WHAT IS SHARIA AND HOW IS IT APPLIED?
WHAT IS SHARIA AND HOW IS IT APPLIED?*
*taken
from BBC and this is what they said about Sharia
 |
| Life in the light of God. Photo. http://www.abc.net.au |
What is Sharia and how is it applied?
Sharia law
is Islam's legal system. It is derived from both the Koran, Islam's central
text, and fatwas - the rulings of Islamic scholars.
Sharia
literally means "the clear, well-trodden path to water".
Sharia law
acts as a code for living that all Muslims should adhere to, including prayers,
fasting and donations to the poor.
It aims to
help Muslims understand how they should lead every aspect of their lives
according to God's wishes.
What does this mean in practice?
Sharia can
inform every aspect of daily life for a Muslim.
For
example, a Muslim wondering what to do if their colleagues invite them to the
pub after work may turn to a Sharia scholar for advice to ensure they act
within the legal framework of their religion.
Other
areas of daily life where Muslims may turn to Sharia for guidance include
family law, finance and business.
What are some of the tough
punishments?
Sharia law
divides offences into two general categories: "hadd" offences, which
are serious crimes with set penalties, and "tazir" crimes, where the
punishment is left to the discretion of the judge.
Hadd
offences include theft, which can be punishable by amputating the offender's
hand, and adultery, which can carry the penalty of death by stoning.
Some
Islamic organisations have argued that there are many safeguards
and a high burden of proof in the application of hadd penalties.
The UN has
spoken out against death by stoning, saying it "constitutes torture or
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and is thus clearly
prohibited".
Not all
Muslim countries adopt or enforce such punishments for hadd offences, and
polling suggests attitudes
of Muslims to harsh penalties for such offences vary widely.
Tariq
Ramadan, a prominent Muslim thinker in Europe, has called
for a moratorium on corporal punishment, stoning and the death
penalty in the Muslim world.
He argues
that the conditions under which such penalties would be legal are almost
impossible to re-establish in today's world.
Can Muslims be executed for
converting?
Apostasy,
or leaving the faith, is a very controversial issue in the Muslim world and
experts say the majority of scholars believe it is punishable by death.
But a
minority of Muslim thinkers, particularly those engaged with Western societies,
argue that the reality of the modern world means the "punishment"
should be left to God - and that Islam itself is not threatened by apostasy.
The Koran
itself declares there is "no compulsion" in religion.
How are rulings made?
Like any
legal system, Sharia is complex and its practice is entirely reliant on the
quality and training of experts.
Islamic
jurists issue guidance and rulings. Guidance that is considered a formal legal
ruling is called a fatwa.
There are
five different schools of Sharia law. There are four Sunni doctrines: Hanbali,
Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanafi, and one Shia doctrine, Shia Jaafari.
The five
doctrines differ in how literally they interpret the texts from which Sharia
law is derived.
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