Qur’anic legislation

“Obey God and His Prophet”. In this Qur’anic command lies the establishment of a novel political authority possessing legislative power. The year 622 saw the establishment of the Muslim community in Medina. The Arab tribes accepted Muhammad as the Prophet or spokesman of the God, and regarded themselves and his Meccan followers as constituting a group of a new kind wherein the bond of a common religious faith transcended tribal ties. While Muhammad’s position gradually developed into one of political and legal sovereignty, the will of God transmitted to the community by him in the Qur’anic revelations came to supersede tribal custom in various respects.

Most of the basic notions underlying civilized society find such a mode of expression in the Qur’an. Compassion for the weaker members of society, fairness and good faith in commercial dealings, incorruptibility in the administration of justice are all enjoined as desirable norms of behaviour without being translated into any legal structure of rights and duties. The same applies to many precepts which are more particular, and more peculiarly Islamic, in their terms. Drinking of wine and usury are both simply declared to be forbidden. But no indication of the legal incidents of the practices is contained in the Qur’an. In fact wine-drinking later became a criminal offence punishable by flogging while usury was a purely civil matter, the transaction being a type of invalid or unenforceable contract. This clearly demonstrates the distinct attitudes of the religious prophet and the political legislator. The primary purpose of the Qur’an is to regulate not the relationship of man with his fellows but his relationship with his Creator.

The vast majority of the Qur’an verses are concerned with the religious duties and ritual practices of prayer, fasting. Approximately eighty verses deal with legal topics in the strict sense of the term. They cover a great variety of subjects, ranging from women’s dress to the division of the spoils of war, and from the prohibition of the flesh of swine to the penalty of flogging for fornication.

There is much information about the position of women, married women in particular. Rules on marriage and divorce are numerous and varied, and, with their general objective of the improvement of the woman’s status, represent some of the most radical reforms of the Arabian customary law effected in the Qur’an. As regards marriage the Qur’an commands that the wife alone shall receive the dower payable by her husband. The effect of this simple Qur’anic rule is to transfer the wife from the position of a sale-object to that a contracting party who, in return for her granting the right of sexual union with herself, is entitled to receive the due consideration of the dower. She is now endowed with a legal competence she did not possess before.

There are many regulations concerning inheritance. The first Qur’anic reference to this subject is a typically ethical injunction which urges a person who is on the point of death to bequeath equitably to his parents and kindred. This provision qualifies the system of exclusive inheritance by the male agnate relatives and recognizes the capacity of women relatives to succeed. Following the death of many Muslims in the battles fought against the unbelievers, a series of Qur’anic revelations allotted specific fractions of the deceased’s estate to individual relatives. Of the nine relatives so entitled six are women – the wife, the mother, the daughter, the germane, consanguine and uterine sisters – and the remaining three are male relatives who would either never have inherited at all under the old system (the husband and the uterine brother) or would have been excluded by a nearer agnate (the father, who would not have inherited in competition with a son of the deceased).

The principle that God was the only lawgiver and that is command was to have supreme control over all aspects of life was clearly established. But that command was not expressed in the form complete charter for the Muslim community. Later events were to show that the Qur’anic precepts form little more than the preamble to an Islamic code of behaviour.

(b) Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words from the box:

capacity of women relatives to succeed; to bequeath equitably; a criminal offence punishable by flogging; dower payable by her husband; incorruptibility in the administration of justice; usury; lawgiver; the germane

(1) As regards marriage the Qur’an commands that the wife alone shall receive the _____________. (2) The principle that God was the only ____________ and that is command was to have supreme control over all aspects of life was clearly established. (3) Drinking of wine and ___________ are both simply declared to be forbidden. (4) Fairness and good faith in commercial dealings, ______________ are all enjoined as desirable norms of behaviour without being translated into any legal structure of rights and duties. (5) Wine-drinking later became _____________. (6) This provision qualifies the system of exclusive inheritance by the male agnate relatives and recognizes the _____________. (7) The first Qur’anic reference to this subject is a typically ethical injunction which urges a person who is on the point of death _____________ to his parents and kindred. (8) Of the nine relatives so entitled six are women – the wife, the mother, the daughter, ______________, consanguine and uterine sisters

(c) Find in the text the words that mean the following:

- the practice of lending money at excessively high rates of interest

- a punishment for breaking a law, rule or contract

- a person who decides the laws of a country or society

- a person who has died, especially recently

- to gain the right to a title, property, etc when somebody dies

- to arrange, by making a will, to give property, money, etc to somebody when one dies

- to order somebody not to do something

(d) Answer the following questions:

1) What basic notions underlying civilized society can we find in the Qur’an?

2) What do you know about the position of women in the Qur’an?

3) What regulations concerning inheritance are contained in the Qur’an?

TASK 2. Study the text below, making sure you fully comprehend it. Where appropriate, consult English-Russian dictionaries and/or other references & source books on law.