THE CONCEPT OF LAW IN ISLAM
Keywords:
Law, Islam, Shari'ah, The Qur'an, Fiqh literature, Sunnah, Shi'i, Sunni, Hanbali schoolAbstract
There is a popular misconception of Islam as a religious tradition that is overly legalistic, and of Muslims as a people who are blind to the spirit of the law in their attempt to follow it to the letter., As early as 1910, the Hungarian orientalist, Ignaz Goldziher, felt it necessary to
try and correct this misconception:
Fairness demands the admission that in the teachings of Islam, as of other religions, there is "a force working for the good": that a life lived in the spirit of Islam can be an ethically impeccable life, demanding compassion for all God's creatures, honesty in one's dealings, love, loyalty, the suppression of selfish impulses, and all the other virtues that Islam derived from the religions whose prophets it acknowledges as its teachers. A true Muslim will lead a life that satisfies stringent ethical requirements.
References
Ignaz Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, trans. by Andras and Ruth Hamori, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981), p. 18.
Norman Calder, "Law", in John L. Esposito, ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modem Islamic World, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 450.
Hanna Kassis, A Concordance of the Qur'an, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), p. 1142.
A. Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary. (Maryland: Amana Corporation, 1983).
Norman Calder. "Shari'a" in C.E. Bosworth et al., eds., The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, v. 9, rase. 153-154, (Lciden: E.1. Brill, J 996), p. 321.
Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, (Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications, 1989).
"India at Five-O". Time, vol. 150, no.6, August II, 1997, pp. 22-24.
"Damme, This is the Oriental Scene for you:", The New Yorker. June 23 & 30. 1997, pp. 50-61.
