The Greatness of Sharia Laws in Comparison to Others - Essay Example

In this sense, the word is closely associated with fi?h which signifies academic discussion of divine law.” The moral concept of Sharia laws is based on the premise that the rights of God’s creation cannot be violated. Human rights, if violated, must be compensated by laws. The greatness of Sharia lies in the fact that it is based on a well-defined concept of human rights. Violation of the rights of God (Haq-al-Allah) may be forgiven. But violation of human right cannot be forgiven until it is forgiven by the one whose rights have been violated.

There is another greatness of this law that everyone, either rich or poor, is subjected to this law equally, as the Quran says, “You who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor” (An-Nisa, verse 135). This moral basis of Sharia evolves from the view that everyone is equal in the eye of God. Sharia deals almost all aspects such as religiosity, sexuality, diet, prayer, hygiene, crime, economics, politics and innumerous others, of a man’s, particularly a Muslim’s, personal and communal life. . But man-made laws cannot do this.

When the legal system of a western country sentences a murderer to death, such legal system does not advocate for any code of manner which can keep a man away from crimes like murder. Again Sharia is free of many contradictions that other man-made laws hold in their hearts. One of such contradiction is: when the European countries do not permit death penalty, death penalty is permissible in the United States. Again there are a number of countries that assign their presidents with the power to indemnify a criminal who has already been convicted in the court.

When the sole intention of law is to protect people’s right, such presidential power, in the very first place, can easily violates human rights. Also this dual application of law appears to be not only self-contradictory but also discriminative. Sharia does not permit such discrimination in the application of law. Prophet Muhammad’s rule, in the Islamic State of Medina, was free of such discrimination. Once, a woman, a close relative of Muhammad, was convicted of the guilt of theft and she was punished according to Sharia.

Referring to indiscriminative approach of Sharia, the prophet says, “The people before you were destroyed because they used to inflict the legal punishments on the poor and forgive the rich. By Him in Whose Hand my soul is! If Fatima (the daughter of the Prophet) did that (i.e. stole), I would cut off her hand.” (Bukhari Vol 8, Book 81, Number 778) Again Caliph Omar, a prominent ruler of Arab during the early 8th century, himself punished his son Abu Sammah to death for accosting –probably raping- a Jewish woman.

(Kadri, 2011:89) The difference between Sharia and other laws is that when other laws offer only punishment, Sharia provides