# 7
SHARI’A
Mondays, 1:00 P.M.                                     Winter 2012, 14 Weeks
Coordinator: Jerry Mehlman                                     Co-coordinator: Bud Shapiro

Course Description

          Shari’a is described by Moslem scholars as the “Divine Law” - “A religion of peace, love and tolerance” - A way to a life of goodness.
By virtue of accepting it, a person becomes a Moslem. It has survived for nearly 1500 years and is the cornerstone of a religion practiced by almost a billion and half people.  
And, as God’s law in its fundamental form – if followed, it represents the path to Allah’s Garden in heaven.  

          By the 14th century Shari’a became essentially immutable. Mohammad was the last Prophet, and with his passing, there could be no further divine revelation. 
Whereas in Western systems of law – law is molded by society; the opposite is the case with Shari’a.  Moslem society must conform to its rules. 
This rigidity or stagnation, in the view of some modern commentators, has held back Moslem societies. 

          Today, Shari’s is undergoing a renewal of sorts in the Moslem world.  Islamic political parties are gaining adherents in the tumult of the Arab Spring,
and even in countries unaffected by these upheavals, there are popular movements urging a return to classical Shari’a.

          As a practical matter, only on some matters of personal status (marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption) do some majority-Muslin nations
retain Shari’s-based laws, and these differ widely.  Shari’a and Jewish Rabbinical Law are very similar.  So it cannot be considered entirely out of the mainstream of Western law and social conduct.

                   In the United States, we remain conflicted and confused about Shari’a.  22 states have introduced laws outlawing it. It has passed in two,
and Oklahoma has outlawed it by ballot. Tea Partiers in Iowa require Republican Presidential candidates to take an oath against Shari’a.  
Is this reaction because of the terrorist attacks of “9/11”, or is there something fundamentally antithetical about Shari’a to our way of life? 

So what is it about Shari’a that has contributed to Islamophobia; and cause U.S. diplomats to be concerned about it in the advent of the Arab Spring? 
Does Shari’a support Jihad?  Is Shari’a an obstacle to democracy?  Is it Sharia’s view of women and women’s rights that is the problem? 
Just what is this Shari’a and why are so many Westerners disturbed by it and concerned about its potential revival in Arab countries? 
Weekly topics
I.    Overview of Islam - Past and Present; The Different Moslem Sects and Practices; The Many Faces of Shari’a and Islamic Law.        
2.  The First Centuries of Islam –The Seventh thru the Ninth Centuries A.D.                                                                                
3.  The Father of Muslim Jurisprudence – Ibn-Idris Al-Shafti (767 A.D. – 820 A.D.), and The Classical Theory of Islamic Law.   
4.  Evolution of Shari’a Beginning in the 19th Century.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
5. Feminism in Islam:  Women’s rights Under Shari’a– Status,  Marriage,  Divorce, Child Custody, Inheritance, Property Rights and Veiling.  
6,   Domestic Violence Against Women, Honor Killings, Illicit Sex.  
7.  A Twenty-first Century Look at Wahhabism and its Fundamentalist View of Shari’a. 
8.  Contract Law And Finance.
9.  Crimes and Hudud Punishments.
10.  Muslim Sexual Ethics: Homosexuality, Lesbianism, Same- sex Marriage       
11   Shari’a in Non-Arab Moslem Countries and Countries in which Moslems are a Minority .
12.  Modernity and Shari’a Law
13.  Shari’a in the United States and Islamophobia.
14.  Whither Shari’a?
Bibliography
Core Book:      H.J. Coulson, A History of Islamic La”,1964, Edinburgh University Press
Supplemental Material:
Joseph Schacht, An Introduction To Islamic Law, Oxford University Press,            (1984)
            “The Qur’an”
Pre-Meeting:  Monday, December 12, 1:00 P.M.