SHARI'AH - ISLAMIC LAW
Shari'ah
is the code of law for the Islamic way of life which Allah swt has
revealed for mankind and commanded us to follow.
The word Shari'ah means a clear straight path or example.
Shari'ah,
or Islamic law, is the code of conduct for Muslims and is based on two
main sources: The Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet. It aims
towards the success and welfare of mankind both in this life and the
life after death.
Shari'ah
prescribes a complete set of laws for the guidance of mankind so
that Good (Ma'ruf) may triumph and Evil (Munkar) disappears from
society. It provides a clear and straight path which leads to progress
and fulfillment in life and the attainment of Allah's pleasure.
The
Qur'an is the main basis of Shari'ah. It states the principles while
the sunnah of the Prophet provides the details of their application.
For example, the Qur'an says: establish salah, observe sawm, pay
zakah, take decisions by consultation, do not earn or spend in wrong
ways- but it does not describe how to do these things. It is the
sunnah of the Prophet which gives us the details.
The
Qur'an is the main book of guidance and the Prophet taught how to
follow it. The Prophet not only told us how to follow the guidance,
he also practiced it himself.
Shari'ah
has rules for every aspect of life. It is complete and perfect, and
guarantees us success, welfare and peace in this life on earth and in
the life after death.
Shari'a is an Arabic word meaning “path” or “way.” Today the
term is used most commonly to mean “Islamic law,” the detailed system of
religious law developed by Muslim scholars in the first three centuries
of Islam and still in force among fundamentalists today.
Shari'a tries to describe in detail all possible human acts, dividing them into permitted (halal) and prohibited (haram). It subdivides them into various degrees of good or evil such as obligatory, recommended, neutral, objectionable or forbidden. This vast compendium of rules regulates all matters of devotional life, worship, ritual purity, marriage and inheritance, criminal offenses, commerce and personal conduct. It also regulates the governing of the Islamic state and its relations to non-Muslims within the state as well as to enemies outside the state. Shari'a influences the behavior and worldview of most Muslims, even in secular states where it forms no part of the law of the land.
Islam teaches that shari'a, as God’s revealed law, perfect and eternal, is binding on individuals, society and state in all its details. By logical extension, any criticism of shari'a is heresy. Muslims who deny the validity of shari'a in any way are labeled as non-Muslims (infidels) or apostates (those who convert to another religion) by traditionalists and Islamists. As such, they face the threat of being prosecuted for apostasy, a crime that carries the death penalty in shari'a.
The mandates of shari'a are extremely harsh compared to modern Western standards. They infringe on many modern principles of human rights, religious freedom, and equality of all before the law. For example:
Hudud punishments are the severe penalities prescribed by shari'a for offenses defined as being against God himself. The punishments for these crimes are seen as divinely ordained and cannot be changed by humans. These include 100 lashes or stoning to death as punishment for adultery; 80 lashes for false accusation of adultery; amputation of limbs for theft; 40 or 80 lashes for drinking alcohol; imprisonment, amputation or death (by crucifixion in serious cases) for highway robbery; and the death penalty for apostasy from Islam. Methods of execution for apostasy can include decapitation, crucifixion, burning, strangling, drowning, impaling, and flaying. Apostates are denied a decent burial after their deaths, and the Muslims who participate in killing them are promised an eternal reward in paradise.
Discrimination on the basis of religion is fundamental to shari'a. By religious edict, Islam must be dominant; only Muslims are considered to be full citizens. Jews and Christians are defined as dhimmis (literally “protected” i.e. permitted to live). However this protection is on condition that they do not bear arms, know their lowly place in society, treat Muslims with respect, and pay a special poll tax (jizya).
Shari‘a divides the world into two opposing domains: the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the House of War (Dar al-Harb). Muslims are supposed to wage jihad to change the House of War (where non-Muslims are dominant) into the House of Islam, dominated by Muslims. While some modern Muslims reject this aggressive understanding of jihad, and see it merely as a strengthening of personal faith, most agree that jihad includes defending Muslim territory and Muslims from any form of aggression; this leaves the door open to interpreting any conflict involving Muslims as a case of defensive jihad. Islamic terror groups justify their atrocities by references to the shari'a rules on jihad.
