Sharia law

Subject – Governance

Context – Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan will see the re-imposition of Sharia law, which will restrict women’s rights.

Concept –

Sharia in Arabic means “the way,” and does not refer to a body of law. It’s a set of wide-ranging moral and broad ethical principles drawn from the Koran and the practices and sayings (hadith) of Prophet Muhammad.
It also draws from Ijma’a, the consensus of Muslim scholars, and Qiyas, reasoning through analogy.
Sharia acts as a code for living that all Muslims should adhere to, including prayers, fasting and donations to the poor. It aims to help Muslims understand how they should lead every aspect of their lives according to God’s wishes.
Sharia is not a book of statutes or judicial precedent imposed by a government, and it’s not a set of regulations adjudicated in court.
Sharia has been applied in varying degrees and with great diversity in practice — both by individual Muslims and predominantly Muslim countries. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran follow it much more closely.

What are crimes under Sharia?

Crimes fall into three categories under Sharia law:

Tazir offences are the least serious and are at the discretion of a judge.
Qisas crimes result in the offender being subjected to the exact same affliction as the victim.
Hudud are the most severe offences that are considered crimes against God.