The Root – What is Shariah, Exactly?

Joe Bradford

| 09/04/2010

Succinct and to the point.

What Is Sharia, Exactly?

By: Afi-Odelia Scruggs
Posted: August 27, 2010 at 5:06 PM

Some critics of plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero warn that the imam behind it wants to bring Islamic Sharia law to the U.S. Before we decide to fear it, let’s at least understand what Sharia means.

For opponents of an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero, the word Sharia symbolizes the threat of Islam. Marchers rallying against the center depicted the word in dripping red script, as if drenched in blood. Newt Gingrich has lectured about the problem of “creeping Sharia.” Blogs such as Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs allege a conspiracy to replace the Constitution with Sharia.

What is Sharia? Simply put, it is Islamic law. Sharia governs acts of worship, such as prayer and fasting, as well as civil and criminal matters, such as marriage, inheritance or criminal transactions. But that’s only one aspect of Sharia.

“Sharia is three things: an ideal religious concept, a body of jurisprudence done by groups of scholars, and legislation in Muslim countries,” says Kecia Ali, an assistant professor of religion at Boston University.

In abstract, Sharia is God’s will for humanity. Sharia means “the path” that God wants people to travel. The proper way of life is shown primarily through two sources. The most important one is the Quran, which Muslims believe was given to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. The other one is the activities of the prophet, which are recorded in the Sunna.

Merely consulting those texts doesn’t guarantee heading in the right direction. “If you wanted to know what kinds of food you could and couldn’t eat, maybe you asked somebody who was a legal authority. You wouldn’t go trying to sort out the answer for yourself,” Ali says.

Like Judaism, Islam has specialists who can rule on religious matters. When interpreting a law, the jurists refer to the Quran, the prophetic tradition and established scholarship. They also take into consideration community and cultural practices and apply reasoning to the problem at hand.

For example, a questioner might ask whether drinking beer is allowed. Although the Quran doesn’t mention beer, drinking wine is prohibited. Jurists would deconstruct that prohibition in making their decision, says Imam Ramez Islambouli, who teaches at John Carroll University near Cleveland.

“Scholars would say, ‘Is it because of color [of the wine] … or is it because of its impact, the intoxication?’ ” he says. “Then we see, by analogy, beer has the same impact. Thus beer is prohibited in Islam.”

Though people might think that Sharia is a fixed, rigid set of rules dating back to the seventh century, it is the product of centuries of human reasoning and interactions between Muslims and non-Muslims.

The third meaning of Sharia refers to legislation in Muslim countries. “People talk about Sharia law in Egypt, in Pakistan, in Morocco, and they mean the civil codes that national legislatures vote on,” Ali says.

The codes aren’t strictly Islamic but are byproducts of colonial regimes. Ali says that remnants of British and French law are found in India and Morocco, while a good portion of Turkish law is taken from the Swiss civil code.

“These kinds of rules call themselves ‘Sharia.’ It’s part of how they seek to claim legitimacy for what they’re doing,” Ali says. “But they go through a very different mechanism than traditional jurisprudence or from the purely religious thing.”

Sharia is also implemented under the American legal system, Islambouli says. For example, an Islamic marriage requires witnesses, recitation of vows and a dowry. But a couple also must get a license before the ceremony.

“We wouldn’t perform the ceremony unless they had a license, because American law would not recognize a religious marriage,” he says.

Share

Related Posts

Spanish Rice Paella - Photo by Young Shih on Unsplash

Cooking Rice, Not Engineering It: Al-Shatibi’s Guidance on relevance in Usul al-Fiqh Studies

May 17, 2023

Consider the process of teaching someone to cook rice. You wouldn’t initially throw them into a deep discussion about the variations among Fahrenheit, Celsius, and…
Photo by Abdulmeilk Aldawsari: https://www.pexels.com/photo/monochrome-photo-of-opened-quran-36704/

Is it Forbidden to Pay Riba? Or is it only forbidden to charge it?

September 8, 2022

Recently someone presented to me the opinion or the assumption that it’s not forbidden to pay interest, it’s only forbidden to take interest claiming that…

Personal Finance: What is your net worth?

August 24, 2022

So you’re wondering what your net worth is. Your net worth is essentially everything you own minus everything that you owe. So if you have…

NFTs: Non-Fungible Tokens – A Very Simple Explanation

November 19, 2021

NFTs give you something that can’t be copied. Not a picture itself (anyone can take a screenshot). Here we’re going to use art as an…

When is staking your crypto allowed?

November 16, 2021

There are three situations in the market currently where they use the word “staking” but mean something different each time. You need to learn what’s…

What makes a crypto coin Shariah Compliant?

November 16, 2021

For those of you concerned with the Shariah compliance of the coins you are buying, Asking yourself these 5 questions will help guide your coin…

Zakat on Assets – A Quick Review

April 12, 2021

Let’s talk Zakat on Assets: – 1st, assets you do not pay Zakat on. – 2nd, assets you do pay Zakat on. – 3rd, deductions and expenses that…

Is SAFE document Equity Conversion Shariah Compliant?

March 23, 2021

SAFE documents are not loans. They are warrants for future equity. The structure found in the SAFE agreement is permissible and offers a viable, interest-free…

Book Excerpt – The Greatest Gifts

June 10, 2020

The following is an excerpt from a collection of short essays I’ve been writing over the last few years, each one encapsulates an event in…