Islamic law

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Islamic law
Elgarhy Abdelrahman
Groub :20114a

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plan
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Islamic law is divine revelation
Origins of Islamic law
Muhammad (570 – 632)
Islamic law Sharia – religious law of Islam
Division between Shia and Sunni
Legal schools (madhhab)
Personal validity of Islamic law

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Islamic law is divine revelation
• The Islamic legal system is the most widely
used religious law, and one of the three most
common legal systems in the worldAll the
injunctions of Islamic Law are revelation from
AllahIt comes to regulate three different
factors:the
relationship
between
the
individual and his Lord,the relationship
between the individual and himself,the
relationship between the individual and
others.

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Origins of Islamic law
• Sharia Origins of Islamic lawSharia Law is
founded on the teachings of Allah and the acts
and sayings of Muhammad as found in the
Qur'an and the Sunnah.Sharia was not fully
developed at the time of Muhammad's death,
but rather it evolved around the Muslim
communityBefore the 19th century, legal
theory was considered the domain of the
traditional legal schools of thought

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Muhammad (570 – 632)
• At age 40 he received his first revelation from
GodThree years after this event Muhammad
started
preaching
these
revelations
publiclyMuhammad gained few followers
early on, and was met with hostility from
some Meccan tribesHe and his followers in
Mecca migrated to Medina (then known as
Yathrib) in the year 622This event, the Hijra,
marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar

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Islamic law Sharia – religious law of
Islam
• Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) – is an Arabic
term meaning "deep understanding" or "full
comprehension". It refers to the body of
Islamic law extracted from detailed Islamic
sources and the process of gaining knowledge
of Islam through jurisprudenceIslamic Law
holds the distinction of being comprehensive
and general in its scope

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Division between Shia and Sunni
• The division between Shia and Sunni dates back to the
death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the question of
who was to take over the leadership of the Muslim
nation.Sunni Muslims agree with the position that the
new leader should be elected from among those
capable of the job.Shia Muslims have not recognized
the authority of elected Muslim leaders, choosing
instead to follow a line of Imams which they believe
have been appointed by the Prophet Muhammad or
God HimselfSunni Muslims make up the majority (90%)
of Muslims all over the world. Significant populations
of Shia Muslims can be found in Iran and Iraq

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Legal schools (madhhab)
• It is claimed that the schools of thought were
developed in the 9th and 10th centuries as a means of
excluding dogmatic theologians, government officials
and sects from religious discourse.Sunni Islam was
initially split into four schools: the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii
and Hanbali.Shia Islam was split into three schools:
Ismaili, Jafari and Zaidi.Taqlid – accepting and following
the verdict of scholars of jurisprudence without
demanding an explanation of the processes by which
they arrive at it, hence adherence to one of the
classical schools of jurisprudence

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Personal validity of Islamic law
• Legal systems are generally described as being
either of personal or territorial validity – being
either applicable to the person, independently
of the locus, or to the territory, with no
consideration
of
the
person’s
background.Modern legal systems follow the
territorial principleIslamic law must be
followed by MuslimsSometimes territorial
aspect may also play its role (criminal law)

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Sources of Islamic lawThe
The primary sources of Islamic law are the Qur'an
and Sunnah. Sharia has certain laws which are
regarded as divinely ordained, concrete and
timeless for all relevant situations.It also has certain
laws which derived from principles established over
time by Islamic lawyersTraditional Sunni Muslims
also add the consensus (ijma) of Islamic jurists on
certain issues, and drawing analogy from the
essence of divine principles and preceding rulings
(qiyas).

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Qur’an
The Qur'an is the first and most important source of
Islamic law – believed to be the direct word of God
as revealed to MuhammadThe verses revealed in
Mecca deal with philosophical and theological
issues, whereas those revealed in Medina are
concerned with socio-economic laws.The verses of
the Qur'an are categorized into three fields:
"science of speculative theology", "ethical
principles" and "rules of human conduct".The third
category is directly concerned with Islamic legal
matters which contains about five hundred verses

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Sunnah
• The Sunnah is the next important source, and is
commonly defined as "the traditions and customs
of Muhammad" or "the words, actions and silent
assertions of him".It includes the everyday
sayings and utterances of Muhammad, his acts,
his tacit consent, and acknowledgments of
statements and activities.Justification for using
the Sunnah as a source of law can be found in the
Qur'an. The Qur'an commands Muslims to follow
Muhammad.Much of the sunnah is recorded in
the Hadith.

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Consensus
• The ijma , or consensus amongst Muslim jurists on a
particular legal issue, constitutes the third source of
Islamic law. Muslim jurists provide many verses of the
Qur'an that legitimize ijma as a source of legislation.
Muhammad himself said:"My followers will never
agree upon an error or what is wrong","God's hand is
with the entire community".In history, it has been the
most important factor in defining the meaning of the
other sources and thus in formulating the doctrine and
practice of the Muslim community.This is so because
ijma represents the unanimous agreement of Muslims
on a regulation or law at any given time.

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Analogical reason
• Qiyas or analogical reason is the fourth source of the
sharia for the majority of Sunni jurisprudence. It aims
to draw analogies to a previously accepted decision.
Shiites do not accept analogy, but replace it with
reasonThe general principle behind the process of
qiyas is based on the understanding that every legal
injunction guarantees a beneficial and welfare
satisfying objective.Thus, if the cause of an injunction
can be deduced from the primary sources, then
analogical deduction can be applied to cases with
similar
causes.

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Ijtihad Islamic legal term that means
“independent reasoning”
• it requires a “thorough knowledge of theology,
revealed texts and legal theory; an exceptional
capacity for legal reasoning; thorough knowledge
of Arabic.”By using both the Qu'ran and Hadith as
resources, the scholar (mujahidin) is required to
carefully rely on analogical reasoning to find a
solution to a legal problemToday, there are many
different opinions surrounding the role of ijtihad
in modern society, and whether or not the “doors
of ijtihad are closed.”

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Public interest
• Al-maslahah al-mursalah – means that which
is in the best interests of the general
public.According to this source of Islamic law,
rulings can be pronounced in accordance with
the "underlying meaning of the revealed text
in the light of public interest".In this case, the
jurist uses his wisdom to pursue public
interest. This source is rejected by the
Shafi'ites, Hanbalites and Zahirites from Sunni
jurisprudence.

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Local customThe
• The term urf, meaning "to know", refers to the
customs and practices of a given society.Although
this was not formally included in Islamic law, the
sharia recognizes customs that prevailed at the
time of Muhammad but were not abrogated by
the Qur'an or the tradition.Practices later
innovated are also justified, since Islamic
tradition says what the people, in general,
consider good is also considered as such by
God.According to some sources, urf holds as
much authority as ijma (consensus), and more
than qiyas (analogical deduction).