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142 CHAPTER 7 The Workings of the Sharī`a The Sharī`a portrays itself as universal and egalitarian. According to all Muslims, God is the judge of all humanity and the source of the Sharī`a. Because God is, by definition, good, then the products of divine creation are also good. The Sharī`a is therefore considered by Muslims to be an absolutely ethical system, and as such is considered a system of ethics as well as law. Working out that system by the jurists through fiqh is a human endeavor. According to some on the more progressive or liberal end of the spectrum, this system may not always reflect the perfection and goodness of God. But according to the traditionalists, it most certainly does. The Five Categories of Behavior One of the ways in which the ethical nature of the system is articulated is in the categorizing of behaviors by the schools of law. Modern legal systems usually classify behaviors in three categories: required, forbidden, or neutral. In Islam, five categories are provided to evaluate and legislate human acts. These are called “the Five Norms” (or categories). The terminology varies somewhat, but the categories are consistent. . Required acts: obligatory duties whose performance is rewarded and omission punished. Examples include ritual requirements such as prayer and fasting, and requirements that have both religious and civic aspects, such as the giving of alms and providing a 143 C H A P T E R S E V E N T E E N minimum bridal gift. Some acts in this category are further broken down into those required of the community as a whole but not of every single member, or those incumbent on each individual. 2. Recommended acts: behaviors or even duties that are expected but not required. Performance of such acts is rewarded, but omission is not punished. Examples of these include certain nonobligatory prayers, visiting Medina after the Hajj to Mecca, or keeping inheritance within the family rather than allowing it to be directed to nonfamily members. 3. Permissible acts: acts whose performance or mission is neither rewarded nor punished. 4. Disapproved or not recommended acts: acts that are censured but not forbidden (there are significant differences of opinion regarding these, but one example is divorcing one’s wife unilaterally and against her will, which is considered by most to be reprehensible but not actually forbidden). 5. Forbidden acts: acts punishable for their commission. Examples of these are stealing, consuming alcohol, lending on interest, murder, and so on. The ethical nature of this system is evident from the fivefold nature of the categorization. Modern legal systems generally omit the two categories that we might call “judgment calls” and content themselves with what is absolutely forbidden and absolutely required, allowing all other behaviors to exist in a neutral category to which no moral judgment is implied. In the Islamic system, problematic behaviors that could not be fairly forbidden are nevertheless condemned, and behaviors that cannot be required but are of benefit are strongly encouraged. This might be considered by some to be an encroachment on individual freedoms, but it also provides ethical guidance that is generally beyond the bounds of modern legal systems. A parallel to the fivefold taxonomy may be found in Jewish law as well as Islamic law, though in less developed form. The categories and their terminology as found in Rabbinic literature are: . Required—h .ayyav 2. Recommended—meshubbah . 3. Neutral—muttar (lit. “permitted”) 4. Condemned—megunneh 5. Forbidden—asur A second parallel between the Sharī`a and the halakhah is the division between duties to God and duties to other people. The former category treats 144 A N I N T R O D U C T I O N T O I S L A M F O R J E W S ritual observance, and the latter category, social transactions. The quintessential requirements of the first category are laid out in the “Five Pillars of Islam,” which treats prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage. The second category officially treats civil and criminal law, commercial law, and family law. Sharī`a Family Law Family Law is one category of human relations that has always remained under the jurisdiction of Sharī`a courts. It worked out family relations and responsibilities in response to the needs of the community during the early centuries, so it is reflective of a worldview that in many ways finds more parallels with traditional Jewish law and customs than with modern secular...

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