Sources of muslim laws

Sources of Muslim Laws

Introduction ‘Sharia’ • The term ‘Sharia ’ has been increasingly

incorporated into the English language over recent years. But what does it actually mean?

• The literal Arabic translation of the term ‘Sharia’ is ‘the road to the watering place’.

• Which implies ‘the expression of Allah’s command for Muslim society’.

• The sources of Islamic law mainly consist of primary and secondary sources.

• The former comprises of the Qur’an and Prophetic Tradition.

• The latter includes consensus, analogy, independent reasoning and equity.

• The origin of ‘sharia’ is in the Qur'an, the word of God, and traditions gathered from the life of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

• Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable and the purpose of existence is to love and serve God.

Sources of Muslim Law • The sources of Islamic law mainly consist

of primary and secondary sources.• Primary sources are the sources that the

Prophet Mohammad has directed. These are to be followed in their respective order of priority. They are also called formal sources. They deal with the needs of the Islamic society in the modern era. Some of the personal rules may find places in the sources.

• All medieval Muslim jurists rejected arbitrary opinion, and instead developed various secondary sources, also known as juristic principles or doctrines to follow in case the primary sources (i.e. the Qur'an and Sunnah) are silent on the issue.

Primary Sources• Quran(Holy Book)• Sunnah &

Hadith(Traditions)• Ijma (Consensus of

opinion )• Qiyas (It is only

accepted form Ijtihad independent decision making)

Secondary Sources• Customs• Judicial Decision• Legislation• Equity, Justice & Good

Conscience.

Schools Of Muslims Law• 1. The Hanafiyya School• 2. The Malikiyya School• 3. The Shafiyya School• 4. The Hanbaliyya School

Five Pillars Of Islam “Sunni’s”• The Five Pillars of Islam ("pillars of the religion")

are five basic acts in Islam, considered mandatory by believers and are the foundation of Muslim life. They are summarized in the famous Hadith of Gabriel.

• They make up Muslim life, prayer, concern for the needy, self purification and the pilgrimage. They are:

• Shahadah: Declaring there is no god except God, and Muhammad is God's Messenger

• Salah: Ritual prayer five times a day• Sawm: Fasting and self-control during the blessed

month of Ramadan

• Zakat: Giving 2.5% of one’s savings to the poor and needy

• Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime.

• The Shia and Sunni both agree on the essential details for the performance and practice of these acts, but the Shia do not refer to them by the same name.

Pillars of Islam “Shia’s”• Shia Islam has 5 Usul al-Din and 10 Furu al-Din, i.e.,

the Shia Islamic beliefs and practices. The Shia Islam Usul al-Din, equivalent to a Shia Five Pillars, are beliefs considered foundational to Islam, and thus classified a bit differently from those listed above. They are:

• 1.Tawhid (Monotheism: belief in the Oneness of God)• 2.Adl (Divine Justice: belief in the Almighty's justice)• 3.Nubuwwah (Prophet hood)• 4.Imamah (Succession to the Muhammad)• 5.Mi'ad (The Day of Judgment and the Resurrection)

• In addition to these Five Pillars, there are ten practices that Shia Muslims must perform, called the Ancillaries of the Faith.

• 1.Salah 2.Sawm 3.Zakat, similar to Sunni Islam, but only applies to cattle, silver, gold, dates, raisins, wheat, and barley but not money. 4.Khums: an annual taxation of one-fifth(20%) of all gain. 5.Hajj 6.Jihad 7.Amr-bil-Maroof 8.Nahi Anil Munkar. 9.Tawalla: expressing love towards Good. 10.Tabarra: expressing disassociation and hatred towards Evil.

Nimaz• Fajr-Offered Before sunrise• Zuhr- Begins at noon• Asr-Offered in the afternoon• Magrib-Offered just after sunset• Isha-Offered in the evening

Muslims Marriage’ “Nikah”• In Islam, marriage is a contract between a man

and woman to live as husband and wife. A formal, binding contract is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride. According to the teachings of the Quran, a married Muslim couple is equated with clothing. Both husband and wife are each other’s protector and comforter, just as real garments “show and conceal” the body of human beings. Thus, they are meant “for one another". The marriage must be declared publicly.

• Walima- Walima or the marriage banquet, is the second of the two traditional parts of an Islamic wedding. The walima is performed after the nikah or marriage ceremony. The word walima is derived from awlam, meaning to gather or assemble. While walima is often used to describe a celebration of marriage, it is also held to celebrate the birth of a newborn and the purchase of a new home.

Conditions Of Marriage “Nikah”• The marriage contract is concluded between the

guardian (wali) of the bride and the bridegroom.• A marriage should be conducted through a contract

and a mandatory sum of wealth provided to the bride, which here refers to the mahr.

• Once a mahr has been ascertained with the realization that it is an obligation of a Muslim husband, the groom is required to pay it to the bride at the time of marriage unless he and his bride can mutually agree to delay the time of some of its payment.

• Another requisite of marriage is chastity. No fornicator has the right to marry a chaste partner except if the two purify themselves of this sin by sincere repentance.

• Marriage is permitted for a man with a chaste woman either Muslim or from the People of the Book (Jews, Serbians and Christians) but not to polytheists (or "idolaters": Yusufali translation or "idolatresses").

• The consent of the woman is only required, if she is not a virgin and her wali is neither her father nor her paternal grandfather. But a virgin may not be married off without her permission and if she is too shy to express her opinion her silence will be considered as implicit agreement. The wali who can force a bride against her outspoken will into marriage is called "wali mujbir".

• If the woman was forced into a marriage, without the above mentioned conditions, the decision can be revoked.

Rights And Obligations Of Spouses• According to Islam, both men and woman have rights

over each other when they enter into a marriage contract with the husband serving as protector and supporter of the family most of the time.

• The husband is financially responsible for the welfare and maintenance of his wife and any children they produce, to include at a minimum, providing a home, food and clothing.

• In return, it is the duty of the wife to safeguard the husband's possessions and protect how wealth is spent.

• If the wife has wealth in her own capacity she is not obliged to spend it upon the husband or children, as she can own property and assets in her own right, so the husband has no right for her property and assets except by her will.

• A pre-marital agreement of the financial expectation from the husband is in the mahr, given by him to the wife for her exclusive use, which is included as part of his financial responsibility.

• The husband provides physical and emotional strength, loyalty, sexual fidelity, and honour.

• In return, the wife is to guard the secrets of her husband, be honorable, loyal, and conjugally faithful.

Divorce• Marriage in Islam is a contract with the standard

elements of offer, acceptance and consideration, and not regarded as sacrosanct.

• It may be terminated by divorce on the grounds of abuse, infertility, lack of sexual fulfillment, lack of Nafaqah ("expense") or financial support by the husband, adultery, dishonorable behavior, and irreconcilable differences.

• It is recommended in the Hadith that divorce should only be resorted to when there is no chance of reconciliation.

• Divorce may be instituted unilaterally by the husband. It can be revocable or irrevocable.

• In a revocable divorce, a waiting period of three menstrual cycles begins, during which the husband may take back his wife.

• There are many Hadiths requiring that divorce is not uttered sequentially three times but separated by a month between each utterance to provide opportunity for reconciliation.

• Majority of Islamic schools of jurisprudence (fiqh), do not regard a divorce as valid if this requirement is not followed, however others such as Hanafi discourage such practice but accept as binding if a triple divorce is said sequentially at one time.