Shari'a discriminates on the basis of gender. Men are regarded as superior. Women are treated as deficient in intelligence, morals and religion, and must therefore be protected from their own weaknesses. Shari'a rules enforce modesty in dress and behavior and the segregation of the sexes. These regulations place women under the legal guardianship of their male relatives. Women are inherently of less value than men in many legal rulings. A man is allowed up to four wives, but women can have only one husband. A man can divorce his wife easily; a woman faces great obstacles should she want a divorce from her husband. A daughter inherits half as much as a son, and the testimony of a female witness in court is worth only half that of a male witness. In cases of murder, the compensation for a woman is less than that given for a man.
Shari'a courts often display a clear gender bias. This is seen in the widespread practice of accusing rape victims of illicit sexual relations (zina), an offense which carries punishments ranging from imprisonment and flogging to death by stoning.
Female genital mutilation is widespread among some Muslim communities, especially in Egypt, East Africa, Yemen, and Indonesia. Many Muslim leaders see the practice as essential for preserving women’s chastity on which family honor largely depends.
In shari'a there are differences between the various schools of law as to the extent of what a woman may reveal in public. The Hanafi and Maliki schools of law permit face and hands to be revealed in public, thus there is no need for a veil over the face. Among Hanbalis there are two opinions, some permitting the revealing of face and hands, others forbidding it. The Shafi‘is demand that a woman’s face and hands be covered in public, thus demanding some kind of veil over her face.
Both Qur’an and hadith urge modesty in women’s dress and command them to cover themselves in public. The problem is a matter of interpretation of the original Arabic words used.
Most Sunni Muslims believe shari‘a to be completely unchangeable, although Shi'as allow for the possibility of interpreting and adapting it to new circumstances. Since the nineteenth century, there have been efforts at reforming shari'a in a liberal direction in order to accommodate it to the modern world, but in the contemporary Muslim world, the traditionalists and especially the Islamists -- upholders of the traditional view of shari'a -- are now dominating public opinion.
Of particular concern for Americans are cases where Muslim litigants seek -- sometimes successfully -- to have their cases in U.S. courts decided by principles of Sharia law. As of May 2011, the Center for Security Policy (CSP) had identified 50 examples in 23 states “where Muslim-Americans had their cases decided by Sharia Law against their will.” In one case, a Trial Court judge had ruled based on Moroccan Sharia law, even though those involved were not Moroccans or even Muslims. In Tampa, Forida, a judge had ruled that a dispute between two Muslim parties would be solved in accordance with Sharia, overruling the objections of one party. And in a notorious New Jersey case, a judge had exonerated a Muslim man of raping his wife because Sharia allowed him to do so. (The ruling was later overturned.) The 50 instances cited by CSP represented just a fraction of the total number of such cases.
Shari'a tries to describe in detail all possible human acts, dividing them into permitted (halal) and prohibited (haram). It subdivides them into various degrees of good or evil such as obligatory, recommended, neutral, objectionable or forbidden. This vast compendium of rules regulates all matters of devotional life, worship, ritual purity, marriage and inheritance, criminal offenses, commerce and personal conduct. It also regulates the governing of the Islamic state and its relations to non-Muslims within the state as well as to enemies outside the state. Shari'a influences the behavior and worldview of most Muslims, even in secular states where it forms no part of the law of the land.
Islam teaches that shari'a, as God’s revealed law, perfect and eternal, is binding on individuals, society and state in all its details. By logical extension, any criticism of shari'a is heresy. Muslims who deny the validity of shari'a in any way are labeled as non-Muslims (infidels) or apostates (those who convert to another religion) by traditionalists and Islamists. As such, they face the threat of being prosecuted for apostasy, a crime that carries the death penalty in shari'a.
