it to the utmost extent possible, because similarity in the flow of rules and laws is a help for achieving group unity in the community. Because of this special wisdom, Allah made this shari'ah to be founded on wisdom that may be reflected on (i'tibar al-hikam) and reasons that may be perceived by the intellect, which are not different even though the communities and customs are different.

Because the shari'ah is universal, it must not be restricted to a single culture. The shari'ah came down in the Arabic language to an Arabic people, and therefore its coloring and style are Arabic. But its intent is universal, and so therefore it must be intelligible to people everywhere. This tells us that there are reasons for the law. The prohibitions, for example, of keeping raisin juice in certain kinds of containers comes from the fact that in the heat of the Hijaz the juice would quickly ferment. In cold climates, that would not apply. In fact, to stubbornly hold onto superficialities without understanding the intent is to “expose the shari'ah to being dismissed disdainfully.”

Ibn Ashur saw this literal-mindedness to be represented by the Zahiri position. His strongest argument against it is that the literal occasions which the Zahiris hold onto are quite limited, but the different situations people around the world encounter are unlimited. Therefore, the maqasid of the shari'ah must be engaged.

Ibn Ashur called for ijtihad in the strongest terms. He said, “Ijtihad is a collective duty (fard al-kifayah) on the community according to the measure of need in the community’s countries and situations.” He chastised the Muslims for neglecting ijtihad despite the fact that the capacity to do ijtihad, and the means for doing ijtihad, are available. He wanted to see Muslims coming forth to practice ijtihad for the global community. It was clear to him that the lack of ijtihad had grave consequences for the community. He called for a group of mujtahids from countries around the world, from different madhahib (schools), to address the needs of the community. This would be the basis for a renewal of civilisation.

There is a growing recognition that the enterprise of searching for and using the maqasid of the shari'ah must be taken up again. Civilizational renewal requires this kind of creative approach, and Ibn Ashur’s legacy is to challenge and invite others to take up this project.

Ibn 'Ashur on Qur'an 2:256

One of the most fascinating approaches to the issue of coherence between Qur'an 2:256 {no coercion in religion}, 3:83 {willingly or unwillingly}, 9:29 {pay the Jizyah}, 9:73 {Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites}, and 2:193 {And fight them until there is no fitnah}, is that of Ibn 'Ashur. He understands verses 9:73 and 2:193, and the Hadith {I have been commanded (by Allah) to fight people until they testify that there is no true god except Allah}, as connected to the fighting with the aggressive Arab pagans, and after the conquest of Mekka (Fath Makkah) verse 2:256 became in force. Normally 2:256 is seen as abrogated (Mansukh) by 9:5/73, 66:9 or specific (Khass) for the People of the Book, but in Ibn 'Ashur's interpretation, 9:73/66:9, 2:193 and the mentioned Hadith is specific for the historical struggle with the Arab pagans and after the conquest of Mekka verse 2:256 became absolute and decisive in meaning (Matluq wa Muhkam) and thus cannot be abrogated, and verse 9:29 took away any option of fighting unbelievers. He thus turns the classical reading around while still connecting the Prophetic history with the Qur'anic text in a far more logical way. He historicizes Qur'anic verses the same way classical scholars have done through the concept of abrogation (Naskh) and occasions of revelation (Asbab al-Nuzul), but Ibn 'Ashur takes the Maqasid al-Shari'ah (welfare objectives of the Islamic law) into account where a restriction on freedom of religion would violate the preservation of religion and intellect (Hifz al-Din wa al-'Aql).

Works

Ibn 'Ashur wrote many works, amongst them:

Some of which were translated into english:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 A.C. Brown, Jonathan (2014). Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications. pp. 279–80. ISBN 978-1780744209.
  2. 1 2 3 M. Nafi 2005, p. 2.
  3. ↑ M. Nafi 2005, p. 12.
  4. ↑ M. Nafi 2005, p. 22.
  5. 1 2 M. Nafi 2005, p. 1.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.