What Is Sharia Law?

[pErvinalia]

There was a fiery debate on tele the other night in Straya regarding Sharia Law. The nice Muslim girl claimed that Sharia isn't actually the hardline extremist version that we often see in the fundy countries. I've heard this before, and I've also heard counter arguments. Anyway, here's a piece in the Strayan media generated after the debate. Thoughts?

The rhetoric around Sharia law has become an often firey and emotional talking-point that crops up in discussions about Islam and Islamic migration to Western countries. But what is Sharia law and how is it applied?

What is Sharia law?

Dr Jamila Hussain, a research associate at the University of Technology Sydney told SBS, Sharia encompasses all aspects of a Muslim’s life.

“The overriding principle of Sharia is justice. It’s very broad and includes ordinary ways of life, for example how you behave towards other people. Religious duties like prayer and fasting and giving to charity – which is very important,” she said.

“It also includes how you behave towards other people. And it includes things like commercial law, inheritance law, family law.”

Sharia is the moral, legal and religious code followed by all Muslims, but made notorious by extremist groups like Islamic State wanting to implement hardline aspects of Islamic law.

In Arabic, Sharia means "the clear, well-trodden path to water” and is based on the teachings of the Koran, the life of Prophet Mohammed, and the expertise of Islamic scholars.

Islamic scholars form this code through ‘fiqh’ or Islamic jurisprudence, which is used when interpreting Sharia. While Sharia is enshrined in the Koran and unchanging, fiqh can vary according to the situation at hand, meaning Islamic law can adapt and remain applicable to modern life.

According to Massey University’s Christopher van der Krogt, Islamic law is elaborated by scholars, often as a critique of what the rulers are doing.

“Scholars (the ulama) claim to know best what God requires because they have studied the Qur’an and the sunna, as well as the works of their predecessors," he said.

"Naturally, they often disagree with each other on matters of detail, and there are five distinct schools of jurisprudence in the Islamic world today. Four of them are Sunni and one is Shii (Shiite).”

Punishment under Sharia law

Sharia criminal law is divided into three broad categories: hadd, qisas, and tazir offences.

Hadd, the most serious offences, have set punishments. According to the Oxford Islamic Studies, these Hadd offences include:

Theft (amputation of the hand)

Adultery or illicit sex (death by stoning or one hundred lashes)

Making unproven accusations of illicit sex (eighty lashes)

Drinking intoxicants (eighty lashes) Apostasy (death or banishment)

Highway robbery (death).

Qisas involve retribution crimes against a person who has inflicted physical harm (murder, manslaughter or physical injury). The family can waive corporal punishment in exchange for financial compensation.

An Acehnese woman is whipped in front of the public at Al Furqon Mosque, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 01 August 2016.(AAP)

An Acehnese woman is whipped in front of the public at Al Furqon Mosque, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 01 August 2016.(AAP)

Tazir are severe crimes that do not measure up to the strict requirements of Hadd offences. Punishment can range from the death penalty, fines, imprisonment and caning. The decision depends on the discretion of the judge at hand.

Dr Hussain explained that while punishments do happen, they are only carried out in conservative Muslim countries, and are not representative of what Sharia law is about.

“The criminal offences mentioned in the Koran which to our way of thinking today are very cruel and outlandish,” she said. “Those punishments are not enforced anywhere except in a handful of very conservative Muslim countries... Saudi Arabia is a very good example.

“The majority of Muslim countries do not enforce that kind of criminal law at all. And nobody is calling for it in Australia.”

[cont]

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/explainer/what-sharia-law

[NineBerry]

It's like when Christians say that our Western values are built on the Ten Commandments. They do believe that even when it is complete nonsense.

"The Sharia" is even more vague because there isn't actually a set of ten things you can find in a single document but a whole lot of Quran chapters, Hadiths and traditions that you can pick from to make up your own version of Sharia,

[Svartalf]

shari'a is what you make of it depending on what quran points and what hadith you choose to apply, and how far

[Scot Dutchy]

Exactly. It varies depending on which bits you want to use. It is very much cherry picking and open to many interpretations. There is not one Shari-an law.

[pErvinalia]

So it's a case of the no true scottish sharia fallacy?

[Svartalf]

No true Scotsman shall submit to shari'a, true.

[Scot Dutchy]

Well I am not a Scotsman.

[Brian Peacock]

Religious authority ducks cod nipples.

[JimC]

Whether rigorously applied or only moderate, there is simply no place for any form of religious-based laws to operate in a secular country.

[Hermit]

The overriding principle of Sharia is justice.

Keeping in mind such facts (among others) that four witnesses are required to prove a case of rape and that women are entitled to half the inheritance that men get, Hussain is employing a definition of justice I am not familiar with.

Sharia is the moral, legal and religious code followed by all Muslims, but made notorious by extremist groups like Islamic State wanting to implement hardline aspects of Islamic law.

There are hardline aspects of Islamic law? Wow. Who knew? And only extremist groups want to enforce it?

Also, what Jim said. Sharia is incompatible with secular forms of government.

[Scot Dutchy]

Sharia is anything you want it to be. There is no one defined version.

[Svartalf]

but when it's defined, it's usually so by rigorists who want to reduce women's rights in the name of "decency" and to punish people outrageously over "crimes" that are not recognized by the law of the land 'except in places where shari'a IS the law of the land, and when so it's usually in this rigorist aspect)

[Scot Dutchy]

but when it's defined, it's usually so by rigorists who want to reduce women's rights in the name of "decency" and to punish people outrageously over "crimes" that are not recognized by the law of the land 'except in places where shari'a IS the law of the land, and when so it's usually in this rigorist aspect)

Oh when it comes to women sharia can be brutal if the full law is enforced. Very few countries impose the full sharia apart that is for Saudi Arabia which goes for the full blown no bars version.

[Svartalf]

and the emirates, pakistan and the taliban ruled parts of afghanistan, of course

[Scot Dutchy]

Yep but no one does the full blown version like Saudi Arabia. The full blown version concerning women is used very brutally in Yemen. Marriage of young girls (under 9) to old men is very common.