It would not be surprising if people were interested to know more about Islam and what Shariah is, especially after we hear about issues happening in Afghanistan and other places.
It is said that since then there are more searches online to find out what the Shariah is exactly.
The problem is that who will tell you the correct information? Who really understands what the Shariah is and can tell people the correct version?
After all the Taliban and ISIS have been telling people about their understanding of Shariah but it is not correct.
The woman i
n the video below has also attempted to explain what the Shariah is, but she does not appear to be Muslim and does not get everything right. Has she ever studied Islam?
Since I am a Muslim who converted to the faith more than ten years ago and have studied Arabic, Quranic interpretations, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and Shariah to some extent I hope to give a more accurate version of what Shariah is.
People are free to do their own research and of course learning about what something is does not force a person to accept it.
There is only one true Shariah and the claims of the Taliban and ISIS can be called pseudo Shariah.
Pseudo meaning that it is attributed to it but not truly from it.
Just as scientists don't accept everything that is claimed to be science as science, so true with Shariah.
We are told in a saying of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him that the previous revelations (Jews and Christians) split into 72 sects, and this nation will split into 73. All are in the hellfire except one. That is what I and my companions are upon.
Therefore, we cannot attribute every claim that someone is a great Muslim or following the true Shariah as correct.
Doing things to the extreme does not make something or someone better.
In fact, the Quran tells us that the middle way is the right way.
We should follow the middle path and avoid extreme behaviour.
The Quran actually tells us that there is no compulsion in religion, the right path has become distinct from the wrong path.
Why should we know about Shariah?
When we know what Shariah is we can avoid attributing things to Islam that are not from it.
We can also understand and appreciate what is Islam really is and not just some claims.
What is the Shariah?
The true Shariah is actually Islamic law and a way of life. All countries and cultures have a law.
Muslims have the Quran, which is the word of God and the hadith, which are the sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. These are the two foundations of Shariah.
After this, there are sayings and opinions of early scholars who commented on various issues that are not found in the above texts.
They used ijtihad or hard work to try and find the ruling through searching the texts to find a similar issue to compare them. This was followed by logic and reasoning and the best interests of people.
For this reason there are four main schools of thought who all agree on the basic tenets of Islam and on the major confirmed practices and rulings of Islam.
Some rulings do not change with time or place. For example, the beliefs of Islam, the obligatory prayer, fasting, charity, pilgrimage as well as women wearing hijab do not change.
However, they differ in small ways such as how to carry out the practices put forward to us by Islam.
For example, there are small differences between these schools concerning whether a person should raise their hands in prayer or not, and how to make the intention for fasting in Ramadan.
They all agree that Muslims must pray five times a day, fast in Ramadan, go to Mecca for pilgrimage once in their life and pay a certain amount of their wealth (when they are rich) to the poor.
For these reasons, while the Muslims are united over one Shariah, some of how the Shariah is practised and implemented around the world may differ.
Woman are required to cover everything except their hands and face, but how they choose to do that and what clothes they wear as well as the colour may differ according to culture and country.
Women are not obligated to cover their face or hands, since thus would make things difficult when buying and selling as well as for identification purposes. However, they are allowed to do so if they choose.
Islam allows for these differences, so long as the basic ruling is implemented.
So can the Shariah be altered according to different times and places?
The answer is that yes it can and there are many flexible rulings that apply to certain circumstances.
The shariah is not aimed at making peoples lives overly difficult, for thus reason something that was not allowed can become allowed when their is a very strong need.
For example, a person can drink alcohol of eat pork or something not allowed normally if they are trapped in a place and are afraid they may perish if they do not do so.
These are extreme circumstances.
Also, in times of war rulings can change.
For example, how people pray when they fear the enemy.
When there is a need people can join their prayers, for example when travelling. They can also pray sitting, or lying down if they are sick.
When people live in a society they should try to adapt to the society as much as possible, while keeping to the shariah.
For example, wearing similar clothes and dealing with people according to the manners and expectations of society.
Many times we are asked to do things according to the general understanding of what is correct in society.
The idea of according to 'what is known' is mentioned in Quran.
We may be told to eat or give charity according to what is known to be suitable.
New issues and new events that occur in a society or time period may need new rulings, for this reason religious scholars attempt to extract the rulings from the Qursn and hadith and find the rulings to such issues.
What is the aim of Shariah?
Underneath all the rulings of Shariah is the general aim of benefitting people and preventing harm to them.
This aim is beneath all the rulings of Shariah.
However, since Islam is a collectivist belief system rather than individualistic, the benefits of society and keeping it pure are put before the individual.
When there is no harm or damage to society as a whole, the individual and their personal situation are considered.
There are five goals of Shariah underpinning all the religious rulings.
1) Protection of religion or faith
2) Protection of life or self
3) Protection of wealth and offspring
4)Protection of ones mind or intellect
5) Protection of reputation or honour.
Therefore, most of the the rulings in Shariah have behind them one of the aims as above.
For example, the hijab aims to protect the reputation and honour of women.
Backbiting and slander is also forbidden for similar reasons.
Relationships outside of marriage are forbidden in order to protect the offspring of people and keep their ancestry known.
Islam does not accept oppression and a saying on Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him tells us that he narrated from Allah that
I have forbidden oppression upon myself and oppression between people...
We are also told that the supplication of an oppressed person is answered and there is no barrier between it and God.
Therefore, we are warned against oppressing people because we will be judged and maybe have to give anyone we oppressed from our good deeds on judgement day.
Therefore, it hopefully is apparent that the true Shariah is very different from the pseudo Shariah put forward by the media.
Some of these differences are:
1). The true Shariah does not accept killing of innocent people at all, and this includes killing oneself in suicide bombings and so forth. Killing of women and children and those not involved in war is strictly prohibited
Cutting off peoples heads is not something the Shariah sanctioned, this was something from the King's and Queen's of Europe in the past.
Neither is suicide bombing from Islam. It was practiced by Japanese Sumarai fighters. We don't know how it became associated with Muslims.
2). Women are not required to wear a burqa when they go out. It is enough to cover her head and body with clothes that do not show the shape of her body, which includes an overgarment.
This may differ according to country and culture
3). There is no such thing as female circumcision in Islam, that is something for men.
4). Basic education is obligatory on both males and females who should learn the basics of their faith at least and a basic education's
5) Terrorism is not acceptable in the true Shariah. It is not even allowed to scare someone while playing (pretending to point a knife at someone, jumping out at people and so forth)
6) The true Shariah prefers intelligent solutions to problems such as discussions, logical arguments and negotiations rather than random acts of aggression or violence.
7). Women have rights in true Shariah, such as to inherit, to marry who she chooses and to be educated and have her own opinions and wealth.
What are the reasons for the different understandings?
The main problem seems to be ignorance and a lack of education about what the true Shariah actually is.
There may be issues with people mixing religion with other motivations such as politics and power struggles.
What is important is to realise that true Shariah does not sanction or encourage such things.
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