Week 5: Sharia Flashcards
Translate ‘Sharia’
The path to water, the path layed by God, Islamic Law
What are the 2 main sources of Sharia
- Quran
- Sunnah
What 5 aspects of life does Sharia cover?
- Religious observances
- Transactions and contracts
- Behaviour
- Belief
- Punishment
Translate ‘ijtihad’ and its place in the heirarchy of Sharia. How does ‘ijtihad’ relate to ‘mujtahid’
- Quran
- Sunnah
- Ijtihad: Exercising one’s own judgement
A mujtahid is someone who practices ijtihad
Translate ‘qiyas’
Reason by analogy (can’t drink beer because of its similarities to wine)
Translate ‘maslaha’
Preservation of the law’s 5 objectives
What are the 5 maslaha?
- Religion
- Life
- Intellect
- Progeny
- Property
What are the 3 exceptions of maslaha?
- Preservation of the maslaha
- Universal concern
- Absolute certainty
Wht are Al-Ghazali’s 3 arguments for the Sinking Ship thought experiment?
- Necessity: Can’t preserve life without taking life
- Universality: Does not affect all people
- Certainty: Outcome is not clear
Translate ‘figh’
Understanding of how Sharia applies to everday life
Translate ‘fatwa’ and ‘mufti’
Fatwa: Formal legal opinion
Mufti: Someone who formulates fatwa
At what jurisdectional scales does Sharia apply?
Muslim-majority nations apply Sharia at varying jurisdictional scales from the state to the family. For the most part, Sharia tends to only apply to personal matters
Translate ‘ijma’
Consenus among a Muslim community or Muslim scholars
Translate ‘hudud’
Limits or restrictions. Includes punishments for serious crimes as dictated by Sharia
Explain corporal punishment in Sharia
Corporal punishment is common in Sharia (lashes, amputations, etc) but some scholars suggest that such punishment could be an example of the deterrent model
