Istihsan (P/B)

Organizations must have rules of order to facilitate their debate and to fill in the procedures not detailed by their constitutional documents. While most American organizations are content to operate by Robert’s Rules of Order, Muslim organizations have often wrestled with questions over whether the rules of order systemized by a Western military figure are in accord with the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

This book tackles the matter directly and takes into account the Qur’an, the sunnah, Islamic manners and the history of Islamic consultation and leadership to provide a simple, practical guide to organizational procedure that can be incorporated into the governance of Muslim organizations. The book includes advice on writing bylaws and on complying with the best practices of the U.S. Dept. of Justice in a way that is Islamically authentic, transparent, and accountable. It provides a basic starting point for any Muslim organization while allowing for flexibility so that organizations may make any variations they require within their own bylaws and constitution, so that it can accommodate differing schools of thought on Islamic law. In its discursive approach it is an essential primer for understanding the value of rules of order and the Islamic context for their application. The Islamic Rules of Order has been adopted as the rules of order of the Association of Muslims Social Scientists.

Worship in Islam is in-depth study of the nature and significance of Islamic spirituality by Abul A‘la Mawdudi (1903–79), one of the leading Muslim intellectuals of the twentieth century, with special reference to the concepts of God’s Oneness (tawhid), the finality of Prophethood (risalah) and the Islamic system of worship (‘ibadah) with a focus upon prayer (salah) and fasting (sawm) and their role in the development of the Islamic personality and Islam’s social order. The distinguishing feature of Mawdudi’s approach is his elaboration of the social dimension of worship, which extends the traditional approach found in Islamic jurisprudence, with its focus upon ritual and self-purification, to consider worship’s transformative role in social life. Presenting a holistic view of the Islamic system, Mawdudi highlights Islam’s social, economic and political dimensions, which he argues has the capacity to resolve emergent issues and problems that humankind faces.

This historic text should be of wider interest to both students and specialists in contemporary Islamic thought, and includes an introduction by Professor Anis Ahmad.

Edited and translated into accessible English by Ahmad Imam Shafaq Hashemi, this book is an authoritative compilation by a leading Islamic twentieth-century revivalist on the central matter of worship’s role in Islam.