The Sultanahmet or Blue Mosque, in Istanbul \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is a great deal of concern among some Americans about shari\u2018a<\/em> (or sharia<\/em>, or shari\u2018ah<\/em>; there is no single \u201cright\u201d way of transliterating Arabic \u0634\u0631\u064a\u0639\u0629<\/span>\u200e) or what is sometimes called, a bit redundantly but also somewhat misleadingly, shari\u2018a law<\/em> or Islamic law<\/em>. \u00a0Much of that concern, I think, can be eliminated by learning more about what shari\u2018a<\/em> actually is.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Herewith, a few partial and preliminary notes on the topic, with no pretense \u2014 so please don\u2019t point it out yet; I\u2019m not done! \u2014 of completeness:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shari\u2018a<\/em> refers specifically to the divine law revealed by God. \u00a0Because it has been given by God, it is immutable, beyond the reach or authority of human legislators. \u00a0Again, though, that\u2019s somewhat theoretical: \u00a0God\u2019s revelations must be interpreted and applied. \u00a0So the term fiqh<\/em> is used to denote human scholarly interpretations and applications of shari\u2018a<\/em>. \u00a0It can be translated fairly adequately as jurisprudence<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Islam is rather similar to Judaism in this regard: \u00a0Roughly speaking, I think that it\u2019s fair to say that jurisprudence or fiqh<\/em> assumes the place, among both Jews and Muslims, that theology occupies in mainstream Christendom. \u00a0The construction of the vast, comprehensive legal system associated with Islam occupied the talents and lives of some of the greatest of Muslim thinkers, and it\u2019s a truly remarkable, rich intellectual creation<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shari\u2018a<\/em> is derived, principally, from the Qur\u2019an and from the body of quotations from and anecdotes about the Prophet Muhammad that is known collectively as the hadith<\/em>. \u00a0(These record what is known as the sunna<\/em> or sunnah<\/em> of the Prophet, a large subject in itself that I\u2019ll discuss in a separate entry or set of entries.) \u00a0Theoretically, the Qur\u2019an is accorded first place, and the hadith<\/em> are used to supplement it. \u00a0In practice, however, since the Qur\u2019an is a book of finite length (roughly comparable to the New Testament) that does not, cannot, cover every possible subject, the much more extensive corpus of the hadith<\/em> is often invoked for guidance on questions where the Qur\u2019an is silent.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But even the hadith<\/em>, which essentially ceased being created and\/or recorded in the late ninth century after Christ, cannot cover every question that will arise in the vast complexity of human societies and human history. \u00a0So there are additional sources to which Muslim judges and jurists look.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first of these is qiyas<\/em>, or \u201canalogy.\u201d \u00a0Perhaps there is no passage in either the Qur\u2019an or the hadith<\/em> collections that specifically mentions x<\/em>. \u00a0Is there, however, something from which an analogy can be drawn?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Often, there is. \u00a0But sometimes there isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So the next resource is ijma\u2018<\/em> or \u201cconsensus.\u201d \u00a0This is the consensus, specifically, of those who have been immersed in the Qur\u2019an and the hadith<\/em> and trained in the use of analogical reasoning or qiyas<\/em>. \u00a0Uneducated, uninformed, and untrained opinions are irrelevant.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
More on this subject later.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 There is a great deal of concern among some Americans about shari\u2018a (or sharia, or shari\u2018ah; there is no single \u201cright\u201d way of transliterating Arabic \u0634\u0631\u064a\u0639\u0629\u200e) or what is sometimes called, a bit redundantly but also somewhat misleadingly, shari\u2018a law or Islamic law. \u00a0Much of that concern, I think, can be eliminated by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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