the islamic sharia (law) is valid for each era & each place
you may believe that the islamic law is not valid for this era, but this belief is not right, because the grounds of such belief is not valid to judge the islamic sharia, and here are some of such invalid grounds:
first:
the (islamic) countries are underdeveloped in all fields of life, and this makes others believe, under the biased mass media which aims at distorting the islamic sharia, that if their sharia was actually valid then they would not be underdevelopment like today; however, the truth is that such islamic countries do not apply the islamic sharia in this era; contrary, they are fighting it. the real reason behind such underdevelopment is that we are not applying the provisions of the islamic sharia. the corruption and injustice which govern our societies did not result from the islamic sharia; contrary such backwardness, underdevelopment, corruption and injustice resulted the very fact that we are not complying with the provisions of the islamic sharia, whether as governors or as governed people.
second:
you may see some persons applying the islamic sharia actually but they misapply its provisions because they misunderstand islam; therefore, they sometimes exaggerate or become strict. they imprison the woman, prevent her from learning, demolish traces, do not take care of their appearance and they think, by such behaviors, that they are representing the islam. moreover, some mass media tries to exploit such things and show the world such pictures to convince people that this is the islam propagated by the muslims!
therefore, people hate islam and believe, like you, that this is the sharia which the muslims invite us to apply? this is the religion which they want us to embrace? we do not need it.
these are the reasons which make people believe that the islamic sharia is not valid to govern, but they are invalid, because they are judging certain laws in a wrong manner. suppose that we have a just law but certain people apply it wrongfully, then can we say that the law is wrong or the people who apply it are wrong?
how can we judge whether a law is valid or invalid? we can judge only when we have people applying such law accurately. then, and only then, we can judge such law, whether it is valid or invalid.
i believe that judging the validity of the islamic sharia is just like judging the other religions. for example, if we find a christian criminal and murderer man, can we say that: christianity is a religion of killing and crimes? of course no, because we should differentiate between christianity as a religion and the christians who apply it, some of them apply its teachings while others do not. similarly, this applies on islam. so, if we want to judge a certain religion, whether it is valid or not, we should not establish our judgment on the status of its followers; contrary, we should view the religion and its provisions in order to be objective in our judgments.
we, the muslims, believe in three things, which are worthy of being mentioned herein:
muhammad (peace be upon him) is the last prophet, as mentioned in the holy quran {muhammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the messenger of allah and last of the prophets} (al ahzab 40). therefore, we believe that islam is the last divine mission.
muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent for all mankind while the messengers (peace be upon them) before him were sent to their own people only. the prophet (peace be upon him) said: ((allah the almighty has blessed me with five features which were not given to any prophet before me; ….. the prophets before me were sent to their own people only but i was sent for all mankind)) .
it is logical that prophet muhammad (peace be upon him) is the prophet of all mankind, because each prophet before him was knowing that a prophet will come after him; therefore, the prophets (peace be upon them) were sent to their own people only, because the other nations will have their own prophets. moreover, allah the almighty has sent, sometimes, more than one prophet at the same time, but each for a different nation, as the case of prophet ibrahim and lot (peace be upon them) who were sent the same time, but each for his nation only.
accordingly, since there is no prophet after muhammad (peace be upon him), it is natural then to send muhammad (peace be upon him) to all mankind, because no prophet after him will come to deliver the message of allah; therefore, it is necessary to make his mission valid for all eras and places, and for all the people who will come after him.
finally, in order to prove that the islamic sharia is valid to govern in all eras and places, i will set some examples of the history to verify my statements:
first: the arab before and after islam
it is known, historically, that the arab have not built any prestigious culture and no one heard about them except after islam. they have prevailed worldwide within less than forty years after the death of prophet muhammad – peace be upon him – and such culture would not be achieved without applying the islamic sharia which was distinguished with comprehensiveness, justice, mercy, balance and gradualness, even the original people can sue the caliph and take their right from him. once, an egyptian coptic man went to the caliph of the muslims omar – may allah be pleased with him – complaining from the injustice of the son of egypt ruler, the companion/ amr bin al aas (may allah be pleased with him); hearing that, the caliph omar (may allah be pleased with him) called the ruler and his son, and authorized the coptic man to take revenge from them both. this shining example cannot be found except in the islamic sharia. therefore, omar bin al khattab (may allah be pleased with him), said his famous statement: (we were lowest nation but allah the almighty has strengthened us with islam; therefore, if we seek the power without islam allah will lower us).
second: islam has mastered the world for six centuries under the islamic sharia
bani omiyyah has governed from 661 a.d. to 750 a.d and their state extended from spain in the west to china in the east, then bani al-abbas governed from 750 a.d. to 1258 a.d. and for the whole of such period they were governing under the islamic sharia. so, what is the meaning of this? doesn't this mean that the islamic sharia is strong and valid for governing and prevailing all the generations in all places. islam has governed several nations in all fields of life, and has succeeded, under its noble mission, to unify and gather people.
third: the economic, scientific and cultural progress under the islamic sharia
the muslims did not witness, along their history, such progress in all fields of life except after they have applied the islamic sharia, the law of allah the almighty, who said: {and if there should come to you guidance from me - then whoever follows my guidance will neither go astray [in the world] nor suffer [in the hereafter]} (taha 123).
the economic progress was clear and obvious. at the reign of omar bin abdul aziz, he was helping those who cannot marry, pay their debts, and allocate a salary for each newly born infant from the treasury of the muslims. once, omar bin al khattab (may allah be pleased with him) found an old man begging people. seeing that, he asked him: what is your problem? the man said: i am from those who should pay the tax (jiziyah) and i am unable to pay it; therefore, i am begging people to procure such tax. hearing that, omar – may allah be pleased with him – said: "by allah the almighty we will not be just if we exhaust your youth and waste your senility", then he exempted him from the tax and gave him a sum of money from the treasury.
regarding the scientific field, the shining beams of al-hasan bin al-haitham, al-farabi, ibn sina, al-baironi, jaber bin hayyan, al-khawarizmi, al-jebreti and the others talented characters from whom the west has built their culture, appeared only during the era in which the islamic sharia was applied. isn't it a proof that the islamic sharia is valid to lead the world and find the way out from the current distress?