Sharia means “the correct path” in Arabic. In Islam, it refers to the divine counsel that Muslims follow to live moral lives and grow close to God. Sharia law is a religious law that lays down governing principles for spiritual, mental, and physical behaviour that must be followed by Muslims. Regarded as God’s command for Muslims, Sharia law is essentially Islam’s legal system. Muslims believe sharia refers to the perfect, immutable values understood only by God, while Islamic laws are those based on interpretations of sharia.
The Shariah prescribes both religious and secular duties and sometimes retributive penalties for lawbreaking. It has generally been supplemented by legislation adapted to the conditions of the day, though the manner in which it should be applied in modern states is a subject of dispute between Muslim traditionalists and reformists.
Components of Sharia:
Sharia comprises three basic elements:
- Tawhid / Aqidah (Belief in Oneness of Allah)
- Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)
- Akhlaq (Code of Conduct for an Islamic Way of Life)
Tawhid / Aqidah (Belief in Oneness of Allah):
It concerns all forms of faith and belief in Allah, held by a Muslim. Tawhid is the defining doctrine of Islam. It declares absolute monotheism—the unity and uniqueness of God as creator and sustainer of the universe. Tawhid is divided into three categories; namely, Tawhid al-Rububiyyah (Oneness of Divine Lordship), Tawhid al-Uluhiyyah (Oneness of Divinity) and Tawheed al-Asma wa’l-Sifat (Oneness of the Divine Names and Attributes). Tawhid is used by Islamic reformers and activists as an organizing principle for human society and the basis of religious knowledge, history, metaphysics, aesthetics, and ethics, as well as social, economic, and world order. Tawhid is considered as the fundamental principle of Islam, and this principle not only frame the Islamic worldview, but also constitutes the fountainhead of the maqasid (objectives) and the strategy of man’s life in this world. This principle also lays the foundation of Islamic social order, which teaches man that his socioeconomic activities must be guided by the principles from a single common source, Allah.
Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence):
The word fiqh is an Arabic term meaning “deep understanding” or “full comprehension” or “full knowledge” or “intelligence”. Technically it refers to the body of Islamic law extracted from detailed Islamic sources (which are studied in the principles of Islamic jurisprudence) and the process of gaining knowledge of Islam through jurisprudence. It implies the exercise of intelligence in deciding a point of law in the absence of a binding command from the Quran. It governs the relationship between man and his Creator (ibadat) and between man and man (muamalat). Political, economic, and social activities fall within the ambit of muamalat. Islamic finance, covered in economic activities, is thus linked with Sharia principles through muamalat.
Akhlaq (Code of Conduct for an Islamic Way of Life):
The meaning of the word Akhlaq is Ethics. It covers all aspects of a Muslim’s behaviour, attitude, and work ethic. Two theories of ethics emerged in Islam: rationalist ethics, in which human reason is given a substantive role in judging what is right and wrong (maintained by the Mutazilis and the Shias), and divine command ethics, in which right action is that which is commanded by God (maintained by the Asharis).
While directives relating to aqidah, ibadat, and akhlaq are fixed and unchangeable, directives of muamalat (including rulings such as contractual law transactions, criminal law, the judiciary, and Islamic finance) which govern the relationship between man and man, may change with the changes in circumstance, custom, time and place.
Sources of Sharia Law:
The four primary sources of Sharia Law are:
- The Quran
- The Hadith / Sunnah
- Ijma
- Qiyas
The Quran:
The word Quran is derived from the Arabic word “Qurra” and properly signifies, “the reading” or “that which ought to be read”. It is believed that the Quran is of divine origin and was revealed by God to the Prophet Mohammad for the benefit of mankind by through the Angel Gabriel. Quran is the first source of Muslim law in point of time as well as in importance. It is the basis of Muslim law.
The Sunnah:
Sunnah or Sunna is the second primary source of Muhammadan Law. The meaning of the word ’Sunnah’ is the precept of the Prophet. The word Sunna means “the trodden path”. Thus Sunnah is some kind of practice or precedent or traditions of the Prophet. Where the words of God could not supply authority for a given rule of law, ‘Prophet’s own words’ were treated as an authority because it is believed that even his own sayings derived inspiration from God. Whatever the Prophet said or did without reference to God, is treated as his traditions. The Hadith or narrative of the Sunnah of the Prophet constitutes the rules of faith of the Muslim community.
Ijma:
This source of law active when the Quran and traditions (Sunnah) could not supply any rule of law for a new problem. Persons having knowledge of the law were called Mujtahids (Jurists). The Jurists used to agree unanimously and gave their common opinion over that point and their unanimous opinion is known as Ijmaa. It is the third primary and important source of Islamic law. Thus, ijma contains the opinions of Islam’s learned scholars on matters of law.
Qiyas:
The fourth important source of Muhammadan law is the Qiyas, i.e., a collection of rules or principles by the methods of analogy and interpretation from the first three sources. All the three sources the Quran, The Sunnah, and Ijmaa could not suffice the growing needs of a community which had their ideas expanded by the great territorial strides that Islam had made in the course of the century. Qiyas is the process of comparing difficult questions of doctrine with similar cases settled by the authority of the Holy Book and Sunnah.
Conclusion:
Shariah is the legal practice derived from the teachings of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, or Sunnah. It serves as an ordained code for fair, moral and righteous living for Muslims and provides guidance on a variety of aspects of life. Debate continues to flare over sharia’s place in the modern world, particularly with regard to its teachings relating to criminal justice, democracy, and social equality.