Sam Solomon: Shari'ah

Pilcrow Press February 03 2009
By Sam Solomon

Shari'ah is the body of Islamic religious law. It is the legal framework within which the public and some private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Islamic principles of jurisprudence and for Muslims living outside the domain.

It deals with many aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, banking, business, contracts, family, sexuality, hygiene and social issues.

There is no strictly static codified set of laws of shari'ah. It is based on the Qu'ran, the sayings and doings of Muhammed, consensus, analogy and centuries of debate, interpretation and precedent.

Many of you will have read the Archbishops of Canterbury's comments on shari'ah law being inevitable in the UK with concern. He had said that he just intended to start a debate and what a debate it is! Page upon page of our newspapers have been written to explain what exactly is shari'ah law and how it would effect us living in the UK.

According to a number of reports, even the Queen is reported to have expressed her concern at the Archbishop's comments and its implications for the Anglican Church's future as the established church.

So what exactly is all the fuss about?

For this article, Senior Minister Colin Dye asked Islamic expert Sam Solomon to explain shari'ah.

Shari'ah is an Arabic word which comes from a root word meaning 'a pathway for water', as that was the only road everyone needed to know. Anywhere, but particularly in the desert, water is a life-saving, life-sustaining agent - so the concept is that of life-imparting.

Shari'ah, from an Islamic prospective, is directives given by Allah to mankind through his final prophet - allegedly Muhammad - to organise and establish their relationship with him and among themselves in their human institutions.

As these directives are given by Allah they cannot be regarded as laws in the modern sense of the word. They are directives made not by any human parliament, elected or nominated. They are believed to be inspired, given by Allah who never reveals himself but only his will, therefore they are at best a set of infallible doctrines.

Muslim Scholars decree that as they are inspired, they are to be received in a worship-like attitude without raising any questions or objections, despite the inconsistencies they contain because they are beyond human reason and understanding.

Shari'ah governs the life of its adherents from birth to death and beyond. As for non-Muslims, they are tolerated with a minimum of rights and freedoms so long as their existence and activities do not threaten the wellbeing of the Islamic society. So if the Christians in an Islamic state were to undertake evangelism that would be a serious breach and may be punishable by death. Shari'ah covers all public and private laws, including that of war and peace, constitutional and commercial affairs, marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance laws, etc.

There are two primary sources of the shari'ah: the Qur'an and the Sunnah and Muslim scholars have classified the directives under five main categories:

Ibadat: all religious observances

These include not only the religious practices from ceremonial purification to ritual prayers, to pilgrimage, mosques and their regulations, but also dress code, dietary laws, and even jihad. So when the Muslims demand the right of the hijab they are literally demanding that part of shari'ah be implemented, so it is with halal meat, be it for school meals, prisons or hospitals. Ritual prayers, Islamic festivals (including circumcision) all come under ibadat. As Azan, or the prayer call, is part of ibadat, it too is part of shari'ah, and the proposed application in Oxford for the right of Azan is just the beginning for the rest of the mosques UK wide. Marriage too is regarded to be part of ibadat as Muhammad had reported to have said, "Marriage is half of a man's religion." But Islam allows and sanctions polygamy, giving a man up to four wives, free women and what a man's right hand possesses - meaning both prisoners of war and concubines (sura 4:3).

Such laws remain incompatible with the British legal system and are in direct conflict with it. The Islamic practice of polygamy has been tolerated by the both Conservative and Labour governments for years and they have chosen not only to ignore it but have supported it by granting polygamous families all the benefits of the welfare state, that is council houses, child benefit, etc. Madrasses or religious schools come under ibadat as well as ahkam (see below). These religious schools are not subject to British or European educational systems or laws, including those relating to corporal punishment, but are fully run under the Islamic law.

Mu'amalat: all legal and civil transactions

These would govern all business transactions as well as many of the international treaties; Islamic banking also would come under this section. The British government's proposed sale of Islamic sukuk security bonds would therefore have be overseen by Muslim scholars and it would be run and ruled under Islamic shari'ah principles, where the shar'iah will take precedence over the existing British banking and financial regulations. Already some of the high street banks provide shari'ah banking covering bank accounts, mortgages, and insurances, etc. these too are run by shari'ah.

