Application of Islamic law by country
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Since the early Islamic states of the eighth and ninth centuries,
Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
always existed alongside other
normative Normative generally means relating to an evaluative standard. Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A norm in ...
systems. Historically, sharia was interpreted by independent jurists (
mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...
s), based on Islamic scriptural sources and various legal methodologies. In the modern era, statutes inspired by European codes replaced traditional laws in most parts of the Muslim world, with classical sharia rules retained mainly in personal status (family) laws. These laws were codified by legislative bodies which sought to modernize them without abandoning their foundations in traditional jurisprudence. The
Islamic revival Islamic revival ( ar, تجديد'' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion. The revivers are known in Islam as ''mujaddids''. Within the Islamic tradition, ''tajdid'' has bee ...
of the late 20th century brought along calls by Islamist movements for full implementation of sharia, including ''
hudud ''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are ...
'' capital punishments, such as
stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. The Torah and Ta ...
, which in some cases resulted in traditionalist legal reform. Some countries with Muslim minorities use sharia-based laws to regulate marriage, inheritance and other personal affairs of their Muslim population.


Historical background

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
is a
religious law Religious law includes ethical and moral codes taught by religious traditions. Different religious systems hold sacred law in a greater or lesser degree of importance to their belief systems, with some being explicitly antinomian whereas othe ...
forming part of the
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic tradition. Traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence recognizes four sources of sharia: the Quran, ''
sunnah In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...
'' (authentic hadith), ''
qiyas In Islamic jurisprudence, qiyas ( ar, قياس , " analogy") is the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Quran, in order to apply a known injunction ('' nass'') to a ...
'' (analogical reasoning), and ''
ijma ''Ijmāʿ'' ( ar, إجماع , " consensus") is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard ''ijmā as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur' ...
'' (juridical consensus). John L. Esposito,
Natana J. DeLong-Bas Natana J. DeLong-Bas is an American academic, scholar of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, and author of a number of academic publications on Islam on the subjects of Saudi Arabia and Wahhabism, Islamic thought and history, Islam and politics, ...
(2001),
Women in Muslim family law
'', p. 2.
Syracuse University Press Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. History SUP was formed in August 1943 when president William P. Tolley pro ...
, . Quote: " .. by the ninth century, the classical theory of law fixed the sources of Sharia at four: the ''Quran'', the ''Sunnah'' of the Prophet, ''qiyas'' (analogical reasoning), and ''ijma'' (consensus)."
Different legal schools—of which the most prominent are
Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
,
Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as prima ...
,
Shafi'i The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
,
Hanbali The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools ('' madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanba ...
and Jafari (
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
)—developed methodologies for deriving sharia rulings from scriptural sources. Traditional jurisprudence (''
fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...
'') distinguishes two principal branches of law, '' ʿibādāt'' (rituals) and '' muʿāmalāt'' (social relations), which together comprise a wide range of topics. Thus, some areas of sharia overlap with the Western notion of law while others correspond more broadly to living life in accordance with God's will. Classical jurisprudence was elaborated by private religious scholars, largely through legal opinions (
fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist ...
s) issued by qualified jurists (
mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...
s). It was historically applied in sharia courts by ruler-appointed
judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...
, who dealt mainly with civil disputes and community affairs. Sultanic courts, the
police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...
and market inspectors administered criminal justice, which was influenced by sharia but not bound by its rules. Non-Muslim (
dhimmi ' ( ar, ذمي ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligatio ...
) communities had legal autonomy to adjudicate their internal affairs. Over the centuries, Sunni muftis were gradually incorporated into state bureaucracies, and fiqh was complemented by various economic, criminal and administrative laws issued by Muslim rulers. The Ottoman civil code of 1869–1876 was the first partial attempt to codify sharia. In the modern era, traditional laws in the Muslim world have been widely replaced by statutes inspired by European models. Judicial procedures and legal education were likewise brought in line with European practice. While the constitutions of most Muslim-majority states contain references to sharia, its classical rules were largely retained only in personal status (family) laws. Legislators who codified these laws sought to modernize them without abandoning their foundations in traditional jurisprudence. The
Islamic revival Islamic revival ( ar, تجديد'' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion. The revivers are known in Islam as ''mujaddids''. Within the Islamic tradition, ''tajdid'' has bee ...
of the late 20th century brought along calls by Islamist movements for full implementation of sharia, including ''
hudud ''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are ...
'' capital punishments, such as
stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. The Torah and Ta ...
. In some cases, this resulted in traditionalist legal reform, while other countries witnessed juridical reinterpretation of sharia advocated by progressive reformers. While ''hudud'' punishments hold symbolic importance for their proponents and have attracted international attention, in countries where they make part of the legal system, they have been used infrequently or not at all, and their application has varied depending on local political climate. Some Muslim-minority countries recognize the use of sharia-based family laws for their Muslim populations. The adoption and demand for sharia in the legal system of nations with significant Muslim-minorities is an active topic of international debate. Reintroducing sharia in Muslim-majority nations has been described as "a longstanding goal for Islamist movements", and attempts to introduce or expand sharia have been accompanied by controversy, violence, and even warfare.


