Gavin Howe
Sharia, derived from the Quran, Islam's holy book, and the Sunnah and Hadith, which are the deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, is a religious law that lays down governing principles for spiritual, mental, and physical behaviour that Muslims should follow. While it is a code for living that all Muslims should adhere to, including prayers, fasting, and donations to the poor, there is no single book of Sharia law common to all Muslims. This is because the interpretation of Sharia, or fiqh, differs according to local culture and customs, and there are various schools of Islamic law, including Sunni and Shia schools, that differ in how literally they interpret the texts from which Sharia law is derived.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | "The correct path" in Arabic, referring to the divine counsel that Muslims follow to live moral lives and grow close to God. |
| Sources | The Quran, which is considered the word of God, and the Hadith or Sunnah, which are the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad. |
| Interpretation | Interpreted and applied differently across various Muslim-majority countries and communities, with some following a more fundamentalist approach and others adopting a more modernist interpretation. |
| Role | Guides the personal religious practices and daily lives of Muslims, including prayers, fasting, donations, family law, finance, and business. |
| Scope | Wider than Western legal systems, regulating an individual's relationship with their neighbours, the state, God, and their own conscience. |
| Influence on Legal Systems | About half of the world's Muslim-majority countries have laws that reference Sharia, with varying degrees of influence. |
| Debate and Criticism | Debates centre on topics such as corporal punishment, democracy, social equality, and compatibility with human rights and gender equality. |
| Islamic Law Schools | There are five schools of Islamic law: four Sunni (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanafi) and one Shia (Jaafari). |
| Evolution | Sharia has evolved over time due to sociological changes, the influence of Westernized elites and laypeople, and the interpretations of Islamic scholars and imams. |
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What You'll Learn
Sharia is derived from the Quran, the sayings of Prophet Muhammad, and the Sunnah
Sharia, derived from the Quran, the sayings of Prophet Muhammad, and the Sunnah, is a guide for Muslims to live a righteous life and grow closer to God. It is not a static set of laws, but an interpretive tradition that has evolved over time, with different schools of thought and varying applications across Muslim-majority countries.
The Quran is the holy book of Islam, believed to be the direct word of God as revealed to Prophet Muhammad through divine revelations. It forms the foundation of Sharia, providing the overarching principles and values that guide Muslim conduct.
The sayings and practices of Prophet Muhammad, known as hadith, also play a significant role in shaping Sharia. These traditions, collectively referred to as the Sunnah, serve as a model for Muslim behaviour. The Prophet's actions and interpretations of the Quran provide practical guidance on how Muslims should lead their lives according to God's wishes.
Shiite Muslims also include the words and deeds of the Prophet's family in the Sunnah, further enriching the interpretive tradition of Sharia. Over time, Islamic scholars have continued to interpret and apply Sharia based on societal changes, resulting in a diverse range of legal schools and methodologies.
While Sharia is derived from these primary sources, it is not limited to them. The process of interpreting and applying Sharia, known as fiqh, involves the use of external sources such as scholarly consensus (ijma) and analogical reasoning (qiyas). This interpretive tradition allows Sharia to adapt to new contexts and circumstances, ensuring its relevance in the lives of Muslims worldwide.
Sharia covers a wide range of topics, from religious rituals and personal conduct to social interactions and legal matters. It provides ethical guidance and legal instruction on marriage, divorce, inheritance, business transactions, and more. While some aspects of Sharia are considered universal and timeless, others are flexible and can evolve to meet the changing needs of Muslim communities.
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Sharia is not a legal system but a way of life
Sharia, derived from the Quran and the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad, guides the personal religious practices of Muslims worldwide. However, it is not a legal system but a way of life, with Muslims interpreting it according to traditional, early interpretations.
Sharia, or 'the correct path' in Arabic, refers to the divine counsel that Muslims follow to live moral lives and grow close to God. While it is not a legal system, it forms the basis of Islamic law today, with human interpretations of Sharia, or fiqh, varying across different legal schools of Sunni Islam, such as Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. These legal schools developed methodologies for deriving rulings from scriptural sources, with the process of interpreting Sharia, or fiqh, evolving over hundreds of years after the Prophet Muhammad's death in the seventh century.
The role of Sharia in the modern world is a subject of intense debate, particularly regarding its compatibility with human rights, gender equality, freedom of speech and expression, democracy, criminal justice, and social equality. While some Muslim-majority countries have laws that reference Sharia, there is diversity in how governments interpret and apply it. For instance, some nations have laws that critics deem cruel or restrictive, such as hudud corporal punishments like stoning and amputation, which are considered draconian compared to most modern legal systems. On the other hand, modernists argue that Sharia can be adapted to align with human rights and contemporary issues.
The influence of European-style law in legal systems in Muslim countries, due to colonialism and modernisation, has resulted in a blend of Islamic and secular law. Islamic Family Law (IFL), for example, is based on human interpretation and judgment, allowing for changes to achieve justice and equality for Muslim women. Additionally, countries like Malaysia and Nigeria have dual legal systems, with a secular judicial system and the option for Muslims to bring certain matters, like marriage and divorce, to Islamic courts.
In conclusion, Sharia is not a static legal system but a dynamic way of life for Muslims, open to interpretation and evolution to address the needs of Islamic societies in the modern world.
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Islamic family law is not the same as Sharia
Sharia is derived from two main sources: the Quran, which is considered the direct word of God, and hadith—thousands of sayings and practices attributed to the Prophet Mohammed that collectively form the Sunna. Some of the traditions and narratives included in these sources evolved from those in Judaism and Christianity, the other major Abrahamic religions. Shiite Muslims include the words and deeds of the prophet’s family in the Sunna. However, sharia largely comprises the interpretive tradition of Muslim scholars.