The mandates of shari'a are extremely harsh compared to modern Western standards. They infringe on many modern principles of human rights, religious freedom, and equality of all before the law. For example:
Hudud punishments are the severe penalities prescribed by shari'a for offenses defined as being against God himself. The punishments for these crimes are seen as divinely ordained and cannot be changed by humans. These include 100 lashes or stoning to death as punishment for adultery; 80 lashes for false accusation of adultery; amputation of limbs for theft; 40 or 80 lashes for drinking alcohol; imprisonment, amputation or death (by crucifixion in serious cases) for highway robbery; and the death penalty for apostasy from Islam. Methods of execution for apostasy can include decapitation, crucifixion, burning, strangling, drowning, impaling, and flaying. Apostates are denied a decent burial after their deaths, and the Muslims who participate in killing them are promised an eternal reward in paradise.
Discrimination on the basis of religion is fundamental to shari'a. By religious edict, Islam must be dominant; only Muslims are considered to be full citizens. Jews and Christians are defined as dhimmis (literally “protected” i.e. permitted to live). However this protection is on condition that they do not bear arms, know their lowly place in society, treat Muslims with respect, and pay a special poll tax (jizya).
Shari‘a divides the world into two opposing domains: the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the House of War (Dar al-Harb). Muslims are supposed to wage jihad to change the House of War (where non-Muslims are dominant) into the House of Islam, dominated by Muslims. While some modern Muslims reject this aggressive understanding of jihad, and see it merely as a strengthening of personal faith, most agree that jihad includes defending Muslim territory and Muslims from any form of aggression; this leaves the door open to interpreting any conflict involving Muslims as a case of defensive jihad. Islamic terror groups justify their atrocities by references to the shari'a rules on jihad.
Shari'a discriminates on the basis of gender. Men are regarded as superior. Women are treated as deficient in intelligence, morals and religion, and must therefore be protected from their own weaknesses. Shari'a rules enforce modesty in dress and behavior and the segregation of the sexes. These regulations place women under the legal guardianship of their male relatives. Women are inherently of less value than men in many legal rulings. A man is allowed up to four wives, but women can have only one husband. A man can divorce his wife easily; a woman faces great obstacles should she want a divorce from her husband. A daughter inherits half as much as a son, and the testimony of a female witness in court is worth only half that of a male witness. In cases of murder, the compensation for a woman is less than that given for a man.
Shari'a courts often display a clear gender bias. This is seen in the widespread practice of accusing rape victims of illicit sexual relations (zina), an offense which carries punishments ranging from imprisonment and flogging to death by stoning.
Female genital mutilation is widespread among some Muslim communities, especially in Egypt, East Africa, Yemen, and Indonesia. Many Muslim leaders see the practice as essential for preserving women’s chastity on which family honor largely depends.
In shari'a there are differences between the various schools of law as to the extent of what a woman may reveal in public. The Hanafi and Maliki schools of law permit face and hands to be revealed in public, thus there is no need for a veil over the face. Among Hanbalis there are two opinions, some permitting the revealing of face and hands, others forbidding it. The Shafi‘is demand that a woman’s face and hands be covered in public, thus demanding some kind of veil over her face.
Both Qur’an and hadith urge modesty in women’s dress and command them to cover themselves in public. The problem is a matter of interpretation of the original Arabic words used.
Most Sunni Muslims believe shari‘a to be completely unchangeable, although Shi'as allow for the possibility of interpreting and adapting it to new circumstances. Since the nineteenth century, there have been efforts at reforming shari'a in a liberal direction in order to accommodate it to the modern world, but in the contemporary Muslim world, the traditionalists and especially the Islamists -- upholders of the traditional view of shari'a -- are now dominating public opinion.
Of particular concern for Americans are cases where Muslim litigants seek -- sometimes successfully -- to have their cases in U.S. courts decided by principles of Sharia law. As of May 2011, the Center for Security Policy (CSP) had identified 50 examples in 23 states “where Muslim-Americans had their cases decided by Sharia Law against their will.” In one case, a Trial Court judge had ruled based on Moroccan Sharia law, even though those involved were not Moroccans or even Muslims. In Tampa, Forida, a judge had ruled that a dispute between two Muslim parties would be solved in accordance with Sharia, overruling the objections of one party. And in a notorious New Jersey case, a judge had exonerated a Muslim man of raping his wife because Sharia allowed him to do so. (The ruling was later overturned.) The 50 instances cited by CSP represented just a fraction of the total number of such cases.
