shari'a

Posted at Sep 26/2006 01:21PM:
Bobby: Islamic law. Divine Law.

Posted at Dec 13/2006 01:35AM:
Bobby "Fresh": From wikipedia: Mainstream Islam distinguishes between fiqh, which means 'understanding of details' and refers to the inferences drawn by scholars, and sharia, which refers to the principles that lie behind the fiqh. Scholars hope that fiqh and sharia are in harmony in any given case, but they cannot be sure.[2]

Sharia has certain laws which are regarded as divinely ordained, concrete and timeless for all relevant situations (for example, the ban against drinking liquor as an intoxicant). It also has certain laws which derived from principles established by Islamic lawyers and judges (Mujtahidun).

The primary sources of Islamic law are the Qur'an and Sunnah.

To this, traditional Sunni Muslims add the unanimity (ijma) of Muhammad's companions (Sahaba) on a certain issues, and drawing analogy from the essence of divine principles (Qiyas).

Qiyas — various forms of reasoning, including by analogy — are used by the law scholars (Mujtahidun) to deal with situations where the sources provide no concrete rules. The consensus of the community or people, public interest, and others are also accepted as secondary sources where the first four primary sources allow.citation needed

Shi'a Muslims reject this approach. They strongly reject analogy (Qiyas) as an easy way to inovations (bid'ah), and also reject consensus (ijma) as having any particular value in its own. During the period that the Sunni scholars devloped those two tools, the Shi'a Imams were alive, and Shi'a view them as an extension of the Sunnah, so they view themselves as only deriving their laws (Fiqh) from the Qur'an and Sunnah. A reoccuring theme in Shi'a jurisprudence is logic (Mantiq),[3] something Shi'a believe they mention, employ and value to a higher degree than Sunnis do. They do not view logic as a third source for laws, rather a way to see if the derived work is compatible with the Qur'an and Sunnah.

In Imami-Shi'i law, the sources of law (usul al-fiqh) are the Qur'an, anecdotes of Muhammad's practices and those of the 12 Imams, and the intellect (aql). The practices called Sharia today, however, also have roots in local customs (Al-urf).citation needed

Islamic jurisprudence is called fiqh and is divided into two parts: the study of the sources and methodology (usul al-fiqh - roots of the law) and the practical rules (furu' al-fiqh — branches of the law).citation needed

The comprehensive nature of Sharia law is due to the belief that the law must provide all that is necessary for a person's spiritual and physical well-being. All possible actions of a Muslim are divided (in principle) into five categories: obligatory, meritorious, permissible, reprehensible, and forbidden. Fundamental to the obligations of every Muslim are the Five Pillars of Islam.