Types of legal systems

The legal systems of Muslim countries may be grouped as: mixed systems, classical sharia systems, and secular systems.


Classical sharia systems

Under this system, shared by a small minority of modern countries, classical sharia is formally equated with national law and to a great extent provides its substance. The state has a ruler who functions as the highest judiciary and may promulgate and modify laws in some legal domains, but traditional religious scholars (''
ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
'') play a decisive role in interpreting sharia. The classical sharia system is exemplified by Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf states. Iran shares many of the same features, but also possesses characteristics of mixed legal systems, such as a parliament and codified laws.


Secular systems

Secular systems are those where sharia plays no role in the nation's legal system and religious interference in state affairs, politics, and law is not permitted. Turkey has been an example of a Muslim-majority nation with a secular system, although its secularism has recently come under intense pressure. Several states in West Africa and Central Asia also describe themselves as secular.


Mixed systems

Most Muslim countries have mixed legal systems that postulate a constitution and
Rule of Law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannic ...
, while also allowing rules of traditional Islamic jurisprudence to influence certain areas of national law. These systems possess large bodies of codified laws, which may be based on European or Indian codes. In these systems, the central legislative role is played by politicians and modern jurists rather than traditional religious scholars. Pakistan, Egypt, Malaysia, and Nigeria are examples of states having mixed systems. Some countries with Muslim minorities, such as Israel, also have mixed systems that administer Sharia for their Muslim population.


Domains of application


Constitutional law

Most Muslim-majority countries incorporate sharia at some level in their legal framework. Their constitutions commonly refer to sharia as a source or the main source of law, though these references are not in themselves indicative of how much the legal system is influenced by sharia, and whether the influence has a traditionalist or modernist character. The same constitutions usually also refer to universal principles such as democracy and human rights, leaving it up to legislators and the judiciary to work out how these norms are to be reconciled in practice. Conversely, some countries (e.g., Algeria), whose constitution does not mention sharia, possess sharia-based family laws. Nisrine Abiad identifies Bahrain, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia as states with "strong constitutional consequences" of sharia "on the organization and functioning of power".


Family law

Except for secular systems, Muslim-majority countries possess sharia-based family laws (marriage, inheritance, etc.). These laws generally reflect influence of various modern-era reforms and tend to be characterized by ambiguity, with traditional and modernist interpretations often manifesting themselves in the same country, both in legislation and court decisions. In Greece (Only in Thrace. Rest of country does not use sharia family law whatsoever), Indonesia (Outside of Aceh, and in most circumstances except a few.), and Nigeria (outside the states using sharia law), Senegal (Sharia personal laws are not used whatsoever outside succession), and in the UK (Sharia law in personal matters is used only in extrajudicial courts and is not used whatsoever in the British legal system) people can choose whether to pursue a case in a sharia or secular court.


