IslamSharia law within Sunni Islam: A brief introductionSponsored link. Sharia Law - source and definitions:The term "Sharia" (a.k.a. Shari'a) literally means "the path to a watering hole." The Guardian newspaper in the UK describes Sharia as: "... a religious code for living, in the same way that the Bible offers a moral system for Christians." 1 It is used to refer both to the Islamic system of law and the totality of the Islamic way of life. Sharia is derived both from:
This essay refers only to Sharia law as found in the Sunni Islamic tradition; this includes about 85% of all Muslims. For coverage of the Shi'a interpretatations of Sharia law, the book "An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism" by Moojan Momen has been recommended as a good source of information. Sharia law: founders and schools:Perhaps the two greatest original founders of Sharia law were Malik ibn Anas and Ibn al-Shaf'i. Anas established the Maliki school of jurisprudence. Al-Shaf'i was one of Anas' students; he disagreed with his teacher about the reliability of the hadith. He felt that it was necessary to trace each hadith from the time of Muhammad through its chain of devout Muslims. This concern led to Islamic scholars considering "... which hadith were true and which were not." Needless to say this led to conflicts among scholars as to the proper application of Sharia law. Ibn al-Shafi'i promoted the use of additional sources for Shari'a law:
There are four main schools of Sharia law:
What applies within one school of Sharia law does not necessarily apply in the other schools. For example, the Maliki Law School accepts evidence of pregnancy as proof that an unmarried woman has either committed adultery or been raped. The other schools "... do not recognize evidence of pregnancy as proof of Zina [Adultery]." 3
Recent history:The Constitutional Rights Foundation notes that:
Within Sharia law, there are a group of "Haram" offenses which carry severe punishments. These include pre-marital sexual intercourse, sex by divorced persons, post-marital sex, adultery, false accusation of unlawful intercourse, drinking alcohol, theft, and highway robbery. Haram sexual offenses can carry a sentence of stoning to death or severe flogging. An eyewitness account of Soraya M, a woman executed by stoning, can be read on an anti-Iranian web site. Caution: do not read this if you have a weak stomach; it is quite graphic. 5 Sharia law has been adopted in various forms by many countries, ranging from a strict interpretation in Saudi Arabia and northern states of Nigeria, to a relatively liberal interpretation in much of Malaysia. 1 Sharia law is intended to be only applicable to Muslims. Christians and other non-Muslims are supposed to be exempt from the provisions of the law; this is a provision that is not universally followed.. Books on Sharia law:
A search of Amazon.com for books on Sharia law:These searches sometimes return amusing results. You can safely order the following books online. If you see a generic Amazon.com ad here, click on your browser's refresh button to get a book list. References used:
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