1.4.4 The Shari’a: A Multifaceted Venture

In this introduction to The Shari’a: History, Ethics and Law (2018), editor Dr. Amyn Sajoo presents the shari’a as a “framework of ethical-legal guidance and governance” derived from scripture (4). He addresses prevalent contemporary misunderstandings of the ethical framework by both Muslims and non-Muslims, and considers how shari’a has been—and could be—applied to questions of behavior and governance today.
 
Guiding Questions:

  1. What are the three myths the author describes?
  2. Why does the author argue the shari’a is not a rigid code of conduct?
  3. Why does shari’a challenge the boundaries of secular modernity, which relegates religion to the private sphere, according to Ahdar and Aroney and Selby?

 

Text reprinted with permission from I.B. Tauris. If the PDF does not appear below, you may find it here.
Image: AKM288.2, A Market Square, Folio from a manuscript of the Ethics of Nasir (Akhlaq-i Nasiri), fol.80r. © The Aga Khan Museum. CC BY-NC 2.5 CA.

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