Sharia
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Sharia (/ʃəˈriːə/; Arabic: شَرِيعَة, romanized: šarīʿa, lit. 'path [to water]', IPA: [ʃaˈriːʕa]), also transliterated as Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah, is a body of religious law that form the Islamic tradition[1][2][3] based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an[4] and hadith.[1] In Islamic terminology sharīʿah refers to immutable, intangible divine law, in contrast to fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), which refers to its interpretations by Islamic scholars.[5][6][7] Sharia, or fiqh as traditionally known, has always been used alongside customary law from the very beginning in Islamic history;[8][9] it has been elaborated and developed over the centuries by legal opinions issued by qualified jurists – reflecting the tendencies of different schools – and integrated with various economic, penal and administrative laws issued by Muslim rulers; and implemented for centuries by judges in the courts[5][7] until recent times, when secularism was widely adopted in Islamic societies.
Traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence recognizes four sources for al-sharia: the Qur'an, sunnah (or authentic ahadith), ijma (lit. consensus) (may be understood as ijma al-ummah (Arabic: إجماع الأمة) – a whole Islamic community consensus, or ijma al-aimmah (Arabic: إجماع الائـمـة) – a consensus by religious authorities),[10] and analogical reasoning.[note 1][13] It distinguishes two principal branches of law, rituals (Ibadah) and social dealings (Muamalat); subsections family law, relationships (commercial, political / administrative) and criminal law, in a wide range of topics[5][7] assigning actions – capable of settling into different categories according to different understandings – to categories (ahkam) mainly as: mandatory, recommended, neutral, abhorred, and prohibited.[5][6][7] Beyond legal norms, Sharia also enters many areas that are considered private practices today, such as belief, worshipping, ethics,[14][15] clothing and lifestyle, and gives to those in command duties to intervene and regulate them.
Over time with the necessities brought by sociological changes, on the basis of interpretative studies legal schools have emerged, reflecting the preferences of particular societies and governments, as well as Islamic scholars or imams on theoretical and practical applications of laws and regulations. Legal schools of Sunni Islam – Hanafi, Maliki, Shafiʽi, Hanbali, etc. – developed methodologies for deriving rulings from scriptural sources using a process known as ijtihad,[5][6] a concept adopted by Shiism in much later periods meaning mental effort.[16] Although Sharia is presented in addition to its other aspects by the contemporary Islamist understanding, as a form of governance[17] some researchers approach traditional sīrah narratives with skepticism, seeing the early history of Islam not as a period when Sharia was dominant, but a kind of "secular Arabic expansion" and dating the formation of Islamic identity to a much later period.[18][19]
Approaches to Sharia in the 21st century vary widely, and the role and mutability of Sharia[20] in a changing world has become an increasingly debated topic in Islam.[6] Beyond sectarian differences, fundamentalists advocate the complete and uncompromising implementation of "exact/pure sharia" without modifications,[2][21] while modernists argue that it can/should be brought into line with human rights and other contemporary issues such as democracy, minority rights, freedom of thought, women's rights and banking by new jurisprudences.[22][23][24][25] Several practices of Sharia have been deemed incompatible with human rights, gender equality and freedom of speech and expression.[26][27][28][29][30][31] In Muslim majority countries, traditional laws have been widely used with[6][32] or changed by European models. Judicial procedures and legal education have been brought in line with European practice likewise.[6] While the constitutions of most Muslim-majority states contain references to Sharia, its rules are largely retained only in family law[6] and penalties in some. The Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought calls by Islamic movements for full implementation of Sharia, including hudud corporal punishments, such as stoning.[6][33]
Terminology
[edit]The Arabic word شريعة (šarīʿa) derives from the root š-r-ʕ.[34] In the Quran, شريعة (šarīʿa) and its cognate شرعة (širʿa) occur once each, with the meaning "way" or "path".[34][35][36] This term was borrowed into Ottoman Turkish as شرع (şerʿ / şeriʿ),[37][38][39][40] which then entered the English language as Sheri,[41] a term that was used in late 19th- and early 20th-century law-related works, along with the French variant chéri.[42]
According to lexicographical studies, this word and its derivatives —in texts reflecting a rural or nomadic setting— refer to the watering of animals at a permanent water source or along the seashore. Another area of usage is associated with the concepts of extension or length and is non-religious in nature.[43] The word is cognate with the Hebrew saraʿ (Hebrew: שָׂרַע, lit. 'lady') and is likely to be the origin of the meaning "way" or "path".[43] Some scholars regard this as an archaic Arabic word bearing similarities to Halakha (Jewish law)[44] and suggest that its adoption as a metaphor for a divinely ordained way of life stems from the importance of water in an arid desert environment..[45] The word شريعة (šarīʿa) was widely used by Arabic-speaking Jews during the Middle Ages, being the most common translation for the word Torah in the 10th-century Arabic translation of the Torah by Saadia Gaon.[34] A similar use of the term can be found in Christian writers.[34] The Arabic expression Sharīʿat Allāh (شريعة الله 'God's Law') is a common translation of Torat Elokim (תורת אלוהים, 'Teaching [of] God') and νόμος τοῦ θεοῦ ('God's Law' in Greek in the New Testament [Rom. 7: 22]).[46]
Contemporary usage
[edit]In everyday usage and the language of sermons, the terminological and semantic distinction of the word is disregarded; instead, it is used interchangeably with —and as a substitute for— the concept of Dīn, which encompasses areas such as belief, morality, and custom. For example, شريعة موسى (šarīʿat mūsā) means "law" or "religion of Moses" and شريعتنا (šarīʿatunā) can mean "our religion" in reference to any monotheistic faith.[34] Within Islamic discourse, شريعة (šarīʿa) refers to religious -strict- regulations governing the lives of Muslims.[34] For many Muslims, the word means simply "justice," and they will consider any law that promotes justice and social welfare to conform to Sharia.[6] A related term al-qānūn al-islāmī (القانون الإسلامي, Islamic law), which was borrowed from European usage in the late 19th century, is used in the Muslim world to refer to a legal system in the context of a modern state.[47]
Theories of origin and roots
[edit]According to the traditionalist (Atharī) Islamic perspective, the fundamental