Questions about Sharia
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What does the word Sharia mean and where does it come from?
Sharia derives from the Arabic root š-r-ʕ and originally referred to a path leading animals to a permanent watering hole or to the seashore. Scholars describe it as an archaic Arabic word meaning a "pathway to be followed," and its adoption as a metaphor for a divinely ordained way of life is linked to the importance of water in an arid desert environment. The word is cognate with the Hebrew saraʿ and is closely related to the meaning "way" or "path."
What are the four sources of Islamic law recognized by Sunni Muslims?
Islamic scholar Rashid Rida listed the four sources of Islamic law agreed upon by all Sunni Muslims as the Quran, the Sunnah, the consensus of the community (ijma), and ijtihad undertaken by competent jurists. Classical legal theory also recognizes analogical reasoning (qiyas) as a fourth formal source alongside the Quran, Sunnah, and ijma. Twelver Shia jurisprudence replaces qiyas with reason, called aql.
What are the four main Sunni schools of Islamic law and where are they dominant?
The four main Sunni legal schools are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali madhhabs, founded by Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal respectively in the eighth and ninth centuries. The Maliki school is predominant in North and West Africa; the Hanafi school in South and Central Asia; the Shafi'i school in Lower Egypt, East Africa, and Southeast Asia; and the Hanbali school in North and Central Arabia.
How did British colonial rule change Islamic law in India?
Warren Hastings, the governor of Bengal in the late eighteenth century, commissioned a translation of the Hanafi legal manual Al-Hidayah from Arabic into Persian and then into English, allowing British judges to apply Islamic law without consulting local ulema. This effectively codified Sharia in a fixed form, stripping out the judicial discretion and attention to local custom that had characterized traditional practice. The resulting system, called Anglo-Muhammadan law, became a model for British legal reforms in other colonies.
What is the difference between Sharia and fiqh?
In Islamic terminology, Sharia refers to immutable divine law considered to originate directly from God, while fiqh refers to the human interpretations of that law produced by Islamic scholars. Fiqh is further divided into usul al-fiqh, the theoretical principles of jurisprudence, and furu al-fiqh, the practical elaboration of rulings on specific questions. Sharia is thus the ideal; fiqh is the scholarly tradition that attempts to understand and apply it.
What are the three categories of crime in classical Islamic criminal law?
Classical Islamic criminal law recognizes three categories. Hadd crimes are those with punishments specified in the Quran, including murder, adultery, slander, and theft, with penalties ranging from public lashing to amputation and death. Qisas applies to cases of intentional bodily harm or homicide, where the victim or their heirs may seek equal retaliation, monetary compensation called diya, or grant a pardon. Tazir covers offenses mentioned in scripture but without a specified punishment, leaving the form and severity of punishment to the judge's or ruler's discretion.