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What is Sharia’?
By zaid
Linguistically, Sharīʿah refers to the clear, well-trodden path to water, symbolising guidance and preservation of life.
• Ibn Fāris (d.395 AH) states that Sharīʿah refers to something that reveals itself and unfolds continuously, guiding and paving a way in life.
• Ibn ʿĀshūr (d.1393 AH) states that Sharīʿah refers to an abundance of water, symbolising spiritual cleansing and healing for the soul.
• Imam al-ʿĀlūsī (d.1270 AH) mentions that Sharīʿah refers to the very clear path that leads to a water source, symbolising the source of life for the soul.
• Most importantly, Sharīʿah is not just law and legal matter. Sharīʿah encompasses three aspects: belief (ʿAqā’id), actions (Fiqh), and morals (‘Akhlāq).
• Sharīʿah is comprehensive, and has guidance on worship, personal conduct, family relationships, business, economic affairs, justice, medicine, and more.
• Ibn al-Qayyim (d.751 AH) states that Sharīʿah is entirely founded upon wisdom and welfare for people in this life and the afterlife.
Shari’ah is an Arabic term which literally means “the way” or “a path to a watering- place”, “a clear path to be followed” and more precisely, “the way which leads to a source”. From this notion, we can understand that Shari’ah is the path which the believer has to tread in order to obtain guidance in this world and deliverance in the next. Technically, the word Shari’ah was defined by Al-Qurtubi as the canon law of Islam, all the different commandments of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala (s.w.t.))1 to mankind. Hence, the Shari’ah represents a body of Islamic teachings and system which were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him (p.b.u.h.)) through the revelation of the Holy Qur’an and later deduced from the Prophet’s Sunnah — that itself represents a divinely guided lifestyle and whatever was reported about what the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) said, did, or gave his tacit approval.
Although the Shari’ah is described as “Islamic Law”, its boundaries go beyond the limited horizons of jurisprudence. Thus, the Shari’ah is a set of norms, values and laws that governs the Islamic way of life. In other words, the Shari’ah governs all aspects of Islam, including faith, worship, economic, social, political and cultural aspects of Islamic societies. It is a system of ethics and values; a pragmatic methodology geared towards solving today’s and tomorrow’s problems. All the prescriptions of worship and everyday injunctions are derived from the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.). On the level of acts of worship, the said prescriptions are more often than not precise, and the rules of practice codified and fixed. The domain of everyday affairs be it political affairs, economic dealings, commercial transactions, social interactions, however, is more vast and flexible. This flexibility is still deeply entrenched and governed by fixed principles. Thus, we can find in the two sources a certain number of principles and orientations which the jurists (fuqaha) must respect when they formulate laws which are in tune with their time and place. This is known as ijtihad, the third primary source of Islamic law, which provides a link between the absoluteness of the points of reference, and the relativity of history and location.
When applied to finance, much of these laws, rules and interpretations of the Shari’ah take into consideration issues of social justice, equity and fairness, as well as the practicality of commercial transactions. In a nutshell, Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) must ensure that all their transactions are Shari’ah-compliant, not only in their forms and legal technicalities but more importantly, in their economic substance, which should be premised on the objectives outlined by the Shari’ah, also known as maqasid al-shari’ah. Indeed, the Islamic financial system has the potential to become one of the sectors for realising the noble objectives of the Shari’ah, as it resides within a financial trajectory underpinned by the forces of the Shari’ah injunctions. These Shari’ah injunctions interweave Islamic financial transactions with genuine concerns for a just, fair and transparent society, and at the same time prohibiting involvement in illegal activities which are detrimental to social and environmental well-being.
Ibn al-Manẓūr (d.711 AH) says that Sharīʿah and Sharaʿ refer to what Allah has legislated in the religion and commanded, like fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, alms-giving and all other righteous deeds. It’s derived from the word Shirʿah, and from it is His saying, ‘Then We put you on the path so follow that’ and His saying, ‘For each one We have made a divine law and a traced-out way.’ It was interpreted: Sharīʿah: the divine guidance, and Minhāj: the way [Lisān al- ʿArab].
Maulana Tahānawī (d.1362 AH) mentions that Sharīʿah refers to all guidance which Allah has revealed through his messengers, whether that guidance is in relation to actions and practices, codified into Fiqh, or whether it is in regard to belief and faith [Kashf ‘Iṣṭilāhāt al-Funūn]. In fact,Maulana Tahānawī mentions that Islam has five branches, including:
1. ʿAqā’id (belief)
2. ʿIbādāt (worship)
3. Muʿāmalāt (transactions)
4. ‘Akhlāq (good character)
5. Muʿāsharāt (social etiquettes)
Imam al-Shāṭibī (d.790 AH) writes regarding the definition of Sharīʿah that it sets boundaries for people in their actions, sayings, and beliefs, and it encompasses everything [al-Muwāfaqāt].
Thus, Sharīʿah refers to the guidance from Allah which He has revealed to mankind. This guidance encompasses belief, practice, and character. Hence, the word Sharīʿah encompasses all aspects of Islam: belief, actions, and morals [al-Mawsūʿah al-Fiqhīyyah al-Kuwaitīyyah]. Sharīʿah involves guidance on worship, personal conduct, family relationships, business, economic affairs, justice, medicine and more.
