SHARIA
What is Sharia in Islam?
There was a time when Afghanistan was a modern state, faith was a private matter, burqas were optional women and men could travel together; right next door, Iran was not far behind; it was at par with the western world women could step out without a veil, even meet men at public places but the Iran and Afghanistan are a lot different today. Hijab is mandatory western clothing frowned upon; clerics dictate societal norms, religious police patrol the streets, and civil rights are nonexistent. What happened in these countries? They came under the Sharia law.
Arguably the most controversial concept in the world is the concept of Sharia; it’s back in the news after the Taliban took over Kabul. They plan to rule Afghanistan under the Sharia law under Taliban version of Sharia law; what does that mean? What will change in Afghanistan? What place does the Sharia have now? How many people in the world follow it?
Why is it so controversial? Why does the world fear it will take Afghanistan further back in time? The first question what is Sharia? To many, the word conjures the horrors of hands being cut off, adulterers being beaten, and women being oppressed; in fact, no religious law has ever had worse press than the Sharia has in recent times.
Why is that so? Thanks to the misrepresentation, manipulation, and misuse of the Sharia by Islamic regimes, politicians, clerics, and radical terrorists, they’ve all used the Sharia to rule in the name of God. So, coming back to the question of what Sharia is, there is no clear definition. Different people understand and apply the Sharia in different ways. Still, suppose we put the broad concepts together. In that case, the Sharia is an Islamic legal and spiritual system, both divine and philosophical, religious because it is said to be God’s will for humankind, and intelligent because it is based on human understanding.
In Arabic, the Sharia translates to the clear well-trodden path to the water. The human interpretation of Sharia is called the Fiqh, which literally means understanding. These terms are used interchangeably, but they’re not the same. Sharia is considered divine and permanent, infallible, but its interpretation is human; it’s a set of rules put together by Muslim scholars over the centuries. These rules have been drafted and applied to suit those in power. Where do the rules come from? The three sources are the Quran, Islam’s holy book, the sunnah, the deeds of Prophet Muhammad, and the sayings of the prophet. There is a range of other sources to work out, like how God wants Muslims to live, but there is no single law book, no definite statute, and no set judicial proceeding to determine the Sharia. It’s a vast collection of different, often conflicting interpretations. These interpretations gave birth to five legal schools of Sharia. They are not different in the fundamentals of the faith. Still, in their practice, there are differences in how they pray, resolve legal matters, settle marital disputes, and deliver punishment for certain crimes; this is understandable because no religion is uniform. Still, the problem begins when religion is mixed with governance. Many Muslims who embraced the Sharia thought of it as a substitute for the law of the land, and that’s where the problem lies. Sharia was just supposed to be a way of living. It was not meant to be associated with political power. When European colonialism ended in much of West Asia, Africa, and Asia, the leaders of the newly formed Muslim majority countries faced a dilemma; should they govern based on previous Islamic values, or should they embrace laws inherited from colonial rule? They proclaimed the Sharia as the basis of their legal justice system. in 1932, Saudi Arabia was formed as a theocratic monarchy, and in 1979, Iran witnessed the Islamic revolution. Until then, Iran was a secular monarchy. After the process, the clerics took power, and the country became the Islamic Republic; in 1996, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan and made it a terror regime based on the Sharia. What makes this law acceptable in some countries and horrific in others it’s understanding and implementation; some countries enforce the most discriminatory and patriarchal aspects of the Sharia. They selectively pick certain verses from the Quran and legalize draconian practices like polygamy, triple talaq, and genital mutation. They also enforce rules that had little or no basis in Islam; research shows that most of these punishments were not sanctioned in the Quran. The prophet did not practice them, yet today they’ve been made the highlights of the Sharia. They’re being used to dictate the daily lives of Muslims the world over. Many followers do not understand this. They stubbornly uphold ignorant and unjust practices. The biggest victims of this are Muslim women. Does God judge differently based on gender? For many clerics, it does; even though women worked and fought alongside the prophet, they won’t tell you this.
In some countries, women cannot step out without an Abaya, but men can dress the way they want, women cannot stand for president, but men can govern for a lifetime. Women cannot choose to have an abortion. Still, men are allowed to have four wives; women cannot travel without male guardians; women cannot drive. Women cannot retain custody of their children after divorce. They receive half of what is awarded to their brothers in inheritance.
The list of restrictions on women in the name of God is appalling. The Sharia misuse does not end there. It is cited to justify what they called the conquest mindset to wage wars in the name of Islam, especially by terror outfits. They will portray themselves as more faithful than other Muslims. They use religious scholars in their ranks to make finely crafted arguments to use religion as a pretext to perpetrate violence. They exploit people who have little understanding of Islam. They recruit them as foot soldiers to fight their politically motivated wars; some join them in the name of faith, some in the name of their land, some for a good paycheck, and some because they’re just murderous, but this is not the Sharia. Much damage has been done in the name of religion, including people from all faiths, by people from all cultures; that’s true for the Sharia, yet it remains a way of life for 1.8 billion followers of Islam in more than 57 countries. Here’s what we think all things, including religion, must evolve with time. If some practices are outdated, they must end; religious laws have no place in modern nation-states governed by a constitution. If the Sharia interpretation and approach clashes with today’s way of life and social structures, then perhaps it’s time for revision and reflection rather than resentment.