Sharia Law, Part 1 – Scope and Provisions

Books of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamaah, Author Bakkouz at Arabic Wikipedia (PD)

WARNING:  Graphic Images

Sharia law is the legal system of Islam based on the Quran, Hadith (oral tradition as to the actions of the Prophet Muhammad and his close circle), and Sunnah (the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad) [1A][2][3][4].

It consists of a series of duties considered God’s command to Muslims, serving as a guide for conduct in this world and divine favor in the next.

Scope

Sharia is broader than Western systems of law.  It governs public behavior, private behavior, and private beliefs.  Sharia law cannot be altered, but is variously interpreted by Islamic jurists (muftis).  Ritual practices like daily prayers, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage are integral.

Provisions

Sharia prioritizes punishment over rehabilitation, and is extremely restrictive of women.  Some of its provisions are, as follows:

A. Forced Conversion

Sharia law instructs Muslims to fight unbelievers until they are either dead, converted to Islam, or in a permanent state of subjugation [14A].

Suras 9 and 5 of the Quran are the last major chapters the Prophet Muhammad narrated, therefore, overrule what came before, including the often quoted verse “There is no compulsion in religion…” (Quran 2:256) [14B].

“Say to those who have disbelieved, if they cease [from disbelief] their past will be forgiven… And fight them until there is no more Fitnah [disbelief and polytheism, i.e. worship of others besides Allah] and the religion [worship] will all be for Allah Alone [in the whole of the world ]”(Quran 8:38-39)[14C].

“Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, [even if they are] of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued”(Quran 9:29)[14D].

“…kill the infidels wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush.  But if they should repent, establish prayer, and pay tribute tax, let them [go] on their way” (Quran 9:5)[5B][14E].

B. Death Penalty

• Criticizing or denying Allah is punishable by death (Quran 6:39)[1B][8A].
• Criticizing the Prophet Muhammad or denying that he is a prophet is punishable by death (Quran 33:57 and 33:61; Sahih Bukhari 59:369, 3:106, and 4:241; Sahih Muslim 1801)[1C][8B].
• Criticizing or denying any part of the Quran is punishable by death [1D][27A].
• Apostacy is punishable by death [1E][16A][27B].
• A non-Muslim who leads a Muslim away from Islam is to be put to death [1F].
• A non-Muslim man who marries a Muslim woman is to be put to death [1G].
• A woman or girl found guilty of adultery is to be put to death [1H][16B].
• A woman or girl who alleges rape without producing 4 male witnesses is guilty of adultery, and is to be put to death [1I].
• Homosexuality is punishable by death, but the sodomy of boys has been culturally acceptable (Quran 52:24)[1J][6A][15][18][19][23][24][25][26][29].

C. Amputation

• Theft by one Muslim from another is punishable by amputation of the hands (Quran 5:38) [1K]. Pillaging of non-Muslims is permissible (Quran 8:69, 48:20) [12].  Property rights for non-Muslims exist only at the discretion of Muslim rulers.

Other punishments include flogging and stoning [16C].

D. FGM (Clitorectomy) and Rape

• Some form of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), up to and including clitorectomy, is either recommended or required by all classical Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence, generally approved by Shi’i jurists, and obligatory in the Shafi’i school  (Book 41, Kitab Al-Adab, Hadith 5251) [1L][6C][20][28].  The term “female circumcision” fails to acknowledge the severe health risks, and human rights violations involved [32][33].
• Muslim men have sexual rights to any woman/girl not wearing a Hijab [1M]. Taharrush Gamea is the coordinated seхual assault of a girl or a woman in public by a mass of Muslim men [7].  This was illustrated by the mass sexual assaults against female protesters in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt in January 2011, November 2012, January 2013, and June 2013 [30][31].
• A woman or girl who has been raped cannot testify in court against her rapist(s) [1N].
• Testimonies of 4 male witnesses are required to prove rape of a female (Quran 24:13) [1O].
• A male convicted of rape can have his conviction dismissed by marrying his victim [1P].

E.  Marriage and Divorce

• Girls can be contracted in marriage even as infants [6B][17][21][22].
• A woman can have 1 husband (Quran 4:3)[1Q][13A]. A man can have up to 4 wives; the Prophet Muhammad can have more [1R].
• A woman cannot speak alone to a man who is not her husband or relative [1S].
• A man can beat his wife for insubordination (Quran 4:34 and 38:44; Sahih Bukhari 72:715 and 82:828; Sahih Muslim 4:2127 and 9:3506; Abu Dawud 2141 and 2142) [1T][9].
• A man can unilaterally divorce his wife; a wife needs her husband’s consent to divorce (Sahih Muslim 9:3493)[1U][11].
• A divorced wife loses custody of all children over 6 years of age, and all younger children when they exceed that age [1V]. Others interpret this as all male children at 7 years of age; all female children at 9 years of age (considered the age of puberty) [21].

F. Credibility and Inheritance

• Muslims should engage in Taqiyya, concealing their faith and lying to non-Muslims to advance Islam (Quran 3:28, 9:3, 40:28, and 3:54)[1W][10].
• A woman’s testimony in court (allowed in property cases) carries half the weight of a man’s (Quran 2:282) [1X][13B].
• A female heir inherits half of what a male heir inherits (Quran 4:11)[1Y][13C].

