May Regulations That Do Not Contradict Islamic Law Be Applied?

Question

Is it permissible to apply man-made laws on the grounds of analogy or independent legal reasoning? What is Islam's view?

Answer (English translation)

Answer: The lecturer pointed out that there is nothing wrong with laws if they do not contradict Islamic law. Regulations may be called laws or systems. Any law or regulation that benefits Muslims and does not contradict Allah's law is unobjectionable, whether it concerns traffic, the judiciary, any government department or any other setting.

Any law or regulation that benefits Muslims and does not contradict Allah's law is permitted by His law. Anything that benefits Muslims and does not contradict a text in Allah's Book, the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, or the consensus of Muslims is unobjectionable. This applies whether the beneficial law concerns transactions, traffic, the judiciary, or organising litigants: regulating their entry and deciding which person is dealt with first, and so on. The same applies to traffic regulations: this person does this, that person does that, and a person stops at a particular place or a particular signal.

It also applies to other departments, to organising matters concerning a department and its employees, their salaries and the allowances to which they are entitled. These regulations are unobjectionable and involve no sin.

Every beneficial law or regulation that organises Muslims' affairs is provided for by Islamic law, because Allah, exalted is He, has made His law orderly in every respect. Part of Allah's law is that affairs should be organised rather than neglected. They should be organised and attended to, so that people proceed according to a clear standard by which they can be held accountable, required to abide, and recompensed for the evil or good they have done.