One of the common criticisms of the research-based approach to studying Islam goes like this: "If you rely only on the Quran, religion becomes too simple." Sometimes the argument is phrased differently: "The Quran does not answer every question. Therefore, it is not sufficient." At first glance, this may seem convincing. But before accepting this claim, it is worth asking a counter-question: Is the Quran actually meant to contain instructions for every possible situation in life?
Simplicity Is Not a Weakness of Religion
Nowhere in the Quran does it appear that Allah intends religion to become a system of endless regulations. On the contrary, the Quran repeatedly emphasizes that Allah does not wish to impose unnecessary hardship upon people.
"Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship." (2:185)
"He has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty." (22:78)
Even within the Islamic tradition, the Prophet is widely reported to have taught that religion should not become an unbearable burden. If religion itself is described as a path not intended to create excessive hardship, an obvious question arises: why do some people assume that the more complicated a religious system becomes, the closer it must be to Allah's intention?
Why Doesn't the Quran Describe Every Situation?
A person living in the twenty-first century faces a world completely different from that of the seventh century. Today we have airplanes, the internet, artificial intelligence, electronic documents, bank cards, digital signatures, organ transplantation, space travel, and thousands of other realities that simply did not exist when the Quran was revealed. There is no verse about mobile phones. No verse about automobiles. No verse about computer programming. No verse about cloud computing. But does that mean a Muslim is incapable of making decisions? Of course not.
Every day we encounter situations for which no ready-made text exists. Yet every day we continue making decisions. Why? Because the Quran teaches people not only to follow commandments but also to think. It does not turn believers into mechanical followers who wait for detailed instructions for every circumstance. Instead, it appeals to human reason, conscience, and personal responsibility.
The Quran Provides Principles, While Human Beings Bear Responsibility
The Quran constantly appeals to human intellect. It calls upon people to reflect, analyze, compare, and draw conclusions.
"Do they not reflect upon the Quran? Had it been from anyone other than Allah, they would have found within it many contradictions." (4:82)
Throughout the Quran, we repeatedly encounter expressions such as: "Will you not reason?", "For people who reflect," and "For people who understand." This reveals an important characteristic of the Quranic message. Allah did not create human beings to function like programmed machines whose only task is to search for prewritten instructions for every action. Instead, people have been given reason—and along with it, the responsibility to make decisions based on the principles established by Allah.
This is precisely why the absence of a specific verse addressing a modern issue does not necessarily mean that the Quran has no answer. The answer may lie not in a ready-made procedure but in principles that must be understood and correctly applied.
It Is Always Possible to Demand More Details
Imagine someone saying: "The Quran commands washing the face before prayer. But where exactly does the face end? Should it be measured with a ruler? How many centimeters are included in the definition of a face?" Another person asks: "Exactly how many seconds should the washing last?" A third asks: "At what speed should the hand move?" A fourth: "How many milliliters of water should be used?" Such questions could continue endlessly.
But does the absence of these kinds of specifications mean that Allah left the religion incomplete? Or does it mean that, at some point, responsibility passes to the individual? If Allah says, "Wash your faces," He is addressing people who are capable of understanding what a face is without turning revelation into a technical manual. Much of the Quran functions in precisely this way: it establishes principles rather than eliminating the need for thought.
Here it is also important not to isolate a single verse from its context. In Surah Al-Ma'idah, Allah says:
"O you who believe! Do not ask about matters which, if they were made clear to you, would distress you. But if you ask about them while the Quran is being revealed, they will be made clear to you..." (5:101)
He then adds:
"People before you asked such questions, and then became disbelievers because of them." (5:102)
Immediately afterward, Allah gives an example:
"Allah has not ordained Bahirah, Sa'ibah, Wasilah, or Ham..." (5:103)
The context here is not about asking questions in general. It is not a prohibition against seeking the truth, asking sincere questions, or reflecting on religion. Rather, it concerns questions that become a source of unnecessary religious restrictions, invented prohibitions, and needless complexity.
