Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, said that the subtle difference between the assignment of things that are impossible to reason, and things that are reasonable must be noted. Impossible matters are not mandated under any circumstances, unlike matters whose causes, secrets and effects are realized by the mind. Based on this clarification, we say: When Islam – as well as other religions - addresses man at any level of discourse, it does not ask him to believe in what his reason rejects, or what is impossible to believe in. Rather, it asks him to have faith in matters that the mind may exclude in comparison to what usually takes place.

For instance, religions address man and demand him to believe in life after death, in judgment, reward and punishment, Heaven and Hell, and all that is related to them, which is referred to in theology as eschatology. Similarly, there is the belief in the miracles of Prophets; these are not impossible to happen, and the mind perceives them, and imagines their occurrence, even though they sound contrary to what people are familiar with. However, the mind’s position on them does not exceed the position of neutrality, which has equal possibilities of happening and not happening. 

During the thirteenth episode of his Ramadan program, His Eminence added that the extrapolation of the verses of rulings in the Noble Qur’an can help us understand that the Qur’an deals with rulings on permanent issues and constants such as faith, devotion acts and morals in detail. 

On the other hand, it summarizes the rulings on the changeable fields in the form of universal rules, general principles, and lofty purposes, as previously mentioned. As evidence of that, we find that the prayer - for example - is mentioned in more than seventy positions in the Holy Qur’an. In contrast, the legislation regarding the sales contract, which comes first among the contracts dealt with in the articles of civil law, is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an only in four positions. 

His Eminence continued: The same applies to the constitutional law. The Holy Qur’an in this field solely emphasizes the principles of consultation, justice, and equality. Therefore, any political system that is based on these principles, and carries them out among people, is a system that Islam accepts, whatever its name or design might be. The same applies to the Penal Code and Felonies, for the Holy Qur’an limited itself to mentioning the known punishments, which are the ones pertaining to murder, theft, adultery, and corruption in the land, by terrorism, intimidation, or assassination of the innocent, or the destruction of public facilities, or by any old or modern method of committing these immoral and inhuman crimes.

The Grand Imam summarized by saying that this clear constant / variable dichotomy enabled the legislation of the Qur’an to keep pace with development, and enabled its law to lead the Muslim nation for nearly thirteen centuries. Then, it left its place - willingly or unwillingly - for the laws of the West. The flexibility of this Sharia has preserved the civilization of Islam, and provided it  with means of resistance and steadfastness to this day. Because of the miraculous nature of this Sharia, the civilization of Muslims has not disappeared, despite the painful blows inflicted upon it over its long history, by its followers and its enemies alike.

Grand Imam At-Tayyeb Talk has been broadcast for the fifth year on Egyptian and Arab channels. The program was launched in Ramadan 2016. This year, 2021, the program explains the characteristics of the Islamic religion, the moderation of Islam and its manifestations, the rules of legal obligations, the ease of Sharia, the sources of legislation, and refutations of fallacies about the Prophet's Sunnah and heritage.