Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb said on Friday that Islamic law is rich and contains a lot of provisions that help ease people's lives. In his weekly speech aired on state-owned Al Masriya Satellite TV channel, el-Tayeb encouraged Islamic scholars to look for solutions in the Islamic law to the problems faced by the people, adding that this is the meaning of diligence, which not everyone can do, because there are sciences and tools required in order for an Islamic scholar to consider these provisions. He pointed out that this issue has origins dating back to the era of Prophet Mohamed, as the prophet's message is different from other messages of the previous prophets, as Mohamed's message is a continuous and general message, meaning that it's for all people and valid for every time and place. The grand imam explained that the message of Islam is the last message of God which concluded the rest of messages, pointing out that this message is not limited to acts of worship only, but also includes the way people deal with each other in everyday life, which has plenty of room for diligence. He stressed that Islam is the last guidance of humanity in the universe, as it is a religion that guides people in their beliefs, worship, everyday life and behavior. He confirmed on the need for Islamic law and provisions that help people pursue their constantly changing interests and needs, adding that are provisions in all matters, but they are limited, therefore professional Islamic scholars must take their responsibility towards diligence in Islamic law in order to renew provisions in accordance with everyday life. el-Tayeb said that renewing provisions must take place only in constantly changing problems, stressing that the jurist has certain specifications, in order to prevent anyone who does not understand the Islamic law and its linguistics from attempting to modify the provisions, which is completely unacceptable, because such provisions should not be taken lightly. Furthermore, he admitted that issuing new provisions has frozen in recent centuries, because many of the Islamic scholars seized to issue any new provisions out fear of God, or the fear that they alter or change in something of in the Islamic law, which would affect the lives of people for years to come. He clarified that the Islamic law is simple, just and merciful, as scholars are instructed to simplify Islamic law and issue the simplest of provisions for people, as a result Islam has stretched from Spain to China, because Islam interacted with these environments and did not only stick to provisions that were released in the first century, otherwise these various cultures and different civilizations would not have accepted the Islamic law.
