Shari’a can broadly be divided into two parts – Personal and Legislative. Personal shari’a refers to rules of faith practice as mandated in the Qur’an. It includes the individual’s behavior, morality, manners, worship, character, etc. The Qur’an furnishes an essential framework of beliefs, duties, obligations, exhortations and sanctions along with broad principles and leaves considerable room for developing details by the people to safeguard against restrictive rigidity.[1] Legislative sahri’a by comparison, is the human effort to develop a Qur’an compliant system of legislation; this was developed in the eighth and ninth century by the Abbasid Caliphate. A full understanding of legislative shari’a and its historical evolution is critical because radical Muslim groups demand its implementation to usher in the Islamic system of governance. It is important to highlight that the radicals’ ultimate objective is the establishment of a [mythical] Islamic State to be ruled by a Caliph under shari’a.
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[1] “Oh ye who believe, do not keep asking about things which, if they were expounded to you, would become troublesome for you … Allah has left them out. Allah is most Forgiving, Forbearing. A people before you made such demands, and when they received directions they repudiated them” (Qur’an Ch 5, v 102-3).