Shari'ah & flexibility
Software copyright
What kind of questions can I ask?
Who answers my questions?
Question: Shariah and flexibility
I need to know whether or not the Islamic law or Shari'a is subject to change? Can they be revised? And if yes, to what extent and how do we know that? Do we have any prove from Koran or Sunnah that permits the revision of the law?
May Allah keep Imam Shirazi and you all in good health. InSha'Allah.
Answer
The Islamic law or Shari'ah is not subject to change, and it cannot be revised. However, the application of the law may change from time to time. That is to say there may be products today which may be Halaal or haram, but such products may not have existed at the time of the prophet, when the law was ratified by him peace be upon him.
A hadith that sums up the answer to your question states:
"Anything that has been declared Halaal by Muhammad remains Halaal until the Day of Judgement and anything which has been declared haram remains haram until the Day of Judgement."
The following is extract from one of the books written by Imam Shirazi:
Allah defines the laws of Islam1, and mankind may not make a law in contradiction to the laws of Allah2. Some of these laws are outlined in the Glorious Qur'an. The Prophet Muhammad, through his Teaching (the Sunnah), explained and expanded the Islamic laws3. The Prophet also delegated the explanations of some of the laws to his successors; the infallible Imams4. They in turn explained and clarified the laws of Islam, precisely according to the Qur'an and the Teachings of the Prophet.
According to the Glorious Qur'an and the Teaching of the Prophet, the laws are categorised in two groups:
Specific laws: Such as the mandate of the daily prayers or the illegality of adultery. Such laws may never be changed.
General laws: Such laws define the basic principles and are applied to various cases and new developments.
For example:
"Any intoxicant is prohibited",
"Everything is permissible (Halal) unless it is stated to be prohibited (Haram)."
Such laws are flexible and may be applied at any time and place. Using the above example, therefore, any intoxicant which did not exist at the time of the Prophet and hence there has been no ruling from the Prophet about it, is still subjected to the above law. Similarly, any new food or medical product, which does not contain banned materials, is permissible.
The above extract is from the "Islamic System of Government" which has been translated into English and is available on the website www.shirazi.org.uk - under the books menu.
I hope this has been useful. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you had further questions.
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Question
- Who answers these questions or who is responsible?
- What type of questions can I ask? E.g. practical or theoretical Islamic questions?
Answer
1.If your questions can be answered by our resident Faqeeh, or expert on Islamic law, then the answers to your questions would be given by him according to the opinions of Imam Shirazi, and/or the answers given by Imam Shirazi to similar questions. Failing that the questions would be presented to Imam Shirazi himself.
You may ask any type of questions you have or you can think of.
Our site www.shirazi.org.uk is dedicated to help the Muslims with their questions of any kind, and to provide them with a reliable access to authentic knowledge about Islamic teachings. If you have any question you should direct them to imamshirazi@yahoo .com
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Question: Software copyright
I am an artist and graphic designer. I use the computer most of the time to design commercial works. Usually I use graphic design programs such as Photoshop, PageMaker, Freehand, Flash, etc. Usually I buy original programs, which are costly, however, there are some shops that sale copies of various products and computer programs for a little amount of money. These programs are (I think) illegal to sale because of the copyright issue.
My question is: Is it considered taboo or no right to buy these programs instead of buying original ones? And what some should do if he/she made some money from using these programs, without knowing if using these products is problematic in terms of religion restrictions?
Answer
The producer of the programs owns the copyright of the programs, and therefore the sale of copied products may not be done without the permission of the copyright holder of the original program. If one obtains gains from selling such copied products then the money belongs to the original copyright holder, and if it is not possible to return the money to the copyright holder for whatever reasons, and one was concerned about the consequences of taking such money, then this must be settled with a Jurisprudent, explaining the story behind it. As for the purchaser of such products, if he has already bought them then there is no action he needs to take, but for the future it is better that he refrains from buying such products.
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Question: Who are the Ahl-ul-Kitab?
What is Ayatollah Shirazi's opinion of the Zoroastrians? What are the qualifications that a madhhab must have to be named Ahlul-kitab?
Answer
Zoroastrians are ahl-ul-Kitaab.
Such things are factual and are not dependant on opinions of scholars.
Ahl-ul-Kitaab are followers of a divine religion who also have a divine book. Nowadays they are the Zoroastrians the Jews, and the Christians.
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