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Islamic Law

Islamic Law in Theory and History

In the eyes of the general public in the Western world, "Islamic law" is virtually synonymous with certain "canonical" punishments, punishments which (in liberal Western eyes) are harsh, backwards, even barbaric: floggings, severing of hands, beheadings, the stoning to death of adultresses. Ironically, it is precisely the reaction of Western sensibilities to these punishments which, perhaps, most recommends them to cynical politicians in the Muslim world.

The outrage of Western reporters or humanrights activists elevates the infliction of these punishments into a form of defiance of Western dominance. The rigorous punishment of sexual misconduct in particular (ranging from adultery to the wearing of revealing clothing by women) is a convenient way to score political points with a lowermiddleclass to poor urban population which is not only offended in moral terms by these things, but which associates them socially with the nightclub culture of the Westernized rich and their foreign friends. Finally (as can be seen in American society as well), harsh punishments are a cheap and convenient "law and order" measure for politicians who cannot or will not take effective measures to reduce rates in crowded, anonymous cities.

A politician can thus proclaim his intention of imposing "Islamic law" on a country, and carry out a few heavily publicized canonical punishments, while taking few if any measures to actually establish Islamic legal principles in any broader way, in the conduct of trials and the standards of testimony, much less in the general realm of family and commercial law  which, much more than criminal law  is central to the concepts and tradition of Islamic jurisprudence.

Therefore, before turning to examine the real or feigned application of Islamic principles to penology in presentday Muslim countries, it is important to outline some of t...

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Islamic Law. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 18:54, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1705789.html