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Discussing
the Drug Problem
09/04/2005-Whenever there is a
discussion amongst the scholars, about the drugs epidemic that
plague the community ,the discussions always revolve around
the disastrous effects of it and the solution they propose is
to highlight the benefits of abstaining from drugs.
Unfortunately this is an incorrect solution and calling for
such solutions may even reinforce the thought process which
actually push people to take drugs and commit other vile acts.
By educating people against the dangers of drugs campaigners
are hoping to paint a picture in which the dangers outweigh
the benefit. The argument is easily overcome if the 'benefit'
can be seen to outweigh the risk. Many soft drug users will
often cite that it is statistically safer to take the softer
variety of drugs and that you have a greater chance of being
hit by a motor bike than you do of dying from taking drugs.
Therefore the risks would appear to be low compared to the
euphoric feeling of being high. Relying on scare tactics is
intellectually shallow and such arguments will even backfire
as demonstrated earlier. The only reason why we should abstain
from drugs and other intoxicants is because Allah has
prohibited them. End of story.
"It may be that you hate something and it is good for you and
it may be that you like something and it is bad for you, Allah
knows and you do not know" [Al-Baqarah: 216]
''It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His
Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any
option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His
Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error.'' [
Al-Ahzab:36]
''Say: 'Not equal are Al-Khabith [all that is evil and bad]
and At-Tayyib [all that is good], even though the abundance of
Al-Khabith may please you.' So fear Allah, O men of
understanding in order that you may be successful '' [Al-Ma'idah:
100]
Furthermore, these are the laws of Allah (swt), and we submit
to them totally. The very fact that these laws are from Allah
(swt) is enough to make them correct. We should not fall into
the trap of using human logic and reasoning to justify the
Shariah; otherwise, we automatically accept defeat because we
implicitly acknowledge that the Shariah must be justifiable to
the human logic. One of the reasons why we say Islam is
correct is the fact that human logic and reasoning cannot be
used as a reference for right/wrong and a source for laws and
legislation in the first place. That being said, there are
many benefits to the Islamic laws, and there is nothing wrong
with pointing out these benefits, so long as they do not
become the basis for our submission to these laws.
Perhaps one may perceive some benefits that arise out of
implementing a certain Islamic rule, but these perceived
benefits are NOT the reason why the rule exists. Otherwise, if
we think in this way, then I ask the question: What if the
reason or perceived benefit no longer exists? Do we stop
implementing the rule? Many people argue that pork is haram
because it is not clean, but suppose that genetic engineering
makes it possible to produce disease-free pork? If this
happens, pork is still haram, because the reason for pork
being haram is because Allah (swt) made it haram. There is no
way of determining what was on ''Allah's Mind'' when He made
this rule. We use our minds only to understand what the rules
are, and not to try and figure out what are the reasons behind
these rules. Once we understand the rule, our attitude should
be: We listen and obey.
Similarly the ONLY reason for complying with the Islamic dress
is not because it offers protection or modesty. The reason why
we adhere to the Islamic dress is because it is a Hukm Sharii
(Islamic ruling) from Allah (swt). The protection and modesty
are possible by-products of adhering to this rule, which may
or may not exist depending on the situation. For some sisters,
the Islamic dress offers protection, but in certain
situations, it may actually invite danger ( being labelled as
a fundamentalist). That is why we need to look at Islam
comprehensively. The Islamic dress alone will not offer
protection, but rather the Islamic dress as well as the
correct Islamic concepts, the Islamic norms and values, and
the Islamic system that will apply all of these concepts,
norms and values in all aspects of the society.
In conclusion, the effects of a problem and the related
statistical data (of drug addicts or crime rate) should be
used as analysis tools to understand the exact the problem,
its severity, and grasp the dichotomy of underlying issues by
building thoughts upon thoughts. This process can be
classified as intellectual thinking which should be clearly
distinguished from legislative thinking. The outcome of
intellectual thinking will establish the fact there is a
problem and a solution is needed. Once the problem is
thoroughly understood, legislative thinking is employed to
extract a legislation, derive a concept, formulate a maxim or
to draft a policy based on the evidences (daleel) from the
Islamic legislative sources (Quran, Sunnah and others). The
purpose of legislative thinking is to seek an opinion about
issue without any preconceived notions and the entire focus in
this process is on rules and parameters (Arabic language,
Usul-ul Fiqh, and above all, the Islamic Aqeedah) of ijtihad
rather than effects of the problem. Unfortunately these 2
thinking processes no longer exist in the ummah and if there
is any thinking at all it is very erratic. However in the West
a consistent thinking pattern exist, but based on the
erroneous foundation.
Source:
Adduonline
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