Buddhist<\/a> cultures, Jewish rabbinic law (Halacha), and medieval Christian law, which attempt to work out the details and implications of God\u2019s revelation as contained in holy scripture, Shariah is scarcely unusual. It\u2019s simply the manifestation in Islamic culture of a universal goal of premodern societies: making their legal order reflect the will of God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFor Jews, the source of Halacha is the Torah (\u201cLaw\u201d) found in the Bible \u2014 especially the five books of Moses \u2014 as expounded in the \u201coral Torah\u201d by Moses and interpreted by subsequent rabbis. Likewise, for Muslims the source of Shariah is the Quran \u2014 the ultimate revelation of God to Muhammad the prophet \u2014 as expounded and exemplified by Muhammad and interpreted by later legal scholars known as the Ulema.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe Quran and Muhammad\u2019s teachings (sunna) were codified into the Shariah in the late eighth century, nearly 150 years after Muhammad\u2019s death; Muslim jurists attempted to systematize Islamic teachings, ethics, local customs, and even Roman law into consistent and coherent form. But they\u2019ve never achieved complete consensus on the specifics of Shariah, and five major schools, or systems, of Islamic legal interpretation exist today \u2014 the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi\u2019i, Hanbali, and, among Shiites, Ja\u2019fari schools \u2014 as well as a handful of minor ones. (All of the schools of law typically recognize the legitimacy of rival interpretations.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMuch in Shariah deals with what Westerners would see as purely religious regulations, such as purification rites, dietary restrictions, prayers, funerals and pilgrimage to Mecca. Other aspects of Shariah deal with social or civil matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance. It\u2019s important to note, in this regard, that Shariah applies only to Muslims. Non-Muslim minorities living under Muslim rule \u2014 e.g., Jewish or Christian communities \u2014 have their own traditional law codes covering these issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMovements by modern Muslims in England, for example, to implement Shariah often amount to the simple request that Muslims be permitted to follow Shariah in binding arbitration regarding such matters as marriage, divorce and inheritance. (English practice already permits this for Orthodox Jews, who are often allowed to have Halacha regulations binding for marriage, etc.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWesterners sometimes describe a number of controversial aspects of Shariah as barbaric or \u201cmedieval\u201d (as if \u201cmedieval\u201d were an insult rather than a chronological period). Protected non-Muslim minorities (\u201cdhimmis\u201d) often face legal restrictions, for instance, though their right to worship is guaranteed. Polygamy, restricted rights of women, limits on freedom of speech, slavery and prohibitions against religious conversion and homosexuality are all viewed as problematic by many in the West. However, similar laws once existed in Europe, as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFew in the West realize that European imperialists systematically dismantled many of the traditional precepts of Shariah in the 19th century in order to further their dominance and colonialism among Muslim peoples. Thus many modern Muslim countries have fractured legal systems based on elements of Shariah inconsistently mixed with French or English law. Only a few Muslim countries today, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, are governed solely by Shariah. A fundamental goal of contemporary Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood (which now rules Egypt through its Freedom and Justice Party) is to strip away foreign European colonial laws and return to Shariah, which had once been the law of the land throughout the Muslim world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOn the other hand, since several generations of Muslims have grown up under the hybrid colonial-Shariah legal systems that they now see as the norm, it will undoubtedly be a monumental and, no doubt, chaotic political task to reverse the process completely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThus, in this age of revolution, reformation and anarchy in the Muslim world, the future role of Shariah is a fundamental issue that will significantly impact the progress, stability and prosperity of the region.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019ve lately received several inquiries about Islam\u2019s shari\u2018a (or, as it\u2019s often somewhat misleadingly termed, \u201cshari\u2018a law\u2019). \u00a0With that in mind, I think it not inappropriate to share this column that Bill Hamblin and I wrote and that appeared in the Deseret News on 1 December 2012. \u00a0It\u2019s dated in parts, but, overall, […]<\/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":[951,66,2631,1769,87,90],"class_list":["post-67944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-egypt","tag-islam","tag-law","tag-muslim","tag-sharia","tag-shariah"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Al-Azhar,](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/05\/800px-Al-Azhar_mosque%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B2%D9%87%D8%B1.jpg\")
<\/a>