Islamic Law

The concept of Islamic law (shari'ah or shari'a) is an all-encompassing law that governs all aspects of the public, private, economic, religious, social, and political life of every Muslim. Islamic canon law deals with rituals and such matters as property, commercial activities, marriage, divorce, inheritance, personal conduct and hygiene, and diet. It prescribes penalties for crimes, felonies, and offenses.

Most Muslim states today, however, have secular legal and penal codes based on Western legal systems. Only a few countries, such as Saudi Arabia, apply penalties provided for in the Islamic canon law. For instance, judges can punish adultery by stoning to death. Likewise, the punishment for theft, if the accused cannot be qualified as “needy,” is amputation of the hand. Islamic canon law also covers political issues such as war and peace, interstate relations, and treaties between states.

Islamic legal foundations are largely based on the Qur'an and sunna, practices laid down by Muhammad (c. 570–632), the prophet. Both these sources established the normative foundation of the Muslim community. The Qur'an (literally translatable as reading or recitation) is considered the revealed word of God and the primary source of Islamic teachings and doctrine. Scholars refer to the codification of the sunna as the hadith (traditions of the Prophet, including those of certain disciples). Both the Qur'an and the authentic sunna are less subject to change than is hadith.

There are four sources of law: (1) the text of the Qur'an, (2) the text of the hadith, (3) analogical reasoning known as qiyas, and (4) the consensus of the ulama (body of religious-legal scholars) known as ijma. Scholars refer to the process leading to (3) and (4) as ijtihad (independent inquiry and judgment in legal matters).

Scholars call Islamic jurisprudence fiqh, and various schools of Islamic jurisprudence have developed over the centuries. These are dynamic and based on human interpretations. These schools include, but are not limited to, the Maliki School, Hanafi School, Hanbali School, and Shafi'i School. The Maliki School grew out of the cultural traditions and practices in Mecca and Medina and spread throughout north and west Africa, while the Hanafi School, in contrast, spread within the Ottoman Empire. These differences represented less doctrinal or factional differences than interpretational divisions.