Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
Sharia Law — Muslims for Progressive Values
HOW WAS SHARI’A USED IN THE BEGINNING?
As time went on, people had new questions about new problems. Religious scholars could use Shari’a to try to figure out what people should do. The goal was to try to get as close as possible to what the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) would have said if he were still around. When early scholars interpreted Shari’a, it was called ijtihad.
Even very religious, well-educated scholars could make mistakes, though. Sometimes they disagreed with each other. That is why there are different Islamic schools of thought, called madhahib.
IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHARI’A AND ISLAMIC LAW?
Yes. Shari’a isn’t a legal system. It includes Islamic principles to help guide people to new answers, and it includes common cultural practices that had to do with a specific time and place in history. Muslim rulers wanted a way to make Shari’a into law. To do that, they decided which rules needed to be laws, first. Then they used interpretations of Shari’a to show people that the new laws were Islamic. The result was what we call Islamic Law.
Islamic Law is always based on someone’s interpretation of the Shari’a (which is an interpretation of the Qur’an and Hadith). Because it is a human interpretation, Islamic Law can mean different things in different places and at different times in history.
Today, interpretations of Shari’a are usually still limited to rules of interpretation (called usul al-fiqh) that were established by early scholars before 900 CE. More recently scholars have called for new ijtihad to meet the changing needs of modern Islamic societies.
DO ISLAMIC COUNTRIES TODAY USE ISLAMIC LAW?
Yes and no. Many Islamic countries believe they are following Shari’a in family law matters, but Shari’a is not a legal system. These countries actually use some kind of Islamic Law in family matters, and in all other matters apply European-style law left over from colonization. Iran, Saudi Arabia and a few other countries claim that most of their laws are based on Shari’a, but, in fact, most of those laws are secular. Even those laws which come from Islamic Law are different from place to place because they are interpreted by people—and those people are influenced by their culture.
Still, Islamic Law is followed by many Muslims as a way of life, not as law. In that case, it is a personal choice, based on the person’s own understanding and beliefs.
ARE ALL LAWS IN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES BASED ON ISLAMIC LAW?
No. Today, many Islamic countries use some version of Islamic Family Law (also called “IFL” in this article), even if they use secular laws for all other kinds of laws.
WHAT IS ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW?
IFL is a type of law that covers topics like marriage, divorce, custody of children and the status of women. It also may be called Muslim Personal Status Law. The idea of IFL was introduced by European colonial powers. Colonial governments separated the field of family law from the rest of Shari’a, then enforced IFL as national law, according to European models of government. All other fields of law came under secular European-style laws.
Read on to learn what laws were like in Islamic countries before and during colonization.
I just wanted to give a different view of sharia.
Personally I believe Shari’a should be used on a personal inward way as a Muslim, not to tell what others should do, and if not get punishment for it.
HOW WAS SHARI’A USED IN THE BEGINNING?
As time went on, people had new questions about new problems. Religious scholars could use Shari’a to try to figure out what people should do. The goal was to try to get as close as possible to what the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) would have said if he were still around. When early scholars interpreted Shari’a, it was called ijtihad.
Even very religious, well-educated scholars could make mistakes, though. Sometimes they disagreed with each other. That is why there are different Islamic schools of thought, called madhahib.
IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHARI’A AND ISLAMIC LAW?
Yes. Shari’a isn’t a legal system. It includes Islamic principles to help guide people to new answers, and it includes common cultural practices that had to do with a specific time and place in history. Muslim rulers wanted a way to make Shari’a into law. To do that, they decided which rules needed to be laws, first. Then they used interpretations of Shari’a to show people that the new laws were Islamic. The result was what we call Islamic Law.
Islamic Law is always based on someone’s interpretation of the Shari’a (which is an interpretation of the Qur’an and Hadith). Because it is a human interpretation, Islamic Law can mean different things in different places and at different times in history.
Today, interpretations of Shari’a are usually still limited to rules of interpretation (called usul al-fiqh) that were established by early scholars before 900 CE. More recently scholars have called for new ijtihad to meet the changing needs of modern Islamic societies.
DO ISLAMIC COUNTRIES TODAY USE ISLAMIC LAW?
Yes and no. Many Islamic countries believe they are following Shari’a in family law matters, but Shari’a is not a legal system. These countries actually use some kind of Islamic Law in family matters, and in all other matters apply European-style law left over from colonization. Iran, Saudi Arabia and a few other countries claim that most of their laws are based on Shari’a, but, in fact, most of those laws are secular. Even those laws which come from Islamic Law are different from place to place because they are interpreted by people—and those people are influenced by their culture.
Still, Islamic Law is followed by many Muslims as a way of life, not as law. In that case, it is a personal choice, based on the person’s own understanding and beliefs.
ARE ALL LAWS IN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES BASED ON ISLAMIC LAW?
No. Today, many Islamic countries use some version of Islamic Family Law (also called “IFL” in this article), even if they use secular laws for all other kinds of laws.
WHAT IS ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW?
IFL is a type of law that covers topics like marriage, divorce, custody of children and the status of women. It also may be called Muslim Personal Status Law. The idea of IFL was introduced by European colonial powers. Colonial governments separated the field of family law from the rest of Shari’a, then enforced IFL as national law, according to European models of government. All other fields of law came under secular European-style laws.
Read on to learn what laws were like in Islamic countries before and during colonization.
I just wanted to give a different view of sharia.
Personally I believe Shari’a should be used on a personal inward way as a Muslim, not to tell what others should do, and if not get punishment for it.