The Book of Allah

The First Source: The Book of Allah

1. Explicit texts (nass) and apparent (dhahir) texts in the Qur'an

2. The Generally Applicable ('amm) and Specifically Applicable (khass)

3. Parallel meaning (lahn al-khitab) its superior meaning (fahwa) and implicit meaning (mafhum)

4. Bayan al-Qur'an (Explication of the Qur'an)

According to ash-Shatibi al-Maliki in al-Muwafaqat:

"The Qur'an is the whole of the Shari'a, the support of religion, the fount of wisdom, the sign of Prophethood and the light of the eyes and the heart. There is no way to Allah except through it and there is no salvation by any other means than it. You must not hold to anything that contradicts it. None of this needs affirmation or deduction because it is known to the deen of the Community. Since that is the case, whoever wants complete knowledge of the Shari'a and desires to perceive its aims and be joined to its adherents must necessarily take the Qur'an as his constant companion and make it his intimate, night and day, in both investigation and action... If he is able to do that, he will soon have students and find himself among the Frontrunners and in the first rank. He will not be able to do it without being helped in that by the Sunna which clarifies the Book and, failing that, the works of earlier Imams and the Salaf, which will guide him in this noble aim and lofty purpose." (p. 247, vol. 3)

Malik viewed the Qur'an in the same way. So he was only seen reciting the Qur'an or relating hadiths or deriving fatwas from them to answer questions which were directed to him. He did not look at the Qur'an with the eye of a debater. It is not reported that he ever said that the Qur'an consisted of both words and meaning or meaning only; nor did he engage in any discussion of the mutakallimun about the Qur'an being created since he did not consider such subjects to be debatable. He believed that whenever a man argued with another, he cheapened that which Jibril had revealed to Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

Malik knew that the Qur'an contains all the Shari'a and that the Sunna is simply its exposition. The Qur'an cannot be understood correctly and completely unless the clarification which elucidates it, the Sunna of the Prophet, is taken into account. He was thirsty for it, not merely because it was the second Islamic source, but because it also clarifies and expounds the Qur'an and gives detail to what is general and limits what is unrestricted.

The Qur'an is in Arabic and was revealed in the Arabic language. The people of eloquent Arabic saw that its style was inimitable and were overwhelmed by it as all people are. However, it is in Arabic, and Malik did not think that it was proper for anyone to try to explain it unless he had deep knowledge of the Arabic language, its different dialects, and styles of speech. That is why it is reported that he said, "No one who explains the Book of Allah who does not know the dialects of the Arabs is brought to me without my making an example of him."

The Sunna is the straight way to grasp the meanings of the Book. That is why it is not correct to hold only to the Qur'an without seeking help in its explanation, meaning the Sunna. Malik disliked including any Biblical or Jewish (Talmudic) material in its explanation. He did not have confidence in the transmission of anyone who proceeded in this way. He mentioned that there was excellence in a certain person but criticised him for accepting tafsir from Qatada because he reckoned that Qatada included in his tafsir much that was not sound.

Malik considered the Qur'an to consist of both expressions and meanings, which is the position and consensus of the majority of Muslims, but he did not get involved in any wrangling or debate about this. That is why he did not consider that a translation of the Qur'an could be used for recitation in the prayer, or to be that for whose recitation there is prostration, or to be that whose copy may only touched by someone who is pure, or to be that which may not be recited by a woman who is menstruating or bleeding after childbirth or someone in a state of major impurity. A translation can never be more than an explanation of the meaning or rather a partial explanation of what can be understood from the Arabic original.

Scholars of the Maliki school mentioned that he used all the various degrees of textual interpretation referred to above, just as he took note of those matters in the Sunna. We are obliged to clarify the method and opinion of Malik concerning these matters in brief and his position in respect of other opinions without going into excessive detail.