Sharia is not a legal system. It is the overall way of life of Islam, as people understand it according to traditional, early interpretations. Sharia guides the personal religious practices of Muslims worldwide, but whether it should influence modern legal systems remains a subject of intense debate.
Islamic Family Law (IFL) is not the same as Sharia. Since IFL is based on human interpretation and judgment, it is not a divine order from God to Muslims. It can be changed based on new interpretations to achieve justice and equality for Muslim women in their families and communities.
Sharia was supposed to continue to apply to family law. However, government officials selected particular principles of Shari’a to be turned into laws, based on their own preferences. Sometimes the rulers mixed very different views from different scholars, turning them into rules that none of the scholars would accept as valid. After independence, Muslim rulers continued trying to apply Shari’a as law based on the colonial system. The result was an Islamic Family Law that is very similar to the European laws from the colonial time.
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Sharia is open to interpretation and has evolved over time
Sharia is derived from two main sources: the Quran, which is considered the direct word of God, and hadith—thousands of sayings and practices attributed to the Prophet Mohammed that collectively form the Sunna. Some of the traditions and narratives included in these sources evolved from those in Judaism and Christianity, the other major Abrahamic religions.
Sharia is not a legal system, but rather the overall way of life of Islam, as people understand it according to traditional, early interpretations. These early interpretations date from 700 to 900 CE, not long after the Prophet Muhammad's death in 632 CE. Interpretations of Sharia can vary depending on the interpreter, as "on any legal issue, there are ten different opinions," according to Muslim Jurist and UCLA Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl.
Over time, with the necessities brought by sociological changes, interpretative studies have led to the emergence of legal schools that reflect the preferences of particular societies and governments, as well as Islamic scholars or imams on the theoretical and practical applications of laws and regulations. The process of interpreting sharia, known as fiqh, developed over hundreds of years after Prophet Mohammed's death in the seventh century and as the Islamic empire expanded outward from Mecca and Medina, where he lived.
In the 21st century, approaches to Sharia vary widely, and the role and mutability of Sharia in a changing world has become an increasingly debated topic in Islam. While fundamentalists advocate the complete implementation of "pure sharia," modernists argue that it should be brought into line with human rights and other contemporary issues such as democracy, minority rights, freedom of thought, women's rights, and banking.
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Sharia is not uniform across Muslim-majority countries
Sharia is a set of divine guidelines that Muslims follow to live a righteous and moral life. It is derived from two main sources: the Quran, which is considered the direct word of God, and hadith—the sayings and practices attributed to the Prophet Mohammed. While it is a unifying concept for Muslims worldwide, the interpretation and application of Sharia vary across Muslim-majority countries.
Firstly, it is essential to understand that Sharia is not a static set of laws but an interpretive tradition that has evolved over centuries. The process of interpreting Sharia, known as fiqh, developed after the Prophet Mohammed's death in the seventh century as the Islamic empire expanded from Mecca and Medina. Legal schools of Sunni Islam, such as Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali, emerged and formulated methodologies for deriving rulings from scriptural sources. This interpretive tradition, influenced by societal changes and the preferences of specific societies, governments, and Islamic scholars, has resulted in varying applications of Sharia across Muslim-majority nations.
Secondly, the role of Sharia in modern legal systems is a subject of intense debate within Islam. While some Muslim-majority countries have incorporated Sharia into their legal frameworks, the extent and nature of its influence differ. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia and certain Gulf states, closely follow a classical Sharia system. In contrast, others, like Iran, exhibit characteristics of mixed legal systems, incorporating elements of parliament and codified laws. Even within countries, traditional and modernist interpretations of Sharia may coexist, leading to ambiguity in legislation and court decisions.
Additionally, the adoption of Sharia-based laws varies across different areas of life. While some Muslim-majority countries have implemented Sharia-based family laws governing marriage, inheritance, and personal status matters, others have applied it in penal codes, including controversial hudud corporal punishments. The compatibility of these punishments, such as stoning and amputation, with human rights and modern legal systems, is a point of contention. Most Muslim-majority countries have moved away from administering physical punishments, and only about a dozen retain the authority to do so under state laws.
Lastly, the acceptance and interpretation of Sharia among Muslims vary across regions. Surveys reveal that Muslims in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa are more likely to view Sharia as the revealed word of God and favour making it the official law of the land. In contrast, Muslims in Central Asia, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe are less inclined to support Sharia as the official legal code. Furthermore, within countries, opinions differ on whether Sharia should be open to multiple interpretations or if there is only one way to understand it.
In conclusion, while Sharia provides a universal set of guidelines for Muslims worldwide, its interpretation and implementation vary significantly across Muslim-majority countries. These variations are influenced by historical developments, societal changes, and the interplay between traditional and modernist interpretations. As a result, Sharia-based laws can differ substantially between nations and even within a single country, demonstrating the lack of uniformity in the application of Sharia across Muslim-majority nations.
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Frequently asked questions
Sharia law is a religious law that lays down governing principles for spiritual, mental, and physical behaviour that must be followed by Muslims. It is derived from the Quran, Islam's holy book, as well as the Sunnah and Hadith—the deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
No. While the Quran is Islam's holy book, only about 10% of its verses deal with legal issues. Sharia law is derived from two main sources: the Quran and the Hadith.
The Quran is considered the direct word of God and is the first source of Sharia law. The Hadith is the second source and constitutes the rules of faith of the Muslim community.
Islamic jurists issue guidance and rulings. Guidance that is considered a formal legal ruling is called a fatwa. There are five different schools of Islamic law that differ in how literally they interpret Sharia law. Interpretation of Islamic law is also nuanced according to local culture and customs.
