Sharia

**Sharia**, **Sharia law** or **Islamic law** is a set of religious principles which form part of the Muslim faith. The Arabic word *sharīʿah* () refers to the revealed law of God and originally meant "way" or "path".

Classical sharia deals with many aspects of public and private life, including religious rituals, family life, business, crimes, and warfare. In former times, sharia was interpreted by independent jurists, who based their legal opinions on Qur'an, Hadith and centuries of debate, interpretation and precedent. Some parts of sharia can be described as "law" in the usual sense of that word, while other parts are better understood as rules for living life in accordance with God's will.

Countries in the Muslim world all have their own laws. In most of them only a small part of the legal system is based on classical sharia. Muslims disagree on how sharia should be applied.

Some of the practices of Sharia have been deemed evil and incompatible with human rights, gender equality and freedom of speech and expression.

 Sharia court.]]

## Meaning and origins
People of different religions who speak Arabic use the word *sharīʿah* to describe a religious tradition that comes from teachings of prophets. Christians and Jews in the Middle East have used it to describe their own religion. For many Muslims the word "sharia" means simply "justice". They will say that any law agrees with sharia as long as it helps to build a more fair and prosperous society.

Most Muslims believe sharia should be interpreted by experts in Islamic law.

Scholars disagree about the origins of the word "sharia". Some say that "sharia" comes from the old Arabic word meaning "pathway to be followed". This would make it similar to *halakha* (the way to go), the Hebrew word for Jewish law. Other scholars think that the word "sharia" originally meant "path to the water hole". They say that knowing the way to a water hole could save a man's life in the deserts of Arabia, and that is why this word came to refer to God's guidance to man.

, (656). Bust imitating Sassanid ruler Khosrau II, Crescent-Star, Basmala, and Zoroastrian] fire. The use of it by a Muslim is considered apostasy in classical fiqh. Practices, (pointing to a secular understanding) are completely excluded by the comments and fatwas brought by the ulama later. ]]

## Theory 
Islamic scholars who lived during the first centuries of Islam developed different methods for interpreting sharia. Most of them came to agree that sharia rules should be derived from the following main sources:
# The Qur'an, which Muslims believe was revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel (*Jibril*).
# The actions and words of Muhammad, which are called the *sunnah* and were preserved in collections called *hadith*
# Consensus, when legal experts all agree on a point of law
# *qiyās* or legal reasoning by analogy

The process of deriving sharia rules from the Qur'an and hadith is called *ijtihad*. Sharia rules classify actions into one of the following categories:

Sharia in Islam is viewed as the revealed law of God, which cannot be altered. On the other hand, its interpretation, called *fiqh*, is the work of legal scholars, who have frequently differed in their legal opinions. Some parts of sharia are similar to what people in the West call "law", while other parts are better understood as rules for living life in accordance with God's will.
# Eid ul-Fitr
# Eid ul-Adha

There are some special recommended acts used during these holidays:
* Sadaqah (charity) before Eid ul-Fitr prayer.
* The Prayer and the Sermon on Eid day.
* Takbirs (glorifying God) after every prayer in the days of *Tashriq* (see footnote for def.)
* Sacrifice of unflawed, four-legged grazing animal of appropriate age after the prayer of Eid ul-Adha in the days of *Tashriq*. The animal must not be wasted; its meat must be consumed.

### Dietary laws 
Islamic law lists only some specific foods and drinks that are not allowed.
# Pork, blood, and scavenged meat are not allowed. People are also not allowed to eat animals that were slaughtered in the name of someone other than Allah.
# Intoxicants (like alcoholic drinks and drugs) are not allowed generally.

While Islamic law prohibits already-dead meat, this does not apply to fish and locusts. Also, hadith literature prohibits beasts having sharp canine teeth, birds having claws and talons in their feet, tamed donkeys, and any piece cut from a living animal.

### Sacrifice 
There are some specific rules regarding the killing of animals in Islam.
# The animal must be killed in the most humane way: by swiftly cutting the throat.
# The animal must not be diseased.
# The animal must not have been exposed to feces, worms, and other impurities.
# All blood must drain from the animal before being packaged.

### Family life 
* A Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim man, but a Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim(Woman).
* A Muslim minor girl's father or guardian needs her consent when arranging a marriage for her. And should only marry when she is of legal age.
* A marriage is a contract that requires the man to pay, or promise to pay some of the wedding and provisions the wife needs. This is known as the Mahr or Meher.
* A Muslim man may be married to up to four women at a time, although the Qur'an has emphasised that this is a permission, and not a rule. The Qur'an has stated that to marry one is best if you fear you cannot do justice between your wives and respective families. This means that he must be able to house each wife and her children in a different house, he should not give preferential treatment to one wife over another.
* A female heir inherits half of what a male heir inherits. The concept being that Islam puts the responsibility of earning and spending on the family on the male. Any wealth the female earns is strictly for her own use. The female also inherits from both her immediate family and through agency of her husband, her in-laws as well.

