Relationship between Religion and Politics in Islam — Page 25
The Relationship Between Religion & Politics 25 summit of the development of the same thought. And, I have been meeting some Bahai friends, some other schol- ars from various parts of the world—I have travelled a lot—and I always give the following problem to them: Please try to change this law according to the new dictates of time. So far, I have not met a single person who could sug- gest any change in this final law. So, if the laws are resilient, accommodating and are based on principles and are also rooted in human psyche, I do not think that they need to be changed. But again, this is a discussion outside the main discussion. So please, I hope that would suffice and we’ll turn to other guests, for any other question they would like to ask. Question— Please explain the difference between ‘Shariah’ and ‘deen’. Answer— Thank you. You see, deen is a word applicable to any philosophy, any ism, anything which you adopt as a course of conduct. For Instance, according to some Muslim scholar’s idolaters had no deen and they would be abhorred with the idea that they did have a deen. However, the Holy Quran, addressing them says: 1 ْمُكَل ْمُكُنْيِد َو َيِل ِنْيِد۰۰ Lakum deenukum wa liya deen ( Surah al-Kaafirun, 109:7) 1. For you your religion, and for me my religion ( Surah al-Kaafirun, 109:7). [Publisher]