Does Islam have an Expiration Date?

There is a steadily spreading concept that many Islamic rules were only good at the time of the Prophet (SAAW). Such a claim treats the Deen like a carton of milk with an expiration date.

When we Muslims discuss issues such as interest, insurance, or establishing an Islamic state, we often excuse our shortcomings with the infamous line, "Brother, that law was only good for the 7th Century; we are living in the 21st now!"

For example, loan-sharking is done today in nice skyscrapers; it's easy to forget that the people in good suits are making oppressive transactions that effectively put others into slavery. Yes, everyone is doing it, and many shaykhs say that interest is OK, but it is still forbidden by the Shari`ah. The guarantees on our property promised by Fortune 500 insurance companies with convenient offices hide the fact that the sale of risk is still outlawed in Islam. In politics the Shari`ah requires Muslims to have one government, one military, and no borders between us; yet we still opt for the 55 or so illegitimate rulers over our broken lands in the name of "modern reality."

When we accept that certain Islamic laws cannot apply today, we overlook the full implication. When we insist that Islamic law has expired for business, economic, and political issues, we also open the way for saying the same thing about issues centering on salah, fasting, zakah, hajj, or even the legalizing of homosexuality.

The problem starts with the fact we do not live under Islamic law today. Our Islamic belief system contradicts the very civilization we live under. Like other human beings, we want to excel and live comfortably. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. However, it is a matter of heaven and hell that we do so within the guidelines of Islam, whether it is easy or not at a given place or time. Unfortunately, with no Islamic state, the way we live comfortably is voiding the Shari`ah when it deals with business or politics.

But that is wrong. All humans are organisms with instinctive, biological needs that must be satisfied. These needs have never changed since Adam and Eve (AS). Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) sent Islam for the comfort of humans, organizing their lives to ensure that no need is neglected. Human nature has not changed: why should the Islamic system change or expire?

In reality, some of us want to leave Islam in the 7th Century to make room for so-called capitalist democracy, the ideology now shaping the world. In opposition to Islam, this system has its own way of organizing and satisfying human needs. It does not take a rocket scientist to see the problems that result. The statistics for divorce, murder, adultery, debt, wars suicide, domestic violence, and devastated families always increase. America, the beacon of capitalism, is even called the "Prozac culture" because so many people are clinically depressed. Though a few of us have it nice in suburbia, we must remember that a whole world is suffering from capitalism, because Islam is not being applied.

We can either choose to please Allah and avoid the forbidden things that capitalism allows; or we can submit to our desires and just live according to Capitalism. However, saying that Islamic laws expire or are old fashioned is a preposterous mistake. Islam is from Allah the Creator who provided the system that satisfies our biological and instinctive needs from the 7th Century to the Day of Judgment. Only He can create a harmonious system, for He alone knows the long-term outcomes of the rules and regulations placed on a society.

Don't give Islam an expiration date. Study Islamic political culture, understand it, and work to revive it. Only Muslims can save the world from the abyss that it is sinking into. May Allah grant us success! (Submitted 10/6/2004)