Fundamental Principles Of Islam Research Paper

3.1. Fundamental Principles of Islamic law

If ‘fundamentalism’ is put in the correct context, it would be clear what actually constitutes the basic principles of Islam. The Prophet recognized that Islam is established on five pillars i.e. oneness of God and that Muhammad (PBUH) is Allah’s Messenger; the regular offering of prayers (salat); alms-giving (zakat); performing a pilgrimage to the Kabah(hajj); and fasting for the month of Ramadan (sawm).

These are the fundamental principles, or pillars of Islam. The rest of the teachings fall into the category of detailed description of the five basic principles. Holding any other law besides these to form part of the basic teachings of Islam is misguided and inadmissible.

Let us take the first of

But believers are made aware at all times that it is not just simple presence in Makkah and the physical accomplishment of the rites which really matter, but the careful conduct accompanying each act, the moderate and disciplined behavior which reveals the earnest intentions of the pilgrim to lead a righteous life then and throughout the rest of the year. Again it is the spiritual thing, that counts.

The fifth pillar of Islam, fasting (sawm) for the whole of the month of Ramadan, is not concerned merely with frugality from food and drink during each day from sunrise to sunset, but with the devotion and acknowledgement to God which selflessness teaches (2:183). Thus the aspect of fasting is to produce the spirit of devotion. In the words of the hadith, a fast without the spirit of piety is only the experience of hunger and thirst. As such, it is not a true fast in the religious sense of the word (Mishkat

According to Sunni schools of law, secondary sources of Islamic law are consensus among Muslims jurists, analogical deduction, al-Ra'y; independent reasoning, benefit for the Community and Custom. Hanafi school frequently relies on analogical deduction and independent reasoning, and Maliki and Hanbali generally use the Hadith instead. Shafi'i school uses Sunnah more than Hanafi and analogy more than two others. Among Shia, Usuli school of Ja'fari jurisprudence uses four sources, which are Qur'an, Sunnah, consensus and aql. They use ijma under special conditions and rely on aql (intellect) to find general principles based on the Qur'an and Sunnah, and use usul al-fiqh as methodology to interpret the Qur'an and Sunnah in different circumstances, and Akhbari Jafaris rely more on Hadith and reject ijtihad. According to Momen, despite considerable differences in the principles of jurisprudence between Shia and the four Sunni schools of law, there are fewer differences in the practical application of jurisprudence to ritual observances and social