Halakha and Shari'a

Halakha is the body of Jewish religious law. It comprises biblical laws found in the Hebrew Bible, Talmudic law, and post-Talmudic religious legalistic texts, as well as in traditions and customs that have developed throughout centuries of Jewish practice and as a result of scholarly deliberations. The word Halakha is derived from the Hebrew word for “walk” or “go,” and so it refers not only strictly to law but also to the way Jewish persons should live their lives and the path on which they should journey. Although later distinctions were made between the more particular ritual laws (known as hukkim) and the more universal ethical/moral laws (called mishpatim), the Torah itself makes no such division; both are of equivalent importance within Israelite society. From ...