Criminal law

Countries in the Muslim world generally have criminal codes influenced by French law or common law, and in some cases a combination of Western legal traditions. Saudi Arabia has never adopted a criminal code and Saudi judges still follow traditional Hanbali jurisprudence. In the course of Islamization campaigns, several countries (Libya, Pakistan, Iran, Sudan, Mauritania, and Yemen) inserted Islamic criminal laws into their penal codes, which were otherwise based on Western models. In some countries only ''hudud'' penalties were added, while others also enacted provisions for ''
qisas ''Qisas'' or ''Qiṣāṣ'' ( ar, قِصَاص, Qiṣāṣ, lit=accountability, following up after, pursuing or prosecuting) is an Islamic term interpreted to mean "retaliation in kind",Mohamed S. El-Awa (1993), Punishment In Islamic Law, Amer ...
'' (law of retaliation) and ''
diya Diya may refer to: * ''Diya (film)'', 2018 Tamil- and Telugu-language film * Diya (Islam), Islamic term for monetary compensation for bodily harm or property damage * Diya (lamp), ghee- or oil-based candle often used in South Asian religious ceremo ...
'' (monetary compensation). Iran subsequently issued a new "Islamic Penal Code". The criminal codes of Afghanistan and United Arab Emirates contain a general provision that certain crimes are to be punished according to Sharia, without specifying the penalties. Some Nigerian states have also enacted Islamic criminal laws. Laws in the Indonesian province of Aceh provide for application of discretionary ('' ta'zir'') punishments for violation of Islamic norms, but explicitly exclude ''hudud'' and ''qisas''.
Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by th ...
has been implementing a "Sharia Penal Code", which includes provisions for stoning and amputation, in stages since 2014. The countries where ''hudud'' penalties are legal do not use stoning and amputation routinely, and generally apply other punishments instead.


Map

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Africa


Algeria

Article 222 of the Family Code of 1983 specifies sharia as the residuary source of laws. According to the U.S. State Department, the sharia-derived family code treats women as minors under the legal guardianship of a husband or male relative, though in practice the implied restrictions are not uniformly enforced.


Benin

It has a civil law system with influences from customary law.


Burkina Faso

It has a civil law system.


Cameroon

It has a mixed legal system of English common law, French civil law, and customary law.


Chad

After gaining independence from France, Chad retained the French legal system.


Comoros

The legal system is based on both Sharia and remnants of the French legal code. According to the article 229-7 of the Penal Code, any Muslim who makes use of products forbidden by Sharia can be punished by imprisonment of up to six months.


Cote d'Ivoire

It has a civil law system.


Djibouti

The Family Code is mainly derived from Sharia and regulates personal status matters such as marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. Sharia does not apply to criminal law.


Egypt

Article 2 of Egypt's 2014 Constitution declares the principles of Islamic sharia to be the main source of legislation. Egypt's law and enforcement system are in flux since its 2011 Revolution; however, the declaration of Sharia's primacy in Article 2 is a potential ground for unconstitutionality of any secular laws in Egyptian legal code. Sharia courts and qadis are run and licensed by the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Justi ...
. The personal status law that regulates matters such as marriage, divorce and child custody is governed by sharia. In a family court, a woman's testimony is worth half of a man's testimony.


Eritrea

Muslims are required to use sharia courts for cases dealing with marriage, inheritance and family of Muslims.


Ethiopia

Muslims are required to use sharia law for cases regarding marriage, divorce, maintenance, guardianship of minors (only if both parties are Muslims). Also included are cases concerning waqfs, gifts, succession, or wills, provided that donor is a Muslim or deceased was a Muslim at time of death.


Gabon

It has a mixed legal system of French civil law and customary law.


The Gambia

Article 7 of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
identifies sharia as source of law in matters of personal status and inheritance among members of communities to which it applies.


Ghana

Ghana is a secular state. Any other laws inconsistent with the national constitution are deemed null and void. No religious laws are applied in civil or criminal cases .


Guinea-Bissau

It has a mixed legal system of civil law and customary law.


Guinea

It has a civil law system.


Kenya

Sharia is applied by Kadhis' Courts where "all the parties profess the Muslim religion". Under article 170, section 5 of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
, the jurisdiction of Kadhis' court is limited to matters relating to "personal status, marriage, divorce or inheritance in proceedings in which all the parties profess the Muslim religion, and Muslims are then required to use the jurisdiction of the Kadhi’s courts".


Libya

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
merged civil and sharia courts in 1973. Civil courts now employ sharia judges who sit in regular courts of appeal and specialise in sharia appellate cases. The personal status laws are derived from Sharia.


Mali

It has a civil law system influenced by customary law. In urban areas, positive law is common. In rural areas the customary law usually dominates. Local rural versions of sharia are the predominant sources for customary law. Article 25 in Title II of Mali's constitution declares it to be a secular state.


Mauritania

The Penal Code contains Sharia crimes such as heresy, apostasy, atheism, refusal to pray, adultery and alcohol consumption. Punishments include lapidation, amputation and flagellation.


Mauritius

Muslim Personal Laws apply to Muslims. Polygamy is allowed but the government officially recognize monogamous marriage.