## Crime and punishment 
Sharia recognizes three categories of crime:
# Offenses mentioned in the Quran (*hudud*) that are viewed as violating "claims of God" and have fixed punishments.
# Offenses against people (murder and wounding) which call for a punishment similar to the crime, (*qisas*) such as; murdering or cutting off limbs of the offender.
# Other forbidden behavior where a Muslim judge uses his discretion in sentencing (''ta'zir* and *siyasa*)

Although there is some disagreement about which crimes are *hudud* crimes, they usually include **theft**, **highway robbery**, zina (sex with forbidden partners/adultery), *'falsely accusing someone of *zina***, and **drinking alcohol**. The prescribed punishments for these crimes range from 80 lashes to death. However, classical jurists developed very strict rules which restrict when these punishments could be applied, so that in many cases it became almost impossible to convict anyone under these rules. For example, there must be four **adult'* Muslim witnesses to a hudud crime or a confession repeated four times, before someone can be punished. If a criminal could not be convicted of a *hudud* crime, they could still receive a *tazir'' punishment.
* Qisas;
In the historical practice, qisas appears in two ways. One of them is the punishment of the perpetrator with a “counter-action”, exactly the same as the crime committed, in crimes against the person's bodily integrity; A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth... etc.

Another application is related to the social status of the perpetrator and the victim. In the tribal understanding, when a person kills a woman, a slave or an honorable person from another tribe, a person "of similar status from the tribe to which the murderer belongs" will be killed in return. As a general custom, killing the master's to slave, father's to child, husband's to wife was not punished with retaliation, and retaliation was not applied to the man who killed the woman as a rule. The condition of "social equality" in qisas means that; "if a socially inferior person kills someone from the upper class, qisas will be applied", whereas "if someone from the upper class kills someone from the lower class, it cannot be applied". On this pre-Islamic understandings the discussion *whether a Muslim could be executed for a non-Muslim* was added in Islamic period.

In these cases, *compensation (Diya)* can be paid to the family of the murdered person.

The main verse for implementation in Islam is Al Baqara; 178 verse;
*: "*Believers! Retaliation is ordained for you regarding the people who were killed. Free versus free, captive versus captive, woman versus woman. Whoever is forgiven by the brother of the slain for a price, let him abide by the custom and pay the price well."

While retaliation is certain in crimes of murder, according to the verse(2:178)), the situation is not clear in the crimes of wounding. For such (an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, etc.) punishments, the expression "This is how we wrote to them (the Children of Israel) in the book", is used. (5: 45)

Murder, bodily injury and property damage - intentional or unintentional - is considered a civil dispute under sharia law. The victim, victim's heir(s) or guardian is given the option to either forgive the offender, demand Qisas (equal retaliation) or accept a compensation (Diyya). Under sharia law, the Diyya compensation received by the victim or victim's family is in cash.

Contrary to wide-held beliefs, the death penalty for Apostasy is not consistent with Qur'anic teachings. The Qur'an states: “O you who believe! If anyone of you should renounce his Faith (let him remember that) Allah will bring forth (in his stead) a people (more zealous in faith) whom He will love and who will love Him. . . .” (5:54). In Surah 2 of the Qur'an it states: “There is no compulsion of any sort in religion (as) the right way does stand obviously distinguished from the way of error.” (2:256). Renowned Kurdish scholar Ibn al-Athir, in his commentary on this verse within Al-Kȃmil fî al-Tȃrîkh (The Complete History), encapsulates its essence with the following explanation: “You do not need to force anyone to accept Islam and follow its rules, as it is so manifest and clear, and arguments and reasoning in its favor are so powerful and convincing that there is no need of any force. Whosoever receives guidance from Allah, opens his breast to the Truth, and possesses the wisdom to understand the arguments in this Book will accept it voluntarily. And if a person is so blind as not to see any reason, his acceptance of Islam is useless”. 

The Qur'an additionally states: “(O Prophet!) You cannot guide whom you desire, but it is Allah who guides whom He wills. He knows well those who are receptive to guidance.” (28:56)

This sentiment is further echoed in verse 10:99: “And if your Lord had enforced His will, all those on earth would have believed together.” If Allah does not impose His will by force, it is not conceivable that humans should coerce or punish nonbelievers for not believing or leaving Islam. Several other verses in the Holy Quran convey a similar message (cf. 18:29; 26:3–4; 76:3).

## Legal system 
### Muftis 
During the Islamic Golden Age, sharia was interpreted by experts in Islamic law (*muftis*), most of whom were independent religious scholars. Anyone could ask them a question about law, and they were expected to give an answer for free. Their legal opinions were called *fatwas*.

### Qadi's courts 
When there was a legal dispute about family or financial matters, it would be handled in a court headed by a *qadi* (judge). These judges also had a legal education, and they were appointed to their post by the ruler. In simple cases, qadis would pronounce a verdict based on their own knowledge of sharia. In more difficult cases, they would express the details of the case in general terms and ask a mufti for his legal opinion.