Man-made laws differ from Shari'ah in a number of significant ways.
| Man-made law1. Men make laws when they feel the need; these laws start from a few and then grow in number over the years. 2. Man-made laws are not permanent; they can be changed according to the time and circumstances. For example, in a particular country at a particular time, drinking alcohol may be banned; but this can change when public pressure grows. The American Government once banned alcoholic drink but removed the ban after a time because it could not be applied. 3. Man does not have knowledge of the future. Hence, manmade laws cannot stand the test of time. 4. Man is a created being. His laws are the creation of the created. 5. Man-made laws may be suitable for a particular nation or country. They cannot be universal. 6. Men make laws to suit their own needs. Suppose members of parliament want to decrease the rate of tax on rich, they would do so, even if the majority of the people suffered and there was high unemployment in the country. | Shari'ah or The Creator, Allah's law.1. Islamic Law is complete and perfect and covers all aspects of human life. 2. Shari'ah is permanent for all people all the time. It does not change with time and conditions. For example, drinking alcohol and gambling are not allowed under Islamic law. No-one can change this; it is a law that is valid for all time and for all places. 3. Allah is All-knowing and All-powerful; He is the most Wise and His laws are the best and are complete. 4. Allah swt is the Creator and His laws are for men, His creation. 5. Allah's laws are for all nations, all countries and for all time. They are universal. 6. Allah is above all needs. He is not dependent on anything, so His laws are for the good of all people and not for a few, selfish people. |
Shari'ah
has two other sources: Ijma' (consensus) and Qiyas (analogy or
reasoning on the basis of similar circumstances). These sources must
still be based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
Ijma',
or consensus, applies to a situation where no clear conclusion can be
made from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. In this situation the
representatives of the people who are well-versed in the Qur'an and the
Sunnah will sit together and work out an agreed formula to solve the
particular problem. Ijma' developed during the period of the Al-
Khulafa'ur-rashidun.
Qiyas
means a reference or analogy or a comparison of one thing with a
similar one. It is applied in circumstances where guidance from the
Qur'an and Sunnah is not directly available. A solution to a problem
is reached by a process of deduction from a comparison with similar
situations in the past.
Sunnah
The
word Sunnah means a system, a path or an example. In Islam it refers
to the practice of the Prophet, his life example. It is embodied in
the Ahadith (plural of Hadith) which are the Prophet's saying, actions
and the actions done with his approval. Ahadith have been very
carefully collected and compiled since the death of the Prophet. Six
collections of Hadith are regarded as the most authentic. They are:
1. Sahih Al-Bukhari
(Collected and compiled by Muhammad bin Isma'il, known as Imam Bukhari, born 194 AH, died 256 AH).
2. Sahih Muslim
(Muslim bin al-Hajjaj, known as Imam Muslim, born 202 AH, died 257 AH).
3. Sunnah Abu Dawud
(Aulaiman bin Ash'ath, known as Abu Dawud, born 202 AH, died 275 AH).
4. Sunnah Ibn Majah
(Muhammad bin Yazad, born 209 AH, died 273 AH).
5. Jami' At-Tirmidhi
(Muhammad bin 'Isa, date of birth not known died 279 AH).
6. Sunnah An-Nasa'i
(Ahmad bin Shu'aib, born 215 AH, died 303 AH).
In
addition to this, the Muwatta' of Imam Malik (born 93 AH, died 179AH),
Mishkaat Al-Masabih of Abu Muhammad al-Husain bin Mas'ud (died 516 AH)
and Musnad of Ahmad bin Hanbal (born 164 AH, died 241AH) are also well
known.
Fiqh
is the science of Islamic Law or jurisprudence. It refers to the
collection and compilation of Islamic laws based on the Qur'an and the
Sunnah of the Prophet. The word Fiqh means knowledge and understanding.
