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Islamic law, or the Shariah, is held to comprise the specific rulings intended by Allah for all of mankind in all times and places and delivered through Islamic scriptures (namely, the Quran and hadith). Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence, comprises the legal and interpretive theories through which these rulings are derived from the Quran and hadith. Norms observed and prescribed by Muhammad in these scriptures are, as a rule, taken literally and considered binding. To intentionally defy any part of Islamic law is to defy God's will, and thus to recant one's faith. Islamic law covers and immense array of topics, regulating everything from bathroom etiquette, criminal law, bedroom conduct, and imperial policy to etiquette with books, restrictions on speech, restrictions on diet, and economy. As nearly all of Islamic law derives from the hadith rather than the Quran, historians have questioned whether much of it can be historically attributed to Muhammad in actual fact. Nonetheless, the Shariah serves as a foundation, at times comprehensively and other times nominally, for numerous Muslim-majority nations. Where Muslims are not governed by Islamic law, they are obligated to conduct their own lives in accordance with it, on penalty of torturous punishment in the hereafter, alongside unbelievers. | Islamic law, or the Shariah, is held to comprise the specific rulings intended by Allah for all of mankind in all times and places and delivered through Islamic scriptures (namely, the Quran and hadith). Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence, comprises the legal and interpretive theories through which these rulings are derived from the Quran and hadith. Norms observed and prescribed by Muhammad in these scriptures are, as a rule, taken literally and considered binding. To intentionally defy any part of Islamic law is to defy God's will, and thus to recant one's faith. Islamic law covers and immense array of topics, regulating everything from bathroom etiquette, criminal law, bedroom conduct, and imperial policy to etiquette with books, restrictions on speech, restrictions on diet, and economy. As nearly all of Islamic law derives from the hadith rather than the Quran, historians have questioned whether much of it can be historically attributed to Muhammad in actual fact. Nonetheless, the Shariah serves as a foundation, at times comprehensively and other times nominally, for numerous Muslim-majority nations. Where Muslims are not governed by Islamic law, they are obligated to conduct their own lives in accordance with it, on penalty of torturous punishment in the hereafter, alongside unbelievers. | ||
==Theory== | ==Theory== | ||
For all their prescriptive content, Islamic scriptures do not themselves contain a formal theory of law. Much as Christian doctrine has been pieced together by competing sects based on different formulas for reading scripture, Islamic law is generated only after Islamic scriptures are passed through the different interpretive apparatuses of the various schools of Islamic law. For all there differences, there is much that the four major Sunni schools of law, or madhhabs agree on: Muslims must pray facing the Ka'bah in Mecca, apostates must be executed, and cousin marriage is permissible. Broadly speaking, the four schools agree where there is explicit instruction on a legal matter in scripture deemed authentic, and differ where there isn't. | |||
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{{PortalArticle|image=Sharialashing.jpg|title=Shari'ah (Islamic Law)|description=Islamic law, or the Shariah, is held to comprise the specific rulings intended by Allah for all of mankind in all times and places and delivered through Islamic scriptures (namely, the Quran and hadith). Norms observed and prescribed by Muhammad in these scriptures are, as a rule, taken literally and considered binding. Islamic law covers and immense array of topics, regulating everything from bathroom etiquette, criminal law, bedroom conduct, and imperial policy to etiquette with books, restrictions on speech, restrictions on diet, and economy.|summary=}}{{PortalArticle|title=Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)|image=Fiqh.jpeg|summary=|description=Islamic jurisprudence, or Fiqh (فقه), is the activity Islamic jurists engage in as they elaborate the Shari'ah, or "Islamic law"/"God's Law", based directly on the Qur'an and Muhammad's Sunnah or "way", as compiled in the hadiths. Fiqh can be described as "the human understanding of the divine laws of God as revealed to Muhammad". In this sense, the Shariah is an ideal body of laws which fiqh only ever approximates, albeit satisfactorily in the eyes of jurists. The usage of the two words in common and even technical parlance overlaps.