Islamic Law Case Study

Islamic law may be hard to understand from a western perspective. There are many similarities, such as the way trials convene, but also many differences. The structure of Islamic Law and what they base their law on is vastly different than our own. In this essay, I am going to cover some of the major topics of Islamic Law. This includes Sharia, and how laws are derived from it. What is Fatwa, and why it is needed. How family practice law works and how it pertains to women. I will then finish with Islamic jurisprudence. Let us begin with Sharia. Sharia is commonly understood to be a set of rules given by Allah. These laws given by Allah extend through social, political and personal life. Like the Hebrew Torah, Sharia gives direction

Such laws pertain to actions such as divorce, adoption and abuse protection. One important aspect when we talk about family law is to understand the equality of the genders. Women and men are treated equally. At first this idea of Islamic equality is not fully understood in western cultures. This has to do with the western idea that all people are equal. In Islamic culture, "equality is understood as each gender has a specific and well-defined role, and even though those roles are different and must be strictly adhered to, they are equal as regards commitment to the umma" (p.63). So by this definition, women are equal, not because they have the same rights and roles as men, but rather, because the roles are important to their gender and the importance are to the Muslim people and society as a whole. According to this way of thought, issues that the west sees with gender equality do not phase the Islamic culture. These issues, such as the wearing of a burka, are therefore not seen as a repression of women, but in many cases empowering to women. This can be for a variety of reasons, such as abiding Allah 's will, a sense of dignity and even freedom as we talked about in class. Along with this, Sharia is impartial to gender when it comes to marriage. By this I mean that it views marriage as sacred, and even though it allows for divorce, Quran 2.266 tells the men to wait four months before finalizing the

This has been a large debate in recent years between traditionalists and modernizers. The problem with participating in the development of Islamic democracy is that according to traditionalist it is not of the Quran. Traditionalists give five reasons for their views which are: Allegiance bids a person to follow another, not election. A Muslim should not seek power through political offices. Muslims can only follow other Muslims. If a Muslim chooses to follow, they must do so wholeheartedly and do what they are asked of by their leader. Finally, elected office does not follow shura. Due to the fact that these ideas come from the Quran, it is difficult for modern reformers bring Islamic ideals to democracy as well as to satisfy, or abolish, the five anti-theses. Some of the ways that they are beginning to do this is by keeping the relationship between Allah and man the same, for this law is eternal, and changing the relationship between man and man. The latter of the two, called muamala, should be based on history rather than a set rule that never changes. Finally, the idea of dar al shahada, tokened by Tariq Ramadan, should take effect. Dar al shahada changes the way the Islamic world looks at the west from one of warfare and sin, but to one of