Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

 

Examining the situation is actually more difficult and complicated than most of these Islamic institutions imagine and there are other factors that should be overcome before applying the Sharī‘ah. Studying history, except from the period during the life of the Prophet Muhammad, shows that applying the Sharī‘ah was done according to the ijtihāds of Muslim scholars and it was never converted to law.

 

History also shows that some of the Khalīfahs thought of converting the sharī‘ah into a law. For example, ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz started to document the sunnah for fear of losing the sources. He also wanted to unify the people’s ijtihāds and the law. This shows that ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz wanted to make the Sharī‘ah a law for people to follow. However, he died before he completed his project.

 

Dr. Radwān al-Sayyid comments that “applying the Islamic Sharī‘ah leads to results that contradict with its aims. It requires documenting fiqh in the form of rules and regulations. This, in return, minimizes the importance of sharī‘ah and its social role.” He added that this step provides the state with more authority in the form of controlling laws.