All this is vastly different from Christianity.

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[1A through 1Y]  Billion Bibles, “Sharia Law”, https://www.billionbibles.org/sharia/sharia-law.html.

[2]  Encyclopedia Britannica, “Sharia”, https://www.britannica.com/topic/sharia.

[3]  Wikipedia, “Hadith”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith.

[4]  Wikipedia, “Sunnah”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnah.

[5A and 5B]  Billion Bibles, “There Is No Compulsion in Religion”, https://www.billionbibles.org/sharia/no-compulsion-in-religion.html.

[6A. 6B, and 6C]  Billion Bibles, “Islam and Sex”, https://www.billionbibles.org/sharia/islam-and-sex.html.

[7]  Billion Bibles, “Taharrush”, https://www.billionbibles.org/sharia/taharrush.html.

[8A and 8B]  Islam:  The Politically Incorrect Truth, “What Does Islam Teach about Killing Critics”, https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/insulters-islam.aspx.

[9]  Islam:  The Politically Incorrect Truth, “What Does Islam Teach about Wife-Beating”, https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/wife-beating.aspx.

[10]  Islam:  The Politically Incorrect Truth, “What Does Islam Teach about Lying”, https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/taqiyya.aspx.

[11]  Islam:  The Politically Incorrect Truth, “What Does Islam Teach about Divorce”, https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/triple-talaq.aspx.

[12]  Islam:  The Politically Incorrect Truth, “What Does Islam Teach about Stealing”, https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/stealing.aspx.

[13A , 13B, and 13C]  Islam:  The Politically Incorrect Truth, “What Does Islam Teach about a Woman’s Worth”, https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/women-worth-less.aspx.

[14A through 14E]  Islam:  The Politically Incorrect Truth, “What Does Islam Teach about Forced Conversion”, https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/forced-conversion.aspx.

[15]  Islam Question & Answer, “The Punishment for Homosexuality”, https://islamqa.info/en/answers/38622/the-punishment-for-homosexuality.

[16A, 16B, and 16C]  Law Shun, “Sharia Law Punishments:  Understanding the Strict Islamic Religious Law” by Cameron Miranda, 2/7/25, https://lawshun.com/article/what-are-the-punishments-for-breaking-sharia-law.

[17]  WikiIslam, “Child Marriage in the Muslim World”, https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Child_Marriage_in_the_Muslim_World.

[18]  Oxford Academic, “Forbidden Love in Istanbul:  Patterns of Male-Male Sexual Relations in the Early Modern Mediterranean World” by Noel Malcom, November 2022, https://academic.oup.com/past/article/257/1/55/6524598.

[19]  Gender in Geopolitics Institute (GGI), “Homosexuality and Gender Relations in the Arab-Muslim World” by Zineb Khelif, 7/19/23, https://igg-geo.org/en/2023/07/19/homosexuality-and-gender-relations-in-the-arab-muslim-world/.

[20]  Islam Question & Answer, “Is Clitoral Removal in Female Genital Mutiliation Allowed in Islam?” by Shaykh Ebrahim Salejee, https://islamqa.org/hanafi/muftionline/105730/is-clitoral-removal-in-female-genital-mutilation-allowed-in-islam/.

[21]  Islam Question & Answer, “Child Custody After Divorce” by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Adam, https://islamqa.org/hanafi/daruliftaa/7720/child-custody-after-divorce/.

[22]  About Islam, “Why Does Islam Allow Marriage at an Early Age?” by Sadaf Farooqi, 10/25/16, https://aboutislam.net/counseling/ask-about-islam/why-is-child-marriage-allowed-in-islam/.

[23]  Billion Bibles, “Islam and Sex”, https://www.billionbibles.org/sharia/islam-and-sex.html.

[24]  WikiIslam, “Islam and Homosexuality”, https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Islam_and_Homosexuality.

[25]  Wikipedia, “Capital punishment for homosexuality”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_for_homosexuality.

[26]  Islam Question & Answer, “The Punishment for Homosexuality”, https://islamqa.info/en/answers/38622/the-punishment-for-homosexuality.

[27A and 27B]  IslamWeb, “Fatwa:  Disrespecting the Qur’an”, https://islamweb.net/en/fatwa/82417/disrespecting-the-quran.

[28]  WikiIslam, “Qur’an, Hadith, and Scholars:  Female Genital Mutilation”, https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Qur%27an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Female_Genital_Mutilation.

[29]  US Commission on International Religious Freedom, “Shari’a and LGBTI Persons”, March 2021, https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2021-03/2021%20Factsheet%20-%20Sharia%20and%20LGBTI.pdf.

[30]  Wikipedia, “Mass sexual assault in Egypt”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_sexual_assault_in_Egypt.

[31]  PBS, “Tahrir Square”, 3/25/19, https://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/video/tahrir-square-gv72gr/.

[32]  FGM/C Research Initiative, “Is FGM/C the same as female circumcision?”, https://www.fgmcri.org/faqs/is-fgmc-the-same-as-female-circumcision/.

[33]  Human Rights Watch, “Q&A on Female Genital Mutilation”, https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/06/16/qa-female-genital-mutilation.

The legal status of Sharia will be addressed in Part 2 of this series

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