10 What is Shar’ia Law?
Camron Michael Amin; Alam Payind; and Melissa McClimans
Islamic law, or sharī‘a, is based on a set of sophisticated legal systems, and provides a basis for government as well as for personal life. The processes of developing shar‘ia are based on strict standards. Religious legal interpretation, or fiqh, encompasses nearly every permutation of social structure, area of human activity and aspect of government. The uṣūl al-fiqh are the sources of Islamic legal interpretation. These sources are used according the sequence below:
- The Koran/Quran, or qur’ān (as fully transliterated in the Library of Congress system)
- The traditions of the Prophet, the sunna, his words and actions as recorded in reports (ḥadīth),
- Consensus , or ijmaʿ
- Analogy by Deduction, or qīyās
- Process of Setting New Precedents Based on the Above Sources, ijtihād
There is a misconception that sharī‘a is taken directly from the Qur’an without any process of interpretation, or application of legal precedents. The Qu’ran is the most important source, and must be looked to first, but it is not the only source. Islamic jurisprudence, or fiqh, considers five main sources to be valid authorities. The first, and most authoritative is the Qur’an, which is considered the word of God. The Qur’an, however, did not address every particular aspect of daily life, but mainly gave principles to live by. Thus, accounts of the prophet (hadīth) Muhammad’s life and quotes of his words are the second most important source. In more complicated matters, the scholar can refer to the consensus of his peers. Jurist scholars then use analogy when the exact case they are considering is not mentioned in these sources. For example, drugs like crack or heroin are not mentioned, but the prohibition on alcohol is issued due to its effect on the judgment and perception. This is a clear analogy the judge can use. Finally, if there is no precedent, he or she must engage in the intellectual struggle of ijtihād. Ijtihād is based on the same root as jihad (which means to struggle – refer to “The Concept of Jihad” for more details), indicating the level of effort required for identifying new paths for new circumstances that remain true to God’s will.
The idea of of consensus requires some explication. It actually derives from a ḥadīth in which Muhammad is said to have said, “My community will never agree on an error.” It does not imply that all Muslims have reached perfect unanimity of matters of doctrine or faith. Religious scholars can talk about a consensus of opinion among themselves (within or across different schools of legal thought). The term consensus can also refer to a set of ḥadīth sharing the same kind of information on a point of fact. One of these criteria, was scholarly consensus about the “chain of narrators” (or isnād, also the plural for the term “source.” Because reports of Muhammad’s life and teaching could contain miraculous content or have information that would confl