It has been reported in the British press that since 2002 the treasury has systematically ensured that our tax laws are made compatible with that of shari'ah. Further Islamisation of our financial systems was first brought to the nation's attention of by the Sunday Telegraph in 2005 with regular articles appearing ever since.

Ukud: contracts

These, with ibadat, would form another subgroup governing some other aspects but including marriage, For in Islam marriage is seen to be a contract between two parties, as dowry and its payment are both customs as well as required by Qur'anic injunctions (suras 4:25, 2:221 -241).

The intricacies of marriage are very different in Islam and parental or the elders' consent is necessary (sura 4: 25). Domestic violence is allowed (sura 4:34) and sanctioned on merely the suspicion of disobedience from a wife - though this is continuously denied both out of embarrassment and being in conflict with the civilized world so it is toned down by saying that that the prophet said beat them lightly (because the humiliation of being beaten by a man be it even by a flower stalk or a pencil it is still a humiliation). Police authorities admit that honour killing is on the increase not only in UK but through out Western Europe among the Muslim community as this too is part of shari'ah.

Divorce and child custody provisions in shari'ah are incompatible with our legal system. A man can divorce his wife if he chooses to do so by simple pronouncement of divorce three times. As for children, they must be raised up as Muslims if the father is a Muslim, and they are always the custody of the father. Visitation rights and such are almost non-existent especially if the children are under-age.

Inheritance laws also fall under ibadat and ahkam. A non-Muslim cannot inherit from a Muslim so, in most cases, a non-Muslim wife is not entitled to any inheritance from her Muslim husband; a male's portion is always double that of a female sibling (sura 4:11). These too are incompatible with the equal rights values, legislation and notions we hold to.

Ahkam: miscellaneous directives

Akham are miscellaneous directives covering a number of categories that are complex and modern such as traffic laws, people movement. etc.

Ukubat: penal codes

According to the Islamic penal code there are two rights, haqq: the right of Allah and the right of a man. The codes are: hudud, ta'zir, kisas, diya and kaffara. Hudud is the harshest and covers offences such as:

- adultery: the punishment is 100 lashes on one's back administered publicly (sura 24:2)

- theft: the punishment is chopping of the right hand (sura 5:38)

- drinking, making or marketing alcohol: the punishment may vary from 40 to 80 lashes according to the Islamic denominational school

- accusing a chase woman of lewdness: the punishment is 80 lashes (sura 24:4)

- rebellion or any kind of religious dissention against an Islamic state specially conversion from Islam to another religion or no religion: the punishment is a death sentence.

These types of punishments are on the increase in the UK and many of them have been carried out by zealous Muslim families on members of their own families as we have recently seen in number of police arrests and court cases. Though they have been put forward as 'cultural' or 'tribal' customs it is really shari'ah issue. Shari'ah forbids a Muslim's allegiance to a non-Muslim state, as it regards it as an enemy of Islam under the doctrine of 'Alwala wa al bara' - the doctrine of allegiance, renunciation and denunciation.

It is clear that shari'ah does not come in parts from which we can pick and choose. It is a complete legal system which covers every area of life. Don't believe those advocates of shari'ah law who say that all they want is shari'ah for family and marriage matters. This will only be the beginning and in no time it will spread to cover all other areas of life. But worst of all, Islamic law does not accept any other belief system. In every country where shari'ah law operates, Islam reigns supreme and is dominant over every other religion.

Let's continue to pray that Islamic law will not get a foothold in our legal system, that Christian values will continue to underpin our society and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will continue to be preached throughout this land. Any compromise that would allow introduction of shari'ah in the UK would mean the destruction of our own Judaeo-Christian civilization and the freedom-based democratic society.

Quran ('recitation') = the scriptures of Islam 'revealed' to Muhammad

Sunnah ('trodden path') = practice and traditions of Muhammad through the narrations of what he did

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