Morocco

In 1956, a Code of Personal Status (
Mudawana The ''Mudawana Ousra'' (or ''Moudawana Ousra'', ar, المدوّنة, lit=code), short for ''mudawwanat al-aḥwāl al-ousaria-shakhṣiyyah'' (, ), is the personal status code, also known as the family code, in Moroccan law. It concerns issu ...
) was issued, based on dominant
Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as prima ...
school of Sharia jurisprudence. Regional Sharia courts also hear personal status cases on appeal. In matters of family law, a woman's testimony is worth only half of that of a man. With 2003 reforms of its criminal law, Article 222 of its new criminal code is derived from Sharia; Articles 220–221, 268–272 of its criminal law similarly codify those activities as crimes that are prohibited under Sharia. Morocco adopted a new constitution in 2011; Article 41 of this constitution granted sole power to the Superior Council of the Ulemas to guide its laws through
Fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist ...
s from principles, precepts and designs of Islam.


Mozambique

Paula Rainha states that, "Mozambique’s legal system can be considered civil law based (at least the formal legal system) and legislation is the primary source of law."


Niger

It has not adopted any elements of Sharia.


Nigeria

Sharia states: Until 1999, Sharia applied primarily to civil matters, but twelve of Nigeria's thirty-six states have since extended Sharia to criminal matters. Sharia courts can order amputations, and a few have been carried out. The twelve sharia states are
Zamfara Zamfara (Hausa: Jihar Zamfara Fula: Leydi Zamfara 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤶𞤢𞤥𞤬𞤢𞤪𞤢) is a state in northwestern Nigeria. The capital of Zamfara state is Gusau and its current Governor is Bello Matawalle. Until 1996, the area was ...
,
Bauchi Bauchi (earlier Yakoba) is a city in northeast Nigeria, the Administrative center of Bauchi State, of the Bauchi Local Government Area within that State, and of the traditional Bauchi Emirate. It is located on the northern edge of the Jos Plate ...
, Borno, Gombe,
Jigawa Jigawa State (Hausa: ''Jihar Jigawa'' (Fula Leydi Jigawa 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤮𞤤 𞤶𞤭𞤺𞤢𞤱𞤢) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. Created in 1991 from the northeastern-most region of Kan ...
,
Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern Nige ...
,
Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
,
Katsina Katsina, likely from "Tamashek" eaning son or bloodor mazza enwith "inna" otheris a Local Government Area and the capital city of Katsina State, in northern Nigeria.
,
Kebbi Kebbi state ( ha, Jihar Kebbi; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in the northwestern Nigeria, Kebbi state is bordered east and north of Sokoto and Zamfara states, and to the south by Niger state while i ...
,
Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesSokoto Sokoto is a major city located in extreme northwestern Nigeria, near the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2006 it has a population of over 427,760. Sokoto is the modern-day capital of Sokoto State and was previously the ...
and
Yobe Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potisk ...
. Borno, Gombe and Yobe have not yet begun to apply their Sharia Penal Codes. The rest of Nigeria has a mixed legal system of English common law and traditional law.


Senegal

The legal system of Senegal is based on French civil law. The 1972 Family Code (''Code de la famille'') is secular in nature. Sharia is allowed by article 571 of the Family Code only in the case of
intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...
successions, and only if the person had demonstrated in life a wish that his succession would be regulated by Sharia. Most succession cases are decided under this provision. There has been growing political attempts to introduce more sharia regulations.


Sierra Leone

It has a common law system influenced by customary law.


Somalia

Sharia was adopted in 2009. Article 2 of Somali 2012 Constitution states no law can be enacted that is not compliant with the general principles and objectives of Sharia. Sharia currently influences all aspects of ''
Xeer ''Xeer'' (pronounced ) is the traditional legal system of Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Somali Region, and the North Eastern Province in Kenya. One of the three systems from which formal Somali law draws its inspiration, the others being civil ...
'' as well as Somalia's formal legal system.


Sudan

Sharia has been previously declared the chief source of all legislation in Sudan's 1968, 1973 and 1998 Constitutions. In 2005, Sudan adopted an interim national constitution; it removed some references to Sharia, but included Sharia-derived criminal, civil and personal legal codes, as well as Sharia-mandated
hudud ''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are ...
punishments. The Criminal Act of 1991 prescribes punishments which include forty lashes for drinking alcohol, amputation of the right hand for theft of a certain value and stoning for adultery. However, there is no record of either any amputation or stoning ever having taken place in Sudