Understanding what is Sharia
It is ironic that the term ‘sharia’ should have become the symbol of unchanging and rigid laws
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By Dr Riffat Hassan
Friday, 14 Aug, 2009
WHAT is Sharia is the subject of an intense debate going on not only in Pakistan but globally, both amongst Muslims and between Muslims and non-Muslims. This, while the majority of those who are engaged in the debate do not often know the original or the classical meaning of Sharia.
Given the importance of Sharia in the lives of millions of Muslims, it is critical that the term be correctly understood. Explaining this term, Dr Gamal Solaiman, a notable Egyptian scholar educated at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, observes that “the word ‘sharia’ literally means a way leading to a watering place where people have access to indispensable life ingredients”.
He refers to Surah 21:31 which states: “We made out of water every living thing.” As water is the essence of all living things, so Sharia represents what is essential for a human being’s spiritual and social development.
Dr Solaiman has pointed out that the word is used in the Quran in three places. One reference is in Surah 42:13 which states: “In matters of Sharia, He (God) has ordained for you that which He had enjoined upon Noah — and into which We gave thee (O Muhammad) insight through revelation — as well as that which We had enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus: Steadfastly uphold the (true) faith, and do not break up your unity therein.” Here, Sharia “stands for the essence of all revealed religions with regard to acknowledging God, being obedient to Him and guided by Him”.
A second reference is in Surah 5:48 which states: “And unto thee (O Prophet) have we vouchsafed this divine writ, setting forth the truth, confirming the truth of whatever there still remains of earlier revelations and determining what is true therein. Judge, then, between the followers of earlier revelations in accordance with the Sharia that God has bestowed from on high, and do not follow their errant views, forsaking the truth that has come unto thee.” A third reference is found in Surah 45:18 which states: “And finally, (O Muhammad,) We have set thee on a Sharia by which the purpose (of faith) may be fulfilled: so follow thou this (way), and follow not the likes and dislikes of those who do not know (the truth).” Dr Solaiman has pointed out that in the above-cited second and third references, ‘sharia’ “is used to indicate the practical course for a human being’s development and well-being, morally, socially, economically and otherwise”. Sharia is defined in terms similar to Dr Solaiman’s by E.W. Lane who states in his monumental Arabic-English Lexicon that, according to the authors of authoritative Arabic lexicons, the Taj al-Arus, the Tadheeb and the Misbah, the Arabs do not apply the term ‘sharia’ to “any but (a watering place) such as is permanent and apparent to the eye, like the water of a river, not water from which one draws with the well-rope”.
Explicating the above, a modern lexicon, Lughat ul-Quran, states that the term ‘sharia’ refers to a straight and clear path, and also to a watering place where both humans and animals come to drink water, provided the source of water is a flowing stream or river.
It is extremely ironic that the term ‘sharia’, which embodies the idea of fluidity and mobility as part of its very structure, should have become the symbol of rigid and unchanging laws not only for non-Muslims in general, but also many Muslims in the world. The primary sources of the Sharia are the Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Historically speaking, the Sharia has been understood in general terms to refer to a code of principles which regulates the diverse aspects of a Muslim’s life.
It is much wider in meaning and application than the term ‘fiqh’, which means jurisprudence. Though often the two terms are used interchangeably, they are different in meaning. Dr Fathi Osman has pointed out that the difference between the two terms is comparable to the difference between ‘law’ and ‘jurisprudence’ in English.
With reference to the Sharia, Dr Osman has stated: “God’s laws are meant to remove difficulties and inconveniences and not create them…. Whenever certain circumstances make the implementation of a rule of Sharia result in mass difficulties or inconvenient pressures, the general principle of ‘God does not want to place you in a difficulty’ (Surah 5:6; Surah 22:78) and ‘God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear’ … would apply to stop the public difficulty or to respond to the public necessity or need, and in such a case any legal detail can be suspended for the sake of maintaining the general goals and principles of Sharia.” Dr Osman notes with emphasis that Sharia is “meant to guard and protect the physical and moral purity and wholeness of the individual and society, not just to impose taboos and punishments”. ¦ The writer, a scholar of Iqbal and Islam, teaches at the University of Louisville, US.