Sharia facts for kids
Sharia, Sharia law or Islamic law is a set of religious principles which form part of the Islamic culture. The Arabic word sharīʿah (Arabic: شريعة) refers to the revealed law of God and originally meant "way" or "path".
Classical sharia deals with many aspects of public and private life, including religious rituals, family life, business, crimes, and warfare. In former times, sharia was interpreted by independent jurists, who based their legal opinions on Qur'an, Hadith and centuries of debate, interpretation and precedent. Some parts of sharia can be described as "law" in the usual sense of that word, while other parts are better understood as rules for living life in accordance with God's will.
Modern countries in the Muslim world all have their own laws. In most of them only a small part of the legal system is based on classical sharia. Muslims disagree on how sharia should be applied in the modern world.
Classical law
Classical legal theory
Islamic scholars who lived during the first centuries of Islam developed different methods for interpreting sharia. Most of them came to agree that sharia rules should be derived from the following main sources:
- The Qur'an, which Muslims believe was revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel (Jibril).
- The actions and words of Muhammad, which are called the sunnah and were preserved in collections called hadith
- Consensus, when legal experts all agree on a point of law
- qiyās or legal reasoning by analogy
The process of deriving sharia rules from the Qur'an and hadith is called ijtihad. Sharia rules classify actions into one of the following categories:
- Fard (action that one must perform)
- Mustahabb (recommended action)
- Mubah (action that is allowed)
- Makruh (action that is despised)
- Haram (forbidden action)
Sharia in Islam is viewed as the revealed law of God, which cannot be altered. On the other hand, its interpretation, called fiqh, is the work of legal scholars, who have frequently differed in their legal opinions. Some parts of sharia are similar to what people in the West call "law", while other parts are better understood as rules for living life in accordance with God's will.
There are several schools of legal thought in Islam, of which the most important are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools of Sunni Islam and the Ja'fari school of Shia Islam.
Images for kids
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Coin of the Rashidun Caliphate. Dated AH 36/SH 35 (AD 656). Sasanian style bust imitating Khosrau II, bismillah in margin/ Zoroastrian fire altar with ribbons and attendants; star and crescent flanking flames; In many cases, reliefs and pictures, which were not a problem at first, considered sin by the interpretations of the ulama, and symbols representing other faiths are considered blasphemy, and are completely excluded from social life later.
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A religious policeman who lectures and scolds an Iranian woman.
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Juristic exchange between Abu Dawood and Ibn Hanbal. One of the oldest literary manuscripts of the Islamic world, dated October 879 A.D.
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Manuscripts found in Sana'a. The "subtexts" revealed using UV light are very different from today's Qur'an. Gerd R. Puin believed this to mean an evolving text. A similar phrase is used by Lawrence Conrad for biography of Muhammad. Because, according to his studies, Islamic scientific view on the date of birth of the Prophet until the second century A.H. had exhibited a diversity of 85 years.
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Turkish mufti (17th-century Spanish drawing)
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Execution of a Moroccan woman (Sol Hachuel) on the grounds of leaving Islam (apostasy) painting by Alfred Dehodencq
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Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand (est. 1422)
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Warren Hastings initiated far-reaching legal reforms in the British India
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An Ottoman courtroom (1879 A.D. drawing)
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Muhammad Abduh exercised a powerful influence on liberal reformist thought
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Protest against Sharia in the United Kingdom (2014)
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Al-Qaeda ideologues have used their interpretation of sharia to justify terrorist attacks
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13th century slave market, Yemen. Slaves and concubines are considered as possessions in Sharia; they can be bought, sold, rented, gifted, shared, and inherited when owners die.
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See also
In Spanish: Sharía para niños