}} | {{PortalArticle|image=Sharialashing.jpg|title=Shari'ah (Islamic Law)|description=Islamic law, or the Shariah, is held to comprise the specific rulings intended by Allah for all of mankind in all times and places and delivered through Islamic scriptures (namely, the Quran and hadith). Norms observed and prescribed by Muhammad in these scriptures are, as a rule, taken literally and considered binding. Islamic law covers and immense array of topics, regulating everything from bathroom etiquette, criminal law, bedroom conduct, and imperial policy to etiquette with books, restrictions on speech, restrictions on diet, and economy.|summary=}}{{PortalArticle|title=Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)|image=Fiqh.jpeg|summary=|description=Islamic jurisprudence, or Fiqh (فقه), is the activity Islamic jurists engage in as they elaborate the Shari'ah, or "Islamic law"/"God's Law", based directly on the Qur'an and Muhammad's Sunnah or "way", as compiled in the hadiths. Fiqh can be described as "the human understanding of the divine laws of God as revealed to Muhammad". In this sense, the Shariah is an ideal body of laws which fiqh only ever approximates, albeit satisfactorily in the eyes of jurists. The usage of the two words in common and even technical parlance overlaps.}} | ||
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{{PortalArticle|image=Madhhab.jpg|title=Madh'hab|description=A Madh'hab (مذهب) is a school of Islamic law or fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Within Sunni Islam there are four mainstream schools of thought, which are accepted by one another, and the Shi'ite school of fiqh which (according to a fatwa by Al-Azhar, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam) is also now accepted by some Sunnis as a legitimate fifth school of Islamic Law. The five major schools of Islamic law agree on many things, including the death sentence for apostates.|summary=}}{{PortalArticle|summary=|image= | {{PortalArticle|image=Madhhab.jpg|title=Madh'hab|description=A Madh'hab (مذهب) is a school of Islamic law or fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Within Sunni Islam there are four mainstream schools of thought, which are accepted by one another, and the Shi'ite school of fiqh which (according to a fatwa by Al-Azhar, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam) is also now accepted by some Sunnis as a legitimate fifth school of Islamic Law. The five major schools of Islamic law agree on many things, including the death sentence for apostates.|summary=}}{{PortalArticle|summary=|image=TheLastRealCaliph.jpg|title=Khilafah (Caliphate)|description=The Caliph (خليفة; khalīfah) is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah (body of Muslim believers) who serves as the successor to Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in all matters of political and religious decision making. The word of the caliph is, however, only legally and not theologically binding upon members of the Muslim ummah who consider him legitimate. In this sense, it is ''Ijma'' (legal concensus) which is the proper Islamic analog of the Catholic pope, rather than the Caliph.}} | ||
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*[[Sahih]] | *[[Sahih]] | ||
*[[Fard]] | *[[Fard]] | ||
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*[[Bid'ah]] | *[[Bid'ah]] | ||
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==Women== | ==Women== | ||
Women are legally disadvantaged by Islamic law in several in several domains of life. Particularly, women are disadvantaged in matters of sexual, domestic, legal, financial, sartorial, and physical autonomy. According to Islamic legal theory, while not all of Islamic law necessarily has a perceptibly rational basis, legal restrictions on women may be due to their intellectual deficiency, which was pronounced by Muhammad and is recorded in Sahih Bukhari. | |||
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{{PortalArticle|image=Child marriage.jpg|summary=|title=Child Marriage in Islamic Law|description=Child marriage and sexual activity between adults and children are sanctioned by Islamic law and were practiced by Muhammad and his companions. As is the case within all contexts where sexual activity is permitted in Islam - namely, marriage and slavery - female consent is not required and the category of "rape" does not exist. The only restriction on sexual activity with children of any age within the contexts of marriage and slavery is that the child should not come to severe physical harm as a consequence of the encounter.