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Introduction
“We have revealed to you the Book with the truth, confirming what came before it, and as a confirmation. So judge between people by what God has revealed, and do not follow their imaginations to displace the truth that has come to you. To each one We have given a standard and a practice. If God had willed, He could have made you one community, but He wanted to test you by what He has given you. So vie in doing good. To God is your return. He will explain to you that in which you differed.” (Quran 5:48)
| For Muslims, life did not begin at birth, but long before that. Even before the creation of the first human being. It began when God created the soul of everyone who would ever exist, and then asked them: “Am I not your Lord?” They all replied: “Indeed.” |
God appointed for each soul a time on earth so that He could test them. Then, when their appointed period was over, He would judge them and send them to their eternal destinations—either the place of endless bliss, or of everlasting sorrow.
This life is thus a journey that shows many paths to its travelers. Only one of these paths is the right one. And this path is Sharia.
Divine guidance
Sharia in Arabic means the pure and well-trodden path to water. In the Islamic context, it is used to refer to the religious guidelines that God has ordained for his servants. The linguistic meaning of Sharia reflects its technical use: just as water is vital to human life, the purity and righteousness of Sharia is essential to the vitality of souls and minds.
Throughout history, God has sent messengers to people all over the world to guide them to the right path. A path that would lead them to happiness in this world and the next. All the messengers conveyed the same message of faith (the Quran states that all the messengers invited people to the worship of the one God), but the specific precepts of the sacred law that regulated people’s lives varied according to their needs and time.
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The Prophet (peace be upon him) was the last messenger and his Sharia thus represents the final manifestation of the divine grace. |
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Court orders
Court orders
Sharia regulates all human actions and places them in five categories: obligatory, recommended, permitted, disliked, and forbidden.
Obligatory actions are those that must be performed and are rewarded if performed with good intention. The opposite is unlawful actions. Recommended actions, on the other hand, are those that should be performed and the opposite is true for disliked actions. Permissible actions are those that fall neither under the recommended nor disliked. Most human actions fall into this category.
The ultimate value of an action is calculated based on the intention and sincerity (ikhlas) behind it, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) told us: “Behind every action are intentions, and one gets according to one’s intentions.”
Life under Sharia
Sharia encompasses all aspects of human life. Classical Sharia works are often divided into four parts: laws relating to personal religious practices, laws relating to commerce, laws relating to marriage and divorce, and finally criminal laws.
Legal philosophy
God sent prophets and (holy) books to mankind to show the way to happiness in this life, and to success in the next. This is encapsulated in the believer’s prayer, and stated in the Quran: “Our Lord, give us good gifts in this world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the Fire.” (Quran 2:201)
The legal philosophers of Islam, such as Ghazali, Shatibi and Shah Wali Allah, argue that the aim of Sharia is to promote human welfare. This is clear both in the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
| Scholars explain that human well-being is based on the fulfillment of necessities, needs, and comfort. | ||
Necessities
Necessities are those things upon which both worldly and religious life depend. Their omission leads to intolerable hardship in this life, and punishment in the next. There are five necessities: maintenance of religion, life, intellect, lineage, and wealth. These ensure success in this life and in the hereafter.
Sharia safeguards these necessities in two ways, first by ensuring their establishment and then by maintaining them.
Religion: In order to ensure the establishment of religion, God (the Exalted) has ordained belief and worship as a necessity (obligatory). In order to ensure its maintenance, laws were introduced regarding the obligation of acquiring and imparting knowledge.
Life: To ensure the maintenance of human life, God (the Exalted) gave guidelines (laws) for marriage, healthy diet, and lifestyle. At the same time, He forbade taking the life of others and prescribed punishments for it.
Intellect: God has permitted the promotion of a sound intellect and sound knowledge, and has prohibited that which corrupts or weakens it, such as alcohol and intoxicants. He has also imposed preventive punishments for people to abstain from them, because a sound intellect is the basis of the moral responsibility given to humans.
Lineage: Marriage was prescribed to preserve lineage, and sex outside of marriage was prohibited. Penal laws were introduced to ensure the preservation of lineage and the preservation of human life.
Wealth: God has obligated everyone to provide for themselves and those they are responsible for. He has also established laws to regulate trade and transactions between people, so that fair dealing and economic justice can take place, as well as to avoid oppression and conflict.
