At Tadarruj (gradualism)

At Tadarruj or gradualism is one of the laws of nature that Allah SWT has created for the humankind. The system of Islam stands on the principles of gradualism and balance. Human beings by nature are created in graduation and progressive principles too, as no one was born with the capability to run before the know how to crawl and walk.

Humans ability to learn and adapt are also subjected to progressive graduation. We must first learn ABC before we learn how to read and we must learn how to read before we know how to write. This is the reason why Allah SWT took a length of 23 years to complete His Revelation to Prophet Muhammad SAW.

For the first 13 years, the Prophet (pbuh) stayed in Makkah struggling to shake the false beliefs of the Makkan people by introducing the creed of One God and the promise of Judgement Day. Then, for the next ten years, Allah SWT revealed to him the laws (syariah) that the Muslims would live by, for example; in prohibiting alcohol, riba (interest), and other vices.

At-Tadarruj refers to the importance of preparing the Muslim people to sincerely and enthusiastically adopt the rulings of the Shari`ah in all walks of life, so as to guarantee that such a matter would last. Gradualism in applying the Shari`ah is a wise requirement to follow. In doing so, we will be following Allah SWT Laws with regard to physical nature and the true teachings of Islam.

We simply cannot instruct a newly reverted Muslim to follow every rules in the Book immediately. Nor can we force the non-Muslims to obey the Syariah before they are faithful to Allah SWT. Islam is a religion of no compulsion, therefore to strictly administering someone to be a devout believer when they are not ready is clearly not in line with the true spirit of Islam. Islam is never a religion of Iron-Fist.


Wallahu'alam