ON SHARI’AH LAW: The term Shari’ah appears only once in the Qur’an, where God states, “We have set you on a Shari’ah of command, so follow it” (Q. 45:18). In Islam, the Qur’an and Sunnah (the precepts and traditions of the Prophet) are the basis of a uniform and codified version of Shari’ah, or “Islamic law.” The Shari’ah is a complex ethico-legal religious tradition, whose meanings and application, given today’s demand for liberal democracy and the separation of religion and state, have emerged as a hot subject of discussion. Though the word Shari’ah is generally defined as Islamic law, and it indeed contains law, it also embraces elements and aspects that are not, strictly speaking, limited to law. Shari’ah is a total discourse, one in which all kinds of institutions—religious, legal, moral, political, and economic—find simultaneous directives for all those who are the citizens of an Islamic state. It offers prescriptions on everything from prayers, diet, and dress to commerce, taxation, and warfare. Rather than definitive law, Shari’ah is best understood as God’s commanding guidance for an Islamic way of life. Muslim scholars from the early period concluded that the Shari’ah lies at the heart of God’s revelation and that it is, in some sense, all-encompassing. Gen Zia-ul-Haqq the with full dictatorial power in his hand failed to implement Shariah law. Major problem was how to impose Shariah law in modern times. As we can understand from Imam Malik’s famous interpretation which I quote here below:
Abu Jaffer Al Mansoor, a great Muslim ruler, who was in power for over twenty years in the beginning of the Abbasid regime, once requested Imam Malik to write a comprehensive book on Shariah Law outlining Islamic verdicts on matters that occurred to people in daily life. He wanted that book to be the standard by which all matters are resolved. Imam Malik, the founder of one of the four major schools of thought, counseled Al Mansoor not to do so. He argued: “The Prophet’s companions settled in different provinces with each of them having his share of knowledge about Islam. If you were now to enforce a single opinion on them all, this will inevitably lead to a great deal of chaos and trouble.” ~
MIRZA ASHRAF
Actually the word also appears in 42:13 (and may be more that I am not aware of) and in both places the translation of the word says “religion”.
From my limited knowledge of sharia, derived from a book “Defining Islamic Statehood” by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, sharia literally means “a path leading to water; figuratively the path trod by all human beings to attain God’s grace and reward in the hereafter”. Imam Feisal gathered many Islamic scholars from all over the world and the book is the consensus of a majority of the scholars.
A point made by Mirza Ashraf is Gen Zia found it difficult to enforce sharia law in modern times. Yes, it would be hard to enforce it in its original form so the question is CAN SHARIA EVOLVE according to the times ? The scholars in the above referenced book say YES, and give justification for such evolution. 1) “God has historically amended his own commandments from one prophet to another”. 2) “In the Quran God says he has abrogated certain verses and replaced them with similar or better ones according to the needs of the times”. 3) “the Prophet was known to have given different advice for similar questions because the context required different approaches’. 4) “Caliph Umar ….suspended the Quranic mandate of paying people to support their conversion to Islam” (it was meant to compensate people who lost everything on leaving their tribe/religion). “Caliph Umar also suspended the penalty for theft in times of famine….”. “This provides us with a powerful rationale to reconsider punishments of the sharia penal code…… ” recognizing that JUSTICE is the supreme objective of sharia. In the Prophet’s time may be justice was best served by by cutting off fingers for robbery; today there are other ways to serve justice. And finally, the punishments called for in sharia are MAXIMUM punishments, NOT MANDATORY punishments.
I appreciate Dr. Shoeb Amin’s comments. This is called positive discussion. If we carry on debate remaining focused to the main subject, Thinkers Forum will be doing great service to the seekers of knowledge. Imam Malik’s quot testifies that Shariah Law is not a list of fixed codes, but according to time and space it has the capability of evolving. MIRZA ASHRAF
Thank you Mirza Ashraf. What I did not mention in my earlier comment, to abide by brevity in “Brief Thoughts”, is that the laws laid down in Sharia are not what spooks the non-Muslim world. The laws themselves are more or less basic human rights. It is the Punishments (Hudud laws, plural of Hud[limits]) prescribed for breaking those laws that spooks non-Muslims as well as many Muslims. Since those punishments are not MANDATORY they can certainly change as long as JUSTICE is served. Formally banishing those archaic punishments will give Islam and Muslims a better image.
Shoeb