So what are Bahirah, Sa'ibah, Wasilah, and Ham?
These were pre-Islamic Arabian religious customs involving the dedication of certain animals to idols and the creation of additional religious restrictions. Some animals were declared "sacred," others were forbidden for ordinary use, some were exempted from normal work, while others were considered specially consecrated. Allah explicitly states that He never established such practices—they were inventions of people themselves.
This is precisely why these verses cannot be used as an argument against every form of inquiry or every question. On the contrary, they demonstrate that not every pursuit of additional details is beneficial if it leads to invented religious rules, unnecessary complications, or imposing upon people obligations that Allah Himself never prescribed.
If There Were Instructions for Every Situation
Imagine that the Quran truly contained a separate rule for every possible circumstance—for every technology, every invention, every method of trade, every form of transportation, every type of contract, every social change. Such a book could never come to an end.
Instead, Allah describes the Quran as guidance for humanity—not as an endless encyclopedia covering every conceivable situation. This means that the Quran's universality lies not in the number of detailed regulations but in the depth of its principles. It does not need to list every possibility in order to remain relevant. On the contrary, its ability to provide broad yet enduring guidance is precisely what makes it applicable in every age.
Principles Remain, Methods Change
The same principles can be applied differently under different circumstances. For example, the Quran commands justice, yet the practical means of establishing justice may differ depending on society, the level of governmental development, and the realities of a particular era. The Quran commands the protection of people's property, but the mechanisms for doing so may vary. It commands believers to honor their agreements, yet today a contract may be signed not with ink on paper but through a digital signature. The principle remains unchanged; only the form of its implementation changes.
This is why it is essential to distinguish between an unchanging principle and the methods by which that principle is applied in particular circumstances. When people confuse the two, they begin demanding from the Quran something it never promised: not timeless principles, but ready-made technical procedures for every era.
When the Problem Is Not the Quran
Sometimes people argue that certain Quranic rulings cannot be applied literally today. From this, they conclude that the Quran itself has become outdated. But is the problem really in the Quran? Or does the problem arise when people attempt to mechanically transfer historical forms from the past into a completely different age without asking what underlying principle those forms were meant to express?
The Quran itself calls upon readers to reflect upon it as a unified whole. It does not encourage taking isolated words out of context and turning them into universal instructions for every possible circumstance. Therefore, the real question is not only what the text says, but which principle Allah establishes through that text. It is this approach that allows believers to remain faithful to the Quran regardless of time or place.
Are We Simplifying Religion?
Sometimes people say: "This research-based approach oversimplifies Islam." But that raises another question: what exactly counts as oversimplification? If someone refuses to declare obligatory what Allah Himself did not declare obligatory, are they simplifying religion? Or are they simply trying not to extend its boundaries beyond what Allah has established?
Preserving religion within its original limits does not mean making it simpler. It means recognizing that only Allah has the authority to determine what is truly obligatory and what is not. If the Quran does not turn religion into an endless catalog of specific cases, that is not a weakness of revelation but part of its wisdom.
Conclusion
The Quran was never intended to answer every specific question humanity would ever encounter. Instead, Allah gives people principles, reason, and the responsibility to apply those principles in an ever-changing world. This is precisely why Islam remains universal. Had the Quran consisted only of instructions tied to particular historical situations, it would inevitably have become bound to a single era. But the Quran speaks not only to the people of the seventh century—it speaks to every generation.
Perhaps this is why Allah did not provide a ready-made script for every step of our lives. Instead, He gave human beings reason, established moral principles, and entrusted them with the responsibility of making their own decisions within those principles. This may well be one of the defining characteristics of Quranic guidance: it requires not only obedience but also sincere reflection. That is why searching for a ready-made answer to every minor detail does not always bring a person closer to Allah. Sometimes it simply becomes a way of shifting onto others the responsibility that Allah has placed upon each of us personally.
