After reading Sohaira Siddiqui's article, answer the followingquestions:
According to Siddiqui, how does ISIS justify its actions basedon the religious texts? Explain at least one of the detailedexamples she provides.
How do ISIS' rulings and actions transgress the “objectives ofthe Shari'a†outlined by 11th century jurists, accordingto Siddiqui?
Finally, what is your opinion on the problem of scripturalinterpretation (in any religious tradition)? In other words:Who gets to decide, ultimately, whichinterpretation of a sacred text is correct?
ARTICLE:
Isis Interpretation of Islamic Scripture By Sohaira SiddiquiAbout the author: Sohaira Siddiqui wrote a thoughtful post forJadaliyya on how the Islamic State approaches the medievalscholastic tradition of Islamic jurisprudence. She’s an assistantprofessor of Islamic theology at Georgetown University's Qatarcampus, so she’s got a lot to say on the subject of the IslamicState’s use of scripture. Sohaira Siddiqui: When reading materialsreleased by ISIS or legal verdicts produced by their courts, ISISrelies upon various sources: sacred texts, namely the Quran andhadith, and the actions of the Prophet’s early companions andsubsequent generations. These laws can be understood to eitherenhance the “dignity†of Muslims, to strike fear in the hearts andminds of their enemies, or to create a religiously ordered society.The use of scriptural sources and history is not only important forreligiously legitimizing their actions, it also promotes theiroverall objectives. In other words, they subject scripture andhistory for their own political and religious motivations. Thusfar, when Islamic scholars have assessed ISIS’s use of scripture,many have asserted that ISIS is literal and also cherry-picks fromscripture to fulfill their desired objectives. While I agree, Iwould argue that ISIS ago engages with purpose based reasoning andthus often steps away from the literal meaning of texts whennecessary. For example, in rationalizing the burning of theJordanian pilot, ISIS first pointed to airstrikes carried outagainst Muslims, then referenced verse 126 in Sura al-Nahl whichallows for commensurate retaliation, and finally ended withexamples from the time of the Prophet and companions in which fireis used. In this case, an analogy is constructed between theeffects of an airstrike and the deliberate burning of anindividual. Here elements of purposive, not textual, reasoning areinvolved; that is striking fear into the minds of the enemies. Todeliberately set alight an individual has only a tendentious linkto the launch of missiles. Thus what appears to be a literalapplication of the right of commensurate punishment becomes morenuanced when analyzed in greater detail. Let us take another casewhich shows ISIS to go beyond the literal meaning of the text inorder to suit their objectives. In part the notoriety that ISISpossesses is due to their propaganda videos and images which depictlife within ISIS controlled areas. This depiction of human images,however, is contrary to a literalist reading of numerous prophetichadith -- found in the canonical collection of Bukhari and Muslim-- which forbid the creation of pictures and the replication of thehuman image. In fact, many of the scholars which ISIS quote tosupport their actions vehemently prohibit the capturing of thehuman image. Their abandonment of explicit hadith demonstrates thatthey adopt a legal methodology which is scripturally-centric andliteral, but flexible if literalism alone will circumvent theirobjectives. Combining reasoning from texts with purpose basedreasoning is not something ISIS has newly invented. Classicaljurists in the 11th century articulated that there are certainobjectives of the Sharia, namely the preservation of life,religion, lineage, property and honor. While jurists werecontinuously engaged in deriving laws from the sources, thepresence of these objectives functioned as a check and balancesystem which ensured that the laws they generated were inaccordance with the objectives of the law as understood by God.These objectives were therefore derived from the Quran and sayingsof the Prophet and were understood to represent divine intent withregards to the law. However, when ISIS is using purpose basedreasoning, they are not concerned with what is the divine intent ofthe law is; rather they are concerned with creating laws whichfulfill their own political desires. In this sense, what ISIS isengaged in resembles more religiously legitimated politicalreasoning than any attempt to holistically understand the texts orthe overall objectives of the law.
