What is shari’ah?

DawudWalid 3 Comments

Shari’ah is a spiritual path towards realizing basic objectives that the Creator wills for man. Dr. Tariq Ramadan defines shar’iah as “a path towards faithfulness.”  Shari’ah is NOT a set codex of laws.  Its basic objectives (maqaasid) as defined by Ash-Shatibi are the protection of life, intellect, religious practice, property and posterity.

Fiqh/jurisprudence is a vehicle on the path towards actualization (shari’ah).  There are different methods of deriving jurisprudence for ritual worship (‘ibabdaat) and social transactions (mu’amalaat) which also is connected to punishments for criminal acts (hudood) among the 4 schools of thought among Sunnis (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i & Hanbali), the 3 schools within the Shi’is (Zaydi, Isma’ili/Bohri & Ja’fari) and the Ibadi.  There are 8 schools of recognized jurisprudence.  Interpretations of jurisprudence differ not only upon textual interpretation of the Qur’an and varying ahadeeth but also geography and social customs.

Whereas ritual worship is something that is between a person and the Creator, the implementation of social transactions and punishments depends much on governing structures.  If a person does not, for instance, get involved in compound interest loans according to his/her fiqh, they are free to do so because there is no government mandate forcing people to take loans.  If a person, however, wants to take a 2nd spouse according to their fiqh, he is not entitled to do so if the governing entity has made it illegal since it is not a mandatory/compulsory part of faith.  Similarly since Islam does not condone vigilantism, 100 lashes for fornication can’t be enforced according to the application of fiqh in a land where the governing entity does NOT permit such as a proper punishment in courts of law.

The vast majority of Muslim majority countries use various fiqh for family law but not hudood like chopping off hands or whipping fornicators.  Even in rare cases where a hand is chopped for theft such as in Saudi Arabia, it is not done for a first offense nor if the reason for theft was do to hunger or extreme need.  The issue of whipping because of 4 witnesses is not because of the action of fornication alone, but for lewd and lascivious behavior.  If persons are caught having sex out of wedlock by 4 mature, sane and truthful people who are over the age of puberty, they most likely are committing an act of public indecency, which is a crime against society not just an act between 2 people.  Again, the punishment for such is a deterrent from spreading moral corruption in society.

A particular fiqh then could be compared to Catholic Canon Law or Halacha (Judiac Law) within this context.

DawudWalid

Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee. Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein." Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.

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