“Are you scared of Shari’a ?
Do you know what it even means?

Few points with regards to the much abused and much misrepresented and misunderstood word “Sharia”

Sharia’a is the Arabic word for “the road to the watering place” In a religious context, it means “the righteous path“.

Shari’a is not a set of Laws, but rather a Set of Principles with JUSTICE at its heart and foremost aim.

These are, the six principles of shariah:

1. The right to the protection of life.

2. The right to the protection of family.

3. The right to the protection of education.

4. The right to the protection of religion.

5. The right to the protection of property (access to resources).

6. The right to the protection of human dignity.

With the establishment of communities with people of Islamic faith, political entities were formed, and like everywhere else in the world, a body of Civil Laws was set, with regional and local differences. These laws are derived from the predominant moral principles carried and defined in different locations and places where Muslims live. While fleshed with human understanding and interpretation, the backbone of these Laws are sourced in major Islamic books and references, in the Qur’an, in the documented saying of Muhammed known as Hadith, and then the works of Muslim scholars past and present to allow adaptation and evolution. In essence, it the same influence of initial religious moral principles found in any legal codex anywhere in the world.

No, Shari’a is NOT carved on stone or set in cement.
No, Shari’a by its own definition can NOT be enforced on anyone nor can following its principles be enforced on any one, let alone on non-Muslims. Just like choosing to follow Islam can only be acknowledged and recognised when done under absolute free-will, so is following the Islamic moral principles i.e. Shari’a.

The Qura’nic principle “No compulsion in religion” (Qur’an 2:256) can not be compromised under any circumstances, because this principle of “no compulsion in religion” is fundamental to the whole Islamic philosophy and Islamic paradigm in which the entire world view is perceived.

Nahida Izzat

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