HOUSE OF PEACE : What is shariah?

Which legal tradition has the following characteristics?

Equality before the lawInnocent until proven guiltyThe right to counselThe right to due processJudges are not answerable to political rulers

Most people might say the American or European legal systems. That could be true. It would also be true if someone said the Islamic legal tradition. Perhaps this is why in 1935, the United States Supreme Court honored Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as one of the 18 greatest lawgivers in human history.

The late Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah, an acknowledged expert on international law, has written two thought-provoking books in which he argues that Islam pioneered international law and the first written constitution of the world was developed by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) when he founded the city state of Madinah.^{^[1]}

Sharia has been presented by fear mongers as monstrous, murderous and a grave threat often without even understanding what the term means.

The word sharia means a “path” or “a way” in Arabic and it covers a huge range of human activity. On a personal level, sharia is a system of guidance for every day life. It is not an exaggeration to say that it covers a person’s entire existence. Birth, death, marriage, diet, hygiene, sex, beliefs, theology, prayer, fasting, charity and funerals are all covered by sharia. Historians disagree on when exactly Muslims arrived in the Americas. Some argue that Muslims came to the west 5 centuries before Columbus while others say it was in the 14th century. Either way, sharia has been practiced in the west for a very long time.

On a broader level sharia covers a large number of legal branches such as:

finance and tradecivil lawinternational lawconstitutional lawfamily lawinheritancetort lawcriminal lawmilitary law

Each area of law has its own specialization, its own highly developed procedures and regulations and a broad range of legal interpretations and understandings. Scholars of Islamic law agree that time, place and social customs impact the law and its rulings.

The vastness and comprehensive nature of Islamic law often eludes simple minded bigots or those “experts” on Islam that would like to reduce sharia to short, fear inspiring soundbites.

For over a thousand years Islamic scholars and jurists have neatly defined the core values and goals of the sharia. Based on their exhaustive understanding of the primary sources of the law, legal experts tell us the objectives of sharia are to protect: religion, life, intellect, progeny and wealth. Contemporary legal scholars are seeking to expand the list to include concepts such as fundamental rights and liberties, economic development and peaceful coexistence among nations.

The most criticized and talked about aspect of the sharia are its prescribed corporal punishments. For many people, that is the sum total of sharia. This is the subject of our second article on this topic (click here).

^{^[1]} Cf. The Muslim Conduct of State, and, The Written Constitution of the World, by Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah

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