}}{{PortalArticle|image=Mahr.jpg|summary=|description=The Mahr (مهر) is a contract fee paid for by the groom to the bride in an Islamic marriage (see The Meaning of Nikah). Its purpose within Islamic law, as shown through the Islamic texts themselves and the rulings of fiqh, is to compensate the woman for the privilege of consummating the marriage through sexual intercourse with her. The mahr is an obligatory part of Islamic law. In the abscence of a mahr, the marriage is not valid.|title=Mahr (Marital Price)}}{{PortalArticle|image=Mcsegregation.png|title=Sex Segregation in Islam|summary=|description=The traditional view of most Islamic scholars, past and present, prohibits free-mixing between men and women. Modern scholars and activists often posit that free-mixing is actually allowed in Islam, however their assertions on the matter usually lack the well-attested scriptural citations of the Islamic tradition that are marshaled by traditionalist scholars.}} | |||
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{{PortalArticle|image= | {{PortalArticle|image=A scene from submission.jpg|summary=|title=Wife Beating in Islamic Law|description=Wife-beating is instructed by the the Qur'an and the Hadiths, and has been an accepted part of Islam law since its inception. Quran 4:34 states that men are in charge of women and that husbands may, among other things, beat their wives if they fear disobedience. Prophet Muhammad provided tacit approval of wife beating by not scolding Muslims for beating their wives, referred to women who spoke-out against abuse as "not the best among you", forbade Muslims from questioning men who beat their wives, allowed others to hit his wives (the very women whom all Muslims adore and refer to as "the Mother of believers"), reaffirmed the command of wife-beating in his farewell sermon, and himself struck one of his wives in the chest. In addition to Muhammad's actions, three of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs are also reported to have beaten women. Because of its many endorsements within Islamic scripture, wife-beating is permitted by the majority of Muslim scholars and leaders. This has led to domestic violence being permitted under law in several Islamic states or being largely ignored by the authorities.}} | ||
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===Other articles in this section=== | ===Other articles in this section=== | ||
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*[[Women in Islamic Law]] | |||
*[[Polygamy in Islam]] | *[[Polygamy in Islam]] | ||
*[[Wife Beating in the Qur'an]] | *[[Wife Beating in the Qur'an]] | ||
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*[[Forced Marriage]] | *[[Forced Marriage]] | ||
*[[Inheritance Laws]] | *[[Inheritance Laws]] | ||
*[[Wife Beating in Islamic Law]] | |||
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*[[Islamic Attire and Health]] | *[[Islamic Attire and Health]] | ||
*[[Nikah (Sexual Consummation of Marriage)]] | *[[Nikah (Sexual Consummation of Marriage)]] | ||
*[[Hijab]] | *[[Hijab]] | ||
*[[Rape in Islamic Law]] | |||
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==Non-Muslims== | ==Non-Muslims== | ||
Those non-Muslims permitted to live under the Islamic regime (namely, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians; i.e. '<nowiki/>''Dhimmis''<nowiki/>') are subjected to unique disadvantages in matters of sexual, domestic, legal, financial, sartorial, physical, communal, and religious autonomy. While this subjugation is comparable - albeit in each specific account different - from the legal disadvantages imposed upon women under Islamic law, the rationale is fundamentally different. Though the Quran decries non-Muslims as being, among other things, 'deaf, dumb, blind'<ref>{{Quran|2|171}}</ref>, 'evil'<ref>{{Quran|62|5}}, {{Quran|7|177}}</ref>, 'like cattle'<ref>{{Quran|25|44}}</ref>, 'perverse'<ref>{{Quran|9|30}}, {{Quran|63|4}}</ref>, and 'without intelligence'<ref>{{Quran|8|65}}</ref>, any supposed characterological traits are not the underlying reason for their subjugation, as might be thought to be case for the subjugation of women. The reason for the the subjugation of non-Muslims living in the Islamic state is because the have the potential to convert to Islam - As the Quran states, this subjugation is simply intended as measure which, through bringing about their humiliation, will incentivize their conversion. | |||
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*[[Shirk]] | *[[Shirk]] | ||
*[[Dhimma]] | *[[Dhimma]] | ||
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*[[The Pact of Umar]] | *[[The Pact of Umar]] | ||
*[[ | *[[Islam and Apostasy]] | ||
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==Crime and punishment== | ==Crime and punishment== | ||