## Sharia in the modern world 
In the modern era, most parts of the Muslim world came under influence or control of European powers. This led to major changes in the legal systems of these lands. In some cases, this was because Muslim governments wanted to make their states more powerful and they took European states as models of what a modern state should look like. In other cases, it was because Europeans who colonized these lands forced them to abandon parts of Islamic law and follow European laws instead. Saudi Arabia is often criticized for its public executions, and their frequency has increased in recent decades. Executions became more frequent because the government and courts decided to crack down on violent crime which became more frequent during the 1970s, as also happened in the U.S. and China. According to the Pew poll, among Muslims who support making Sharia the law of the land, most do not believe that it should be applied to non-Muslims. In the Muslim-majority countries surveyed this proportion varied between 74% (of 74% in Egypt) and 19% (of 10% in Kazakhstan), as percentage of those who favored making Sharia the law of the land.

In all of the countries surveyed, respondents were more likely to define Sharia as "the revealed word of God" rather than as "a body of law developed by men based on the word of God". In analyzing the poll, Amaney Jamal has argued that there is no single, shared understanding of the ideas "Sharia" and "Islamic law" among the respondents. In particular, in countries where Muslim citizens have little experience with rigid application of Sharia-based state laws, these ideas tend to be more associated with Islamic ideals like equality and social justice than with forbidden acts  Other polls have indicated that for Egyptians, the word "Sharia" is associated with ideas  of political, social and gender justice.

In 2008, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has suggested that Islamic and Orthodox Jewish courts should be integrated into the British legal system alongside church courts to handle marriage and divorce, subject to agreement of all parties and strict requirements for protection of equal rights for women. His reference to the sharia sparked a controversy. A 2008 YouGov poll in the United Kingdom found 40% of Muslim students interviewed supported the introduction of sharia into British law for Muslims. Michael Broyde, professor of law at Emory University specializing in alternative dispute resolution and Jewish law, has argued that sharia courts can be joined into the American religious arbitration system, provided that they adopt appropriate institutional requirements as American rabbinical courts have done.

### Opposition 
In the Western world, Sharia has been called a source of "", "more  than ever", the one aspect of Islam that inspires "particular dread". On the Internet, "dozens of self-styled counter-jihadis" emerged to campaign against Sharia law, describing it in strict interpretations resembling those of Salafi Muslims. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won ovations calling for a federal ban on Sharia law.
In 2008 in Britain, the future Prime Minister (David Cameron) declared his opposition to "any expansion of Sharia law in the UK." In Germany, in 2014, the Interior Minister (Thomas de Maizière) told a newspaper (*Bild*), "Sharia law is not tolerated on German soil."

Some countries and jurisdictions have explicit bans on sharia law. In Canada, for example, sharia law has been explicitly banned in Quebec by a 2005 unanimous vote of the National Assembly, while the province of Ontario allows family law disputes to be arbitrated only under Ontario law. In the U.S., opponents of Sharia have sought to ban it from being considered in courts, where it has been routinely used alongside traditional Jewish and Catholic laws to decide legal, business, and family disputes subject to contracts drafted with reference to such laws, as long as they do not violate  law or the U.S. constitution.  After failing to gather support for a federal law making observing Sharia a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, anti-Sharia protesters have focused on state legislatures. These bills have generally referred to banning foreign or religious law in order to thwart legal challenges.

According to Jan Michiel Otto, Professor of Law and Governance in Developing Countries at Leiden University, "[a]nthropological research shows that people in local communities often do not distinguish clearly whether and to what extent their norms and practices are based on local tradition, tribal custom, or religion. Those who adhere to a confrontational view of Sharia tend to ascribe many undesirable practices to Sharia and religion overlooking custom and culture, even if high-ranking religious authorities have stated the opposite."

## Notes 
## References 
* Laleh Bakhtiar and Kevin Reinhart (1996). *Encyclopedia of Islamic Law: A Compendium of the Major Schools*. Kazi Publications. 
* Muhammad ibn Idris al- Shafi'i (1993). *Risala: Treatise on the Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence*. 
* Khaled Abou El Fadl 2003). *Reasoning with God: Rationality and Thought in Islam*. Oneworld. 
* Cemal Kafadar (1996). *Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State*. University of California Press. 
* Omid Safi (2003). *Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism*. Oneworld Publications. 
* Mumisa, Michael (2002) *Islamic Law: Theory & Interpretation*. Amana Publications. 
* Daniel W. Brown (1996). *Rethinking traditions in modern Islamic thought*. Cambridge University Press, UK. 
* Bernard Weiss (2002), Studies in Islamic Legal Theory, Brill Academic publishers, 
* 

## Related pages
* Irth, farā'iḍ, or wasāyā
* Fatwa
* Zakat - Payment of portion of one's wealth for charity

## Other websites
* World Database for Islamic Banking and Finance
* Al-Mawrid Institute of Islamic Sciences
* Shariah Institute 
* Muslim Arbitration Tribunal 
* Khalid Chraibi: Reforming Islamic family law within the religious framework - The "best practices" strategy
* Khalid Chraibi: The king, the mufti & the Facebook girl - a power play. Who decides what is licit in Islam? - CyberOrient
* Division of Inheritance According to Qur'an 
* Full official English version of Sunni Sharia Law online