Sharia laws are traditional Islamic laws to lead a life based on the Quran and the Hadith derived from the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, and Sharia literally means “the way” or “path” in Arabic from where most of the Muslims get their moral direction about their conduct, prayer and treatment of others including the family members. While some countries of the world follow the Sharia rules of traditional Islam in toto, others use their modern interpretations done by religious scholars, jurists and modern courts influenced by Western thoughts and practices of jurisprudence.
In today’s life it is very difficult and sometimes inhuman to obey the rules of traditional faith, made for the society which remained, if not thousands, hundreds of years ago when all parameters of life have been changed in essence. The classical Sharia is a whole set and deals with aspects of public and private life including religious rituals, family life, business, crimes, and warfare and while some laws of Sharia can be accepted as usual, others are better understood as rules for living life in accordance with God’s will.
In the light of recent trends, several countries including Iran and Sudan adopted the hudud system of punishment but the Supreme Courts of the countries rarely approve harsher punishments, while in Pakistan and Nigeria, the apex court never accepts Sharia laws in delivering the crime judgements. In the whole Muslim world, Saudi Arabia is the single Muslim country which has applied Sharia laws in different spheres and never codified its separate laws. Its court judges always follow Sharia laws while delivering crime judgements, but apply only the classical principle which says that hudud punishments should be avoided. The Taliban, the present rulers of Afghanistan, who captured power by force, have also avowed to follow the Sharia rules and the region South Asia is fearful about its nefarious motives and designs
In most Muslim countries only a small part of the Sharia laws has been implemented as a token and other practices of their law are influenced by Western views of jurisprudence which respect human rights, gender equality, and freedom of speech, but in general, they all have a poor opinion about the women, specially for those who were captured in wars and considered as war lootings. Most of the Muslim countries went far away from Sharia because they wanted to be more powerful and hence took European state models along with other traits of modernity. In many cases where Muslim states were colonized by the Europeans, they forced them to abandon several parts of Sharia laws and follow European laws instead for a long time.
Originally, Sharia in Islam is considered as the revealed law of God which cannot be altered at any cost, and rests on four sources; a. Qur’an, which Muslims believe to be revealed by the Almighty to the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), b. the actions and words of Muhammad (PBUH), which are called Sunnah and preserved in collections called Hadith, c. on consensus, when all legal experts agree, and d. a legal reasoning by analogy.
The whole set of Sharia laws have been classified in various parts from the viewpoints of their significance; a. actions that one must perform, b. recommended actions, c. actions that are allowed, d. action that is despised, and e. action that is prohibited. Of these all the acts have been divided in two branches-acts of worship and human interaction. Of them, worship is viewed as compulsory and are also called the pillars of Islam which include; a. affirmation, the concept that there is no God except Allah and Muhammad is his messenger, b. prayer, five times a day, c. fasting during Ramadan, d. charity or Zakat, and e. pilgrimage to Mecca or Hajj. Alike these there are laws of dietary, sacrifice, family life, and crime and punishment.
In crime and punishment there are offences which find a place in the Quran and are considered as violating ‘claims of God’ and have fixed punishments. In the second category are offences which are against persons, such murder and wounding and which call for a punishment in proportion to the crime or payment of compensation, while punishment in other forbidden behaviour are fixed by the Muslim judge using his discretion. Although, there are differences among scholars and jurists about the crimes which come under the hudud category, yet they normally include theft, highway robbery, Zina or sex with forbidden partners, falsely accusing someone of Zina, and drinking alcohol. The prescribed punishment for these crimes ranges from 80 lashes to death. As per hudud, these crimes require other difficult formalities and as such often people ignore their implementation but historically, the system of Qisas remained in practice which include the punishment with ‘counter-action’, meaning a life for life, an eye for an eye along with consideration of one’s social status.
The initial phase of Sharia laws that prevailed in the world was not so harsh and commonly considered as moderate for non-Muslims living under the rule where the criminal cases were handled in mazalim courts, controlled by the ruler’s council. At the time mazalim courts were hoped to follow ‘the spirit of Sharia’ where the qazis and muftis were also present to ensure the implementation of Sharia. In particular, the mazalim courts also handled the complaints against government officials which were not decided by qazi courts in a proper way, while local crimes or low-level crimes were settled by local police and market inspectors according to local customs, without any concern for Sharia. Such rules were good also for non-Muslims who lived under the regime because they were allowed to follow their own laws until or unless there was any dispute between two religious communities and while hearing those cases preference was given to non-Muslims, supposing that the Sharia is the reflection of the divine who desires to defend the weak against the powerful. The further developments of Sharia were registered in the 20th and 21st centuries because of demographic changes that took place in nations’ life.
With the passage of time several Muslim countries adopted Western ways in their legal systems and many people regarded their action as oppressive, corrupt, and ineffective, leading to a general disappointment in Muslim countries across the globe. As this thinking went on increasing, the nations began to rethink their strategy and finally decided in favour of Sharia laws where they could find a solution for all problems. On the other hand, a large group of conservative peoples wanted to use the traditional methods in handling the crimes with the help of hudud punishment.
In the light of recent trends, several countries including Iran and Sudan adopted the hudud system of punishment but the Supreme Courts of the countries rarely approve harsher punishments, while in Pakistan and Nigeria, the apex court never accepts Sharia laws in delivering the crime judgements. In the whole Muslim world, Saudi Arabia is the single Muslim country which has applied Sharia laws in different spheres and never codified its separate laws. Its court judges always follow Sharia laws while delivering crime judgements, but apply only the classical principle which says that hudud punishments should be avoided. The Taliban, the present rulers of Afghanistan, who captured power by force, have also avowed to follow the Sharia rules and the region South Asia is fearful about its nefarious motives and designs.