Islamic scripture explicitly lists a number of particular punishments, most corporal, for the violation of the various rules it contains. The crimes for which scripture provides its own punishments tend to be those which are considered the most severe. Advocacy against these explicit scriptural injunctions is itself considered an act of apostasy, and thus traditionally merits the death penalty, as outlined in scripture. Beyond the well-known prohibitions on and punishments for sexual activity, the practice of free speech, and drinking alcohol, Islamic law traditionally also outlawed a great many forms of recreation, such as music and games that involved chance. In many cases, the particular prohibition is not clear - the most eminent example of this is, perhaps, the prohibition on Riba, as the precise meaning of the 7th century Arabian financial concept has long been lost to history. | |||
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==Jihad== | ==Jihad== | ||
Jihad, which literally means ''struggle'', refers in Islamic law exclusively to military activity intended to spread and preserve the Islamic empire. Islamic literature does, however, often avoid this terminological use in order to use it in its literal sense. In this usage, the word Jihad is sometimes used to metaphorically allude to and describe the ''internal struggle'' one must at times engage in ''against oneself''. This alternative, metaphorical usage of the word Jihad does not, however, have any legal implications. The legal doctrines of Jihad are rather straightforward: the Muslim ''ummah'', or peoples, must, as the Quran states fight the unbelievers "until religion is all for Allah".<ref>{{Quran|8|39}}</ref> Although a military struggle is envisioned and described by these and similar statements in scripture, they have be employed rhetorically and metaphorically as encouragement for personal, spiritual struggles. There are also rules set out for how to conduct Jihad. On the one hand, wildlife, innocents, and enemies should not be needlessly maimed. On the other, all those who refuse to convert or submit to financial, social, legal, and various other forms of subjugation, be the innocents or combatants, must either be executed or enslaved (this includes sexually, in the case of women and girls). | |||
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===Other articles in this | ===Other articles in this section=== | ||
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*[[Khilafah (Caliphate)]] | *[[Khilafah (Caliphate)]] | ||
*[[ | *[[Jizyah]] | ||
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*[[ | *[[Dhimma]] | ||
*[[Islam and Violence]] | *[[Islam and Violence]] | ||
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*[[ | *[[Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abodes of War and Peace)]]{{col-float-end}} | ||
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==Ritual== | ==Ritual== | ||
A great part of the body of Islamic law regulates the particulars of ritual practices ranging everything from precisely how one should twiddle one's index finger during the daily prayers to how the the throats of cattle should be split and drained dry of blood during ritual sacrifice. Whereas scripture provides usually clear outlines on the basic workings of rituals, jurist differ endlessly in the details. The great majority of ritual law regards benign practices of the finger-twiddling variety which, despite being a potential and sometimes actual source of social discord, have generally become topics of lesser concern among the wider Muslim population. Ritual laws regarding the large-scale sacrifice of hundreds of millions of animals to Allah, on the other hand, have attracted growing international attention. Similarly troubling have been the pilgrimage rituals conducted at Mecca which, when practiced by millions of persons all at once, have repeatedly resulted in hundreds of deaths by stampede and contagion. While some of these challenges such as those with pilgrimage rituals, Islamic jurists contend, can be overcome through logistical and architectural innovation, other, often moral, challenges, such as those face by animal sacrifice in the face of growing concern for animal rights, have beeen cause for lesser optimism. | |||
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===Other articles in this | ===Other articles in this section=== | ||
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*[[Ablution]] | *[[Ablution]] | ||
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*[[Five Pillars of Islam]] | *[[Five Pillars of Islam]] | ||
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==Other topics in Islamic law== | |||
===Other articles in this section=== | |||
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*[[Islamic Economics]] | |||
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*[[Taqiyya]] | |||
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==References== | |||
[[Category:Portals]] | [[Category:Portals]] | ||
<references /> | |||