Needs and conveniences
Needs and comforts are something that everyone seeks to ensure a good life and avoid hardship, even if these are not essential. The essence of the Sharia regarding needs and comforts is summarized in the Quran: “He has not laid upon you in your religion any hardship” (22:87) and in Surah Al-Maidah: “God does not wish to lay upon you any burden, but He wishes to purify you and complete His favor upon you, that you may be grateful” (5:6).
Therefore, any thing that ensures human happiness is permitted in Sharia, as long as it is in line with the sacred guidance.
Sources of Sharia
The primary sources of Sharia are the Quran and the Sunnah (custom) of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Koran
The Quran was revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him) gradually over a period of 23 years. The essence of its message is to establish the oneness of God and man’s spiritual and moral need for God. This need is fulfilled through worship and submission, and has ultimate consequences for the afterlife.
The Quran is the word of God. Due to its inimitable style and eloquence, and above all, its guidance and the legal regulations it brought, it ensures the welfare of humanity both in this worldly life and in the hereafter.
Allah, the Exalted, said: “Indeed, this Quran guides to that which is most right, and gives good tidings to the believers who do good, that they will have a great reward” (Quran 17:9). And “There has come to you a light from Allah and a clear Book, whereby Allah guides those who seek His pleasure to the paths of peace. He brings them out of darkness into the light by His decree and guides them to a straight path.” (Quran 5:15-16)
| There has come to you a light from God and a clear scripture, whereby God guides those who seek His pleasure to the paths of peace. He brings them out of darkness into light by His decree and guides them to a straight path.” (Quran 5:15-16) | ||
The Prophet’s custom (sunnah)
The role of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was explained in the Quran: “We have revealed to you the Reminder, that you may make clear to the people what has been revealed to them” (16:44).
This explanation was given through the words, actions and example of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Following the guidance and example of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was enjoined in the verses “O you who believe, obey God and the Messenger” and “Indeed, in the Messenger of God you have a good example for him whose hope is in God and the Last Day and who remembers God constantly” (33:21). Not least, the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself informed: “I have left behind for you two things, if you hold on to them, you will not go astray – the Book of God and my example.”
Derived sources
There is agreement on two derived sources for Sharia: scholarly consensus (ijma’) and legal analogy (qiyas).
Scholarly consensus
The basis for consensus among scholars as a source of Sharia is the Quranic injunction to resolve matters by consultation, as God declared: “Those who listen to their Lord and establish prayer, and who resolve their affairs by consultation, and who spend out of what We have provided them” (Quran 42:38). Consensus is defined as the agreement on a matter among all Muslim scholars who are at the level of legal reasoning (ijtihad), at a given time. The condition that all scholars of this rank give their consent limits its scope to only those matters that are clear from the Quran or from the practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Once this is established, consensus is seen as conclusive evidence for the verdict of the matter.
Legal analogy (qiyas)
Legal analogy is a powerful tool for deriving rulings for new cases. For example, intoxicants are considered forbidden through legal analogy with the prohibition of alcohol in the Quran. Such a ruling is based on the common underlying cause of intoxication.
Legal analogy and its various tools enable the jurist to understand the underlying reasons and causes of the rulings in the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). This is instrumental in dealing with ever-changing situations, and allows new rulings to be applied in an appropriate and consistent manner.
Beyond ritualism
The ultimate goal of those who submit to Sharia is to express their submission to their Creator. But Sharia is also beneficial in this world.
This path is indicated in a sacred statement conveyed by the Prophet (peace be upon him): “My servant comes to Me with nothing more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him. And he draws ever closer to Me with voluntary deeds until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps, and his foot with which he walks. If he were to ask Me for anything, I would certainly fulfill it. And if he seeks refuge with Me, I would certainly protect him.” [Narrated by Bukhari]
If the legal dimension of Sharia gives Islam its form, the spiritual dimension gives it its substance. The spiritual life of Islam, and its goals, were expressed in the sacred declaration (given above).
| The Prophet (peace be upon him) explained that spiritual excellence is “worshipping God as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, then indeed He sees you.” [Muslim] | ||
The spiritual life in Islam is a means of realizing faith and perfecting action. It is to seek the water of Shariah, the clear path to which – water that nourishes minds and souls that yearn for meaning.
It is this spiritual life, in its varying degrees, that appeals to Muslims to their religion, its outlook on life and to the rules of Sharia.
“And those who believe love God even more.” (Quran 2:165)
