Sharia Law Explained:
Sharia Law is the Islamic legal system that constitutes of the Quran (Islam’s central text)
and Fatwas (The ruling of Islamic scholars). Sharia’s literal translation means ‘the path’
or ‘the way’. It essentially acts as a code that all Muslims should adhere to, ranging from
prayers to consultations regarding legal matters. Sharia law can be divided into two main
ideas. Ibadat - guidance for religious worship and Mua’amalat - guidance in worldly
matters. This further branches out into religious law and rituals (fasting, prayers etc.),
private social interactions (marriage, business etc.) and public law (criminal law, war &
peace etc.).
There is often a misconception that hudud (punishment that has been specified in the
Quran for specific crimes) is the main constituent of sharia law. While it is an integral
part of the system, it only represents an infinitesimal part of what sharia law represents.
Less than 2% of the fiqh (the collective sources os Muslim jurisprudence) volumes are
dedicated to hudud crimes. Muslim scholars have agreed upon including adultery,
consuming intoxicants, some types of theft and banditry under crimes deserving of hudud
punishment. Punishments include lashings, exile, stoning, cutting hands off etc. People
who accuse others of committing adultery without witnesses or concrete evidence face 80
lashings and don’t have their testimony accepted ever again. Contrary to popular belief,
hudud punishments are delivered with the central notion of maximising mercy as believed
by Prophet Muhammed. “It is better for authority to err in mercy than to err in
punishment” states the best-attested version. Muslim scholars digested this into the
crucial legal principle, ‘ward off the hudud by ambiguities’.
Due to the common misconception of sharia law, it is a great political concern in western
countries like the USA. In November 2010, the state of Oklahoma passed a bill banning
the use of sharia law in court cases, under the pretext of it being ‘a necessary preemptive
strike’ against Islamic law. Utopian sharia law sees men and women as equals, however,
the rights and obligations conferred to them are complementary rather than identical. Like
mens rea, sharia law also accounts for the intention of committing a crime along with the
crime itself.
The main issue with sharia law is the misinterpretation of the doctrines regarding it. Some
of these interpretations have been corrupted or misunderstood, hence making society as a
whole to feel apprehensive about following it. The main question that arises is whether
sharia law can co-exist in a democracy or a country that follows secularism. There is
much more to Sharia law than what we currently have knowledge of, there are various
ambiguities that need resolution due to the various disputed facts about it. However,
factually, sharia law had evolved from being more applicable to the medieval society to
being relevant in our contemporary one. This is the main factor that has ensured the
survival of sharia law.
Citations:
https://ing.org/a-closer-look-at-sharia-in-the-united-states/
https://yaqeeninstitute.org/jonathan-brown/stoning-and-hand-cutting-understanding-the-h
udud-and-the-shariah-in-islam/