Sharia

Sharia (Arabic: الشريعة) literally means "the path to water" and refers in Islam to the religious, moral and legal principles revealed by God. It encompasses acts of worship (such as prayer, fasting and alms-giving) as well as interpersonal relations: marriage, inheritance, commerce, punishment and governance.

The terms sharia and fiqh (jurisprudence) are often confused. Sharia refers to the original principles derived from the Quran and the Sunnah, while fiqh is the interpretation and derivation of these principles by scholars. Fiqh therefore varies depending on the school of thought, time period and place.

Sources of law

Most scholars divide the primary sources into four: the Quran, the Sunnah (the words, actions and tacit approval of the Prophet Muhammad), ijmaa (consensus of scholars) and qiyas (analogical reasoning from an established ruling to a new case). There are additional sources on which some scholars agree and others dispute, such as istihsan (juristic preference), maslaha (public interest) and urf (customary practice).

Schools of thought

Among Sunni Islam there are four major schools: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. Somalis and most of the Horn of Africa follow the Shafi'i school. Shi'a Islam has its own schools of jurisprudence, the largest being Ja'fari. The schools do not differ on core beliefs but do differ in their methods of deriving rulings.

Categories of acts

Every act is classified into five categories: obligatory, recommended, permissible, discouraged and forbidden. This framework allows jurists to address new issues by reference to the general objectives of sharia (maqasid), which typically include the protection of religion, life, intellect, lineage and property.

Contemporary application

Muslim-majority countries differ in how they incorporate sharia into state law. Some restrict it to family matters—marriage, divorce and inheritance—while others extend it to criminal and financial law. Other Muslim countries have adopted Western legal systems and limit sharia to personal status issues. Debate over the relationship between state law and scholarly interpretation continues.