Shari'a and the Modern World

Circle - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - April 2012 - 1hour 14mins 48secs


In this circle the Sheikh tackles the fraught topic of Shari'a and what form and role it has taken and might take in the contemporary context. A number of notable contrasts are pointed out in comparing religious law, which is the only credible legal system that can claim to be associated with Universals, with post-Enlightenment codes. Shari'a is thus described as a both a celebration of peoples' innate rights that can't be transgressed, but also as means of ennobling one's self through the promulgation of virtues and dignity. Thereby the religious law protects others as well as ourselves from ourselves, respecting the rights of God and His servants, ideally and in reality facilitating an atmosphere of serenity and repose. This contrasts sharply with modern civilisation's championing of the virtues of individualism whilst also being the most tightly regulated and legislated age in history; the cracks in the system are being all too evident to see. 


The second part of the circle includes an informative sketching out of different forms of law; statutory, case-based and juristic law, the latter representing the classical Islamic model. The Sheikh outlines how Islamic society traditionally had minimal interference from the state, with the qadi and mufti regulating law at a local, personal level. This system started to change in the 19th century following Ottoman changes to the statutory system, as well as Colonial interventions in other Muslim lands. The question that the circle then examines is in the modern 'Arab Spring' era, can contemporary attempts at establishing a religious law be credibly considered as such, when they are rooted in the post-colonial nation-state with all that this involves, in contrast to the system of shari'a that had operated for many centuries previously?

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Outward Compassion, Inward Rigour

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - 16 June 2005 - Cambridge - 1 hr 35 mins 56 secs

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In this talk, the sheikh discusses the role of the shari'a and the ulema in our age. We are closer now to the time when, in the words of the well-known hadith, a person who does one-tenth of what is prescribed will be saved. It is an age when we fear that being too demanding in our religion will drive people away from it, yet without steadfastness and scrupulousness we risk being swamped by the demands and temptations of modernity. The sheikh discusses how people of genuine knowledge resolves this tension by being gentle and compassionate with others and helping them see the Mercy of Allah, glorified and exalted is He; but at the same time themselves practising and worshipping with rigour and discipline. In this of course, they have the supreme example in the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who was a mercy to the worlds and in his daily life the most generous and hospitable of men; but who in his own behaviour and worship was the most ascetic and self-denying. Sadly many people today act in the opposite away, and so by ostensibly (and often ostentatiously) calling people toward good they actually subvert the real role of religion in people's lives. In the second half of the talk, the sheikh discusses the life and work of Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, who notably embodied the wisdom of being attuned to the needs of the age. Born in Baghdad in 736 AH (1335 CE), he lived in a society still traumatised by the aftermath of the Crusades and even more so by the Mongol invasions. He exemplified the work of the real ulema whose teaching and preaching was a source of healing and comfort to those around him. May Allah reward him and protect the people of knowledge who live among us today.

Please don't be put off by the faint sounds in the background coming from another room (including apparently a choir practice!). Such is life in Cambridge!

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Purpose of the Sacred Law

Talk by Sheikh Jihad Hashim Brown - Cambridge - 2 March 2009 - 1 hr 34 mins 45 secs

Earlier this month, Cambridge benefited from the visit of Sheikh Jihad Hashim Brown, the well-known scholar and speaker, currently acting as Director of Research at the Tabah Foundation in Abu Dhabi. In this talk, he considers the ethical purposes of the shari'a (Islamic law) and how by connecting with its fundamental meanings and rich heritage we can act to help ourselves and those around us. As he reminds us at one point by relating a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), 'God does not cease to assist His slave as long as His slave does not cease to assist his brother'. In a rich and thought-provoking talk - as you would expect from someone in regular contact with some of the wisest scholars of our time, such as Mufti 'Ali Juma'a and Sheikh 'Abd Allah b. Bayyah - the sheikh discusses how the dynamic and profound techniques of the shari'a can be used to address the problems of the modern world and bring it back into harmonious submission to the order of creation. It is well-known that the root meaning of shari'a is 'a path to water', a route back to the substance of life. The sheikh reminds us, however, of the necessity of uncovering this water of the Divine Guidance through istinbat (to open up or tap a source of water, as in digging a well). Only through active engagement with the tools of our tradition can we use them to address the questions around us today and thereby promote its fundamental aims for humanity.

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Limits of the Law

Friday sermon (jum'ah khutba) by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 13 March 2009 - 23 mins 27 secs

In this sermon, the sheikh relates a hadith (saying) of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in which he divided actions into the compulsory, the forbidden, and things about which God has been silent out of mercy for mankind. At first, this idea seems confusing or troubling: why would God leave some things out of the guidance He has established? The sheikh goes on to explain this by examining the relationship between the boundaries and signposts provided by God through the shari'a on the one hand, and on the other the human conscience - called in another hadith 'God's preacher' (wa'iz Allah). Through the dynamic of this relationship, we can see the importance of understanding the fundamental purpose of the law we follow. Further, we can appreciate another dimension of God's Mercy in establishing His law in such a way that it facilitates that understanding.

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A Common Law?

Law in Action - Sharia and England: a common law? - BBC Radio 4 - 23 September 2008 - 28 mins 56 secs

In his recent book, England: An Elegy, the philosopher Roger Scruton described a fundamental characteristic of the English common law: it treats law as something to be discovered rather than made; it views justice as an independent reality that the courts attempt to approach, not the application of arbitrary rules.

On the face of it, this suggests an interesting parallel with Islamic law (shari'a), which similarly tries to apply its judgements according to ideal justice. The difference, of course, is that it explicitly locates that origin of that justice in the Divine.

But could there be more to this parallel than just coincidence? Are there any historical links between the two? The answer is a tantalising, 'Maybe'. A recent programme on the BBC considers the evidence that the development of common law in the 13th century CE was related to England's contact with the Muslim world.

It's a fascinating argument, even if ultimately inconclusive.

If you have access to a library or database that holds it, you can read more about the scholarly work on this in an article by Prof. John Makdisi, 'The Islamic Origins of Common Law', North Carolina Law Review 77 (1998), p. 1635ff.

Unfortunately this programme is no longer available through BBC Podcasts, but you can still read about it through the link below.

Read 'Is English law related to Muslim law?' on BBC News