What Is Sharia? | Andrew March

CC: 🇺🇸 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪
What is Sharia? Watch Andrew March, Associate Prof. of Political Science at UMass Amherst, explain everything you always wanted to know about Sharia but were afraid to ask.

Subtitles/CC: 🇺🇸 English | 🇪🇸 ¿Qué es la Sharia? | 🇫🇷 Qu'est-ce que la charia ? | 🇩🇪 Was ist Scharia?

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Script:
Sharia as a Path to God
Andrew F. March

For many of us in America, “Sharia” is a household word, familiar from the media and political debates. But what is Sharia and how much do ordinary Americans really know about it? We may think of it as “Islamic law” but that doesn’t tell us very much if we know little about the Islamic tradition. I’m not a Muslim myself, but I am a scholar of Islamic law, and I often find myself introducing Sharia to college students whose only knowledge of Islam might come from news reports about distant and confusing events.

I tell them that for Muslims, Sharia means the “way” or “path” to God. I also explain that it’s broader than just law, and it refers to the very idea of God communicating with humans through revelation. This is why for Muslims, the Sharia includes God’s messages to previous prophets, from Noah to Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. This shouldn’t be a surprise—Muslims see God’s revelation to Muhammad as a continuation, and completion, of the message revealed to the earlier Jewish and Christian prophets.

But while the Sharia is not just law, it is law. It contains rules of behavior. But Muslim legal scholars of the past described the Sharia not so much as a codified rulebook, like our tax code, nor as merely a set of higher principles, like the idea of natural law, but as the ongoing search for God’s prescriptions for human action. Like the Mosaic law, the Sharia is the discovery of the rules that will allow believers us to obey God.

Muslims understand that these rules of Sharia reflect broader purposes and values. Scholars and theologians have traditionally said that the entire Sharia is designed to protect human welfare, which they define through 6 core universal interests: life, religion, reason, wealth, family and honor.

For example, the Sharia prohibits the consumption of alcohol. But scholars don’t just say that this is because God has forbidden it – but also because it is God’s will that humans protect and preserve their reason or intellect, which is necessary for making correct moral decisions.

The Sharia also prohibits sexual relations outside of marriage. This is not just because of divine decree, but because it preserves family bonds. At the same time, the Sharia prohibits false accusations of sexual immorality. This protects human dignity and honor, which are necessary for living a good life. So the Sharia should first be understood by its goals and values before its rules.

What then are those rules? And if they are not codified, how are they known? Muslim jurists discovered these rules through 4 primary sources: the Quran, the words and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, the universal agreement about a matter by the Muslim community (or its scholars), and the careful use of analogy.

Law usually refers to the public sphere, but most of the Sharia’s rulings are about private spiritual practice, such as prayer, fasting, charity, and so on. And while rulings on social relations from marriage, divorce, sales, contracts, and inheritance remain a living part of the Sharia, their implementation in modern societies varies from country to country. Sometimes it is based purely on personal conviction—as in the case of American Muslims voluntarily giving to charity or following Islamic finance laws.

Importantly: Very few of the areas of behavior and social relations the Sharia governs have only a single rule on which all jurists agree. Scholars always accepted and recognized reasonable disagreement, because interpretation could rarely provide complete certainty about God’s intentions.

Yet this did not mean that anyone could just impose their own understanding of God’s law on others, especially through force. While the Sharia also encompasses certain rulings on civil procedure, aspects of crime and punishment, and even warfare, only public authorities could establish courts with the power to enforce Sharia rulings.

Today, this has changed in a number of ways. In nations where Muslims are minorities—such as the United States—Muslim scholars emphasize that the Sharia makes it obligatory for Muslims to follow the secular laws of the lands where they live.

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[AllaahuAkbarr]

I converted to Islam Alhamdulila after visiting Istanbul and OMAN

[lemanelemso]

don't forget that even USA has part of the sharia law, (military laws )
In 1935 the US Supreme Court honored the Prophet Muhammad as one of the Greatest Law Givers in the History of the World. Fact!

[communistinternationalco.]

Never thought I was gonna learn something about my own religion from a Non Muslim.

[Engwaheed]

Thank you for the video, There is a verse in the Quran if applied by the human kind, mostly 99% of financial court cases disappear. It is in Baqarh the second chapter in Quran, verse 188 :
And do not consume one another's wealth unjustly or send it [in bribery] to the rulers in order that [they might aid] you [to] consume a portion of the wealth of the people in sin, while you know [it is unlawful].

[dashohoxha]

Informative. I am a muslim and I didn't know most of these details.

[malikiclique]

To the one that did this video. As a Muslim I can say that u have understood very well Sharia law. God bless u. We hope u continue in your work

[waelliam]

Here is muslims guide to haven :
step 1 : believe in God his messengers, his angels and the judgement day
Step 2 : follow the 5 pillars of islam
Step 3 : just be a good person to the best of your ability

[saleemy-s-e]

Sharia also insure that non-muslims have their own rules and not forced to accept the Islamic rules.
That's why non-muslims accepted Arabs after the early Islamic conquests.

[communistinternationalco.]

4:59 The map is wrong. Bangladesh, Malaysia, Kosovo, Brunei, Albania, Bosnia and Harzegovina, Somalia and Nigeria is missing.

WE ARE MUSLIMS TOO!

[allaboutstupid]

Thanks it was a good explanation. Learn more about religions, and I am an atheist.

[ghadakhafagi]

I am a professional translator and would like to translate this video into Arabic. The translation option here is locked.

[aminenasseh]

The napoleonian code that is still in use nowadays, in France, was mostly based on the islamic malekite school of thought, which is one interpretation of the sharia law. Auguste le Compte mentioned it in his writings...

[eritreanyoung]

Thanks Sir great explain Ramadan Mubarak to All Muslim around the world from Eritrea 🇪🇷 Africa,

[davidc]

Outstanding what a great video Andrew. May God bless you and protect you and continue with your work.

[DrRiq]

Amazing. This is so well explained. Ramadan Mubarak to all those observing!

[lionheart]

I am a muslim my whole life but I wasn't that clear until I saw this beautiful and clear explanation by this highly talented orator person. Thank you and God Allah bless you.

[andylee]

im a catholic and learning about other's religion is very intersting

[ashikajaffar]

May God reward you all in this channel for taking the effort to propagate truth and protect the community of Muslims. My sincere prayers for all of you, so impressed by your genuine kindness

[hishamalaker]

It's funny how Americans like to debate on things, that they have zero knowledge of.

[ummuhajar]

Andrew, I appreciate you taking the time to create this video.