Sources of Shari'a Law

• Shari'a


  Divine law for Muslims
• Primary sources of shari'a

  • The Qur'an
  • The Sunna
• Achieving rulings where Qur'an and Sunna are unclear


  1. Consensus of scholars (ijma)

  2. Analogy with similar ruling (qiyas)

  3. Reasoning (aql) by Shi'a scholars
• Divine origin and status of shari'a

  If a law comes from God, then it has status and authority for Muslims
• There are widely different views on the divine origin and status of shari'a
• Uthmanic Qur'an


  The Qur'an as used today, standardised during the time of Caliph Uthman
• Hadith


  Sayings of Muhammad, a source for his actions, the Sunna
• Authenticating hadith


  1. Comparing the subject matter (matn)

  2. Checking the chain of narrators (isnad)
• The law as we know it originated with the emergence of schools of jurisprudence (madhabs) around the time of the hadith collections
• Legal scholars used the Qur'an and Sunna as the first sources of shari'a
• Some Muslims believe


  God's laws come first so shari'a should become the basis for all law, including that of the state
• Others disagree and see

  Shari'a as opinions of humans about God's law, and so is sometimes flawed and oppressive
• Shari'a is considered divine law by Muslims
• Shari'a is something to strive for especially when faced with injustice, since God's law must always be just