Some
great Muslims devoted themselves to the task of developing the science
of understanding Islamic law and its practice. The four best-known
compilers of Islamic law or Shari'ah are:
1. Abu Hanifah Nu'man bin Thabit, known as Imam Abu Hanifah (born 80AH, died 150AH).
2. Malik bin Anas, known as Imam Malik (93-179AH).
3. Muhammad bin Idris Al-Shafi'i, known as Imam Shafi'i (150-240AH).
4. Ahmad bin Hanbal, known as Imam Ibn Hanbal (164-241 AH).
Islamic law divides human activies into:
1. Fard or Wajib (duty or obligatory)
-performance of these actions is rewarded and their omission is punished.
2. Mandub (recommended)
-actions the performance of which is rewarded but omission of which is not punished.
3. Mubah (silent)
-actions permitted by silence.
4. Makruh (disliked)
-actions disapproved of but not punishable.
5. Haram (forbidden)
-actions punishable by law.
The
scholars and experts on Islamic Law have made Shari'ah easier to
understand and practice by science of Fiqh. Fiqh is the explanation of
the Islamic laws based on the Qur'an and Sunnah.
Islamic
law or Shari'ah embodies the ideal Islamic life. Islam is the complete
way of life and Shari'ah is the means to arrive at the ideal life
recommended by Islam. Shari'ah enables us to bring our life in line with
the will of Allah swt. It is the process of achieving our goal of life.
Ref.. Islam Beliefs and Teaching by Ghulam Sarwar
One
can expect to see some horrendous punishments in a public display,
like cutting the hand of the thief, or the execution of murderers.
These indeed are terrible sights, and will take place in open areas,
leaving a lasting effect on the hearts and minds of the society; for
society will witness the intense suffering of the criminal.
So
in future anyone even thinking of committing such a crime will
think twice. Even those who did not witness the event in future
generations will think twice. For in fact such punishments are not
meeted out frequently at all, as by their nature they have such a
powerful deterrent effect.
Furthermore,
it is extremely difficult to cut the hand of the thief, for
circumstantial evidence is not sufficient. Thus, the judiciary
ensures that there would be no wrongful convictions, which seem more
and more to be a sign of our times.
Severe
punishments are not the only means to deter crime. Islam tackles the
problems from all angles. The economic system secures the needs of
people and cuts the want for stealing. The education system, through
reminding society of accountability to the Creator, cuts the desire
for stealing. So all the systems work in harmony. The reason why
regimes like Saudi Arabia and Sudan fail is because they only
implement parts of Islam side by side with man-made law, such that
they punish by Islam but do not secure the needs by Islam.
Imagine
a society where there is a sense of security. There would be no need
to turn over your shoulder when walking the streets at night for
fear of being assaulted, and no need to buy extra door locks, window
locks and letterbox locks for fear of being burgled. This is no
fantasy - indeed it was the case for centuries under the Islamic
State.
Furthermore, Islam
in its judiciary upholds values that are downtrodden in society, for
example honor. In Islam accusing someone of adultery is a punishable
offense, whereas for newspapers today it is a source of revenue.
Or
take as another example the issue of belief. In Islam if any one
insults any prophet of Allah swt they are subject to be killed. This
may appear harsh. But surely belief is at lest as worthy of
protection as property, for on the day of judgement it is the belief
that will save us, not our property.
Islam
has its own unique view about foreign policy. The Khilafah’s dealings
with other states is not on the basis of securing ‘national
interests’ as per Lard Palmerston’s dictum. Rather its sole interest is
to free man from the slavery to another man, and return human beings
to the true purpose for their creation - the worship of our Creator,
Sustainer Allah swt.
So
the objective of the foreign policy is to spread Islam by invitation
(da’wah) and Jehad ((strive against (the evil) to abolish idolatry,
tyranny and oppression).
Thus,
what we would hear on the media about the dealings of the Islamic
State would be completely at variance with that of what we hear of the
existing Muslim regimes.
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