Islamic law (shari’a) is:
. . . an all-embracing body of religious duties, the totality of Allah’s commands that regulate the life of every Muslim in all its aspects; it comprises on an equal footing ordinances regarding worship and ritual, as well as political and (in the narrow sense) legal rules.”[1]
It consists of the express injunctions of the Qu’ran, the practice of the Prophet (sunnah)and the opinions of jurists.
Within Islam there are a number of schools of law with different interpretations of aspects of the law and within and between those schools there can be different ways of interpreting the basic texts. However there are a number of fundamentals common to most or all schools.
In nearly all Muslim countries, areas such as criminal, civil, commercial and labour law have been codified. In many but not all Muslim countries family law has either been codified and / or legislative amendments or reforms have been made to the ‘classical’ Islamic law.
[1]Joseph Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law (Oxford University Press, 1964), p. 1
Andrew Allen QC 