Islamic Law

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 measur

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ed legal scholars and jurists that what earlier scholars and jurists generally agreed upon should not lightly be tossed aside. "Consensus," is, of course, a tricky concept. Does the standard of consensus require absolute unanimity (and if so, how is this to be determined)? Does it mean a consensus of all Muslims, or simply of those most likely to have an informed view of the subject (i.e., scholars). The natural tendency of the scholars was to choose the latter, not simply out of a sort of professional bias, but because only the scholars' view was likely to be available for reference at a later date. Thus, in the words of one medieval expert, alGhaffari, the basis of ijma was the agreement of independent scholars of Muhammad's Community in a particular period upon a legal decision. (Hourani, 1965: 17) Different schools of Muslim thinkers and legal scholars had varying views about which hadith reports should be regarded as valid, and about which sort of consensus, when and by whom, should be properly regarded as a legitimate basis for ijma. First of all, we must distinguish between the Sunni majority of Muslims and the Shi'a minority. This distinction, though it
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Approximate Word count = 4150
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)

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