They don’t make it like that anymore. We were having a discussion in our Usool Al Fiqh class about the need for Fiqh and Usool al Fiqh. Nowadays the vast majority of people feel competent enough to pick up the Quran or books of Hadith and tell themselves what is Haram or Halal. Established opinions that were once agreed upon have been overturned as though they never held any weight.

Two thoughts come to mind, Arabic and Proficiency. What made the Quran so special when it was revealed? The answer is the language. It utilized the highest form of Arabic language, to the point that even today linguists reference the Quran to understand nuances in the Arabic language.

For us these sciences of Fiqh and Usool are needed. There was a time they weren’t. Just as we are busy with social media and technology, people were once busy with the Quran and Sunnah. Just like we live in societies surrounded by technology, they were raised with the book of God and around those who understood it.

You ask me why you can’t just open the Quran or Hadith and derive rulings? The same reason my mother and father can’t navigate their iPhone and Google Pixel. They were raised in a different time and place. They don’t know how a lot of technology works, and they don’t understand the language, so you know what they do?

They make calls, send texts, and occasionally browse the web. But for matters that are difficult, for troubleshooting, for the small issues that pop up that confuse them…

They ask me.

Why? Because they know I can navigate it, they know that I understand how modern technology works. They aren’t ashamed, nor do they feel that I’m arrogant when I remind them of what they misunderstood.

Some around us are frustrated and feel that our faith needs to be thrown out with the bath water because they may not understand it. Let me tell you what I tell my mother, “There is nothing wrong with the phone mommy, you’ve just been trying to work it without the manual and asking others that don’t know what they are talking about. Let’s start from the beginning and see what’s wrong… oh you just want to take a selfie? Let’s take one together.”

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