Sharia Law and its Impact within a State

Muslim Law, often termed to be Muhammadan law, influences the legal core of the Muslim nations around the globe. It impacts the both legal and social mechanisms of the society and dwells within the personal circle of a citizen such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and custody.

In common linguistics, Muslim law can be defined as the compendium of rules and sourced from the injunctions of Islam. These rules can be successfully incorporated into political systems and good examples of this exist in countries like Indonesia, Qatar and Yemen etc. Such countries host Muslim majorities and the inclusion of Muslim law into their legal system is a feature typical of such countries.

The subcontinent, the geographical predecessor to Pakistan, was also the host of a fairly large group of Muslims. But the area was simultaneously home to a variety of different beliefs and customs. No Muslim law was therefore incorporated into the legal system of the sub-continent. While vestiges of this pluralist heritage have been retained by the legal system in Pakistan, it has however tried to ensure the existence of Muslim laws within its provisions to accommodate representation of the religious beliefs of the Muslim majority it hosts.

The term “Shariat” is used interchangeably with the phrase ‘Muslim Law’ and has been defined by the courts in Pakistan to be ‘the Islamic Code’.[1] Shariat, while dependent on the Quran and Sunnah (which are themselves codified as sources for Shariat), is itself a very fluid body of law. There is no single book of Shariah law as it is entirely dependent on the interpretation of primary sources. Therefore, the views of scholars and individual Muslims have interpretive differences.

This law has developed from the inception of Islam and has continued to develop, several hundred years after the death of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Since Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is considered as the benchmark for perfection in Islamic world, his deeds and his acts played a vibrant and pivotal role in the development of Muslim law. The law has spread throughout the world and in doing so, has developed to allow for the reconciliation of local laws with itself. In order to execute Muslim law, precedents and various other analogies are crafted by Muslims scholars and are used to induce new solutions for new legal problems. In doing so, various schools of thought (the Sunni school, Shia school, Hanbali School, Shafayi School, and Maliki School named after the scholars who invented these various schools, have opinions which differ in how Sharia law applies to the adherents of the sects which follow them) were engendered within the Islamic system of belief which has allowed for the diversity in views within the interpretation of Islam. Among them the Hannafi School of Thought is considered to be the most liberal sect of Islam and is popular in Muslim countries like Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt and India.

Poor opinion of Muslims and Islam today, has attached a very negative connotation with the term ‘Shariat’ or ‘Sharia Law’. But it is stressed here that the main objective of Muslim law is to uphold justice. Individual accession to the system is entirely voluntary as Sharia Law cannot be imposed by force. This is better explained by Sharia expert Adullahi Ahmed who states that: “Enforcing the sharia through sheer coercion dismantles its religious essence.”[2]

Muslim law protects and safeguards some of the most integral and important aspects of a state or a country and showers a very beneficial impact upon Islamic society. Among them, one is the protection and preservation of the rights and social life of the people of the country. Even the relationship of spouses, which has defined to be a ‘mutual’ relationship, where both have rights and duties regarding the other, has been soaked in the jurisprudence of Muslim law. The Federal Shariat Court has held that “the marriage is not a contract only but a method to legalize the cohabitation of a man and woman and issues out of this union are legitimate .The parties after consenting it, are bound to respect it and live within the limits of Allah.”.[3]

Practices of those who aim to terrorize or harm people are not condoned by Sharia Law. In fact it provides injunctions with severe punishments and moral condemnation for such practices. While it is understood that this is a debate which will requires much more time and argumentation, it is imperative to state here that Muslim law does not suppress women or individual freedom. It is meant to create a just and peaceful society where all, especially women, have rights which are required to be respected and upheld.

Muslim law has influenced laws on issues pertinent to Pakistan. Dower, is one such issue and the case of Shah Bano vs. Ifthikar[4] dealt with its intricacies using references from Muslim law. Not only does Muslim law supplement social issues, it also deals with legal issues comprehensively. It protects the the norms and customs which are congruent to the corresponding injunctions of Islam and lays down law regarding the common aspects of life such as marriage, contracts, commercial transactions, transfer and protection of property and the reprimand for criminal behavior.

Above all, the positive effect of Muslim law upon the condition of the state is that these laws impose taxes upon the citizens which boast the economy of the country and every Muslim who is financially able is obligated to mandatory charity, annually. This can be utilized by the state wherever it sees fit. Strict punishments by Islam for committing crimes such as theft, rape, murder are not only likely to result in lower crime rate but also stress upon the importance attached to the rights violated by the respective crime.

It is therefore argued that Sharia Law is not the anathema it is perceived by many today to be. It is a system which tries to allow for the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and adherents of other religions, under the umbrella of justice.

[1]  PLD 1981 Lah. 520

[2] Islam And Secular State, pg 165

[3] PLD 1982 Federal Shariat Court 52

[4] PLD 1966 (WP) kar 363