Prophet Muhammad
After the rule of Prophet Muhammad, Islam underwent a socio-political evolution that led to what it has become today. Caliphs were the first leaders who took over the prophet’s roles as a leader in the community. However, as time passed, people’s confidence in caliphates significantly declined and they relied on other Islamic principles for ethics. Islamic laws borrow fundamental aspects of morality from the Quran and the hadiths. These two provide guidelines upon which morality in modern Islam is practiced. This paper is a discussion of why the caliphates descended and why the hadith and Sharia rose to become the moral references of many Muslims in modern times.
The prophet is believed to be the first true ruler of all Muslims because he was a direct messenger of Allah. Upon his death, Muhammad did not leave behind any instructions about the leadership of the Umma (Denny, 2010). Majority Muslims voted that a caliph be appointed to play the part which the prophet had been playing. The caliph Abu Bakr, was selected because he had the closest relationship with the prophet. It became a tradition that the caliphs were either elected or selected by the predecessors. The descent of the caliphates does not necessarily contradict the teachings of the prophet. Therefore, as time progressed Sharia did not have to be based on this form of a rule rather on the more sophisticated words of the prophet; the hadith and the Quran. Caliphates failed because they were not necessarily instituted by the prophet.
The caliphate period was characterized by violence against neighbors during the Islamic conquests of Arabian territory. Muhammad did not succeed in uniting all Islamic states politically and religiously. After his death, medina became the center of Muslim rule and this led to several Muslim communities falling out of the Umma. Caliph Abu Bakr led the military to conquer more Islamic states and convert people to Islam (Denny, 2010). The use of force to acquire the great Islamic empire led to the obsolescence of caliphates. Therefore, the hadith and Quran had more accurate depictions of what should be reflected in the Sharia. According to the Quran and Islamic laws, neighbors should be treated with love.
The Sunnah and Quran provided complex development of Islamic law. The jurists in early Islam did not have legal procedures to carry out justice; instead, they acted based on their opinion of what they thought was right or wrong. The need for legislation and legal guidance in Islam led to the development of Islamic laws (Denny, 2010). There existed many caliphates under which were different caliphs who ruled with different aspiring agendas. Eventually, bias and injustice meant that the caliphates would no longer be considered viable in the Islam socio-politics. The hadiths and sharia provided a much more grounded theoretical basis for moral development as they were direct messages from the prophet.
The control of people’s behavior was best coming from religious law; rather than impetus royal authority. The caliphates were in essence just rulers who were only necessary for the control of the forces which governed the people. The military is not considered an aggregating force in the development of society. There is a need for supervision by authority but it should not take away the need for religious law (Khaldun, 2015). Having a society built only on the law of authority and not that of religious law would have created a community of heathens. Inevitably, the caliphates could not serve to rule Islam because Muslims read the scriptures and the teachings of the prophet. The hadith and the Sharia formed a more religious law upon which the ethics of Islam were founded.
The development of laws in Muslim society co-align with messages and prophecies that emphasize how humans must coexist through cooperation. Coexistence meant that people had to exercise restraint in the expression of their nature through the principles of jurisprudence (Khaldun, 2015). In the traditional context, after the first four caliphates, there was no need for the institution. The caliphates did not provide the required balance in the community rather they served grounds for further conflict. It was easier to follow the sharia and obey Islamic law by following the teachings in the Quran. Sharia laws had to be established to create a coherent Muslim society where everyone would be served under the same jurisdiction.
The pillars of Islam institute that every individual has to pray on their own as a source of faith. The caliphates’ most relevant function was leadership in prayer (Khaldun, 2015). Salat, also known as prayer, is one of the most integral pillars of Islam that suggests that every Muslim should pray at least five times a day facing the east. According to Salat, a Muslim can say the prayers as an individual at whatever location they prefer. It is the responsibility of Imam to lead the prayers of those who have congregated together at the mosque. However, the authority of the Imam is restricted to the religious and not political. The Sharia serves as a much more effective arm for such authority. Therefore, the caliphates paved the way for the institution of Muhammad’s teachings about the five pillars of Muslim.
The shahada (pillar of faith), meant that Muslims would eventually find the caliphates dissatisfying. The pillar of faith is the first pillar that states that there are no gods but one God and his name is Allah. The main message around this pillar is that Muslims should only believe in God and follow the teachings of his prophet Muhammad. This must-have incited many Muslims to critically evaluate the actions of the caliphs. The law created by caliphates did not serve as much purpose as the one that was written in the Quran and in hadiths. Faith in Allah led to the realization of Sharia and the abolishment of caliphates. Faith is the central adhering factor that brings Muslims together as a community.
The evolution of a society is highly dependent on the development of their laws. Islam has shown such an evolution since its formative years. The descending of caliphates to pave way for Sharia is a display of such evolution. In the search for a greater community, the need for justice has shaped the modern Muslim society. Hadith scholarships critically helped Muslims to understand what Muhammad would have agreed to. Additionally, the Quran had teachings that were the foundations of Islam. The sensibilities of the Islamic law had to be derived from both texts and not from the subjective rule of the caliphates. Religious societies are based on their faith and will follow the laws that are instituted by their leaders and beliefs.