Notes on Sharia

2. Terms
 Islam- means submission (submission to God’s will)
 Shari’ah- means “The path leading to the watering
place
 Fiqh- the process of understanding God’s laws
 Shari’ah were completed in the 9th century

3. Contrasts
 Legal, Religious, personal laws. Shari’ah are much wider in
scope than western laws. They determine your relation with the
state, with one’s neighbors, with God
 Ritual Practices: daily prayers, alms giving, fasting, and
pilgrimage
 Ethical Standards: What is praiseworthy, what is blameworthy.
Divine praise or blame
 Expression of divine will
 Justification of Divine: God-made laws are superior because
of the following: God is above class status;
God is above racial prejudice; God is above the gender rivalry;
God, as the Creator, fully knows the humans as well as the
world in which they live.

4. History
 Qur’an: The revelations of Mohammed
 Sunnah: Historic traditions
 Only 80 verses deal with the laws
 The Qadis (Judges) developed far reaching code
 Laws from revelation, not reason
 Sunni and Shiite

5. Crimes
 Criminal sanctions are a small sliver of Shari’ah
 Apostasy- Death
 Highway Robbery-Death
 Theft- Amputation of hand
 Extra marital sex (if married) death by stoning, 100
lashes is unmarried. 80 lashes for unproved accusation
of unchastity
 Drinking alcohol- 80 lashes
 Islamic Prohibitions in daily life

6. Other Laws
 Legal maturity at age 15
 Laws of transactions: no usury, no financial
speculation
 Family Law: Patriarchal. Can contract daughters,
can have several wives (up to four)
 Divorce: Can be consensual, husband can repudiate
wife three times

7. Traditional and Modern
Law
 Originally you only needed two witnesses (men
usually) Judge presided over a pre-determined
process
 Reform: 19th Century, Shari’ah law replaced by
secular law based on European models, except the
Arabian peninsula. Shari’ah confined to family law

8. Rewards, Punishment,
Vision
 For most Shari’ah there is no earthly punishment
prescribed for vilations
 Reward or Punishment will come in the afterlife
 Shari’ah inspire Muslims, especially in their personal
lives, to strive to narrow the gap between the
unacceptable “is” and the ever ellusive “ought”
 Islam accommodates both the principles of justice
and mercy

9. Questions
Does Sharia pose a threat to America?
What are some of the valuable points of Sharia?
What reservations do you have about Sharia?
Does not the fact that certain things are forbidden
lead to a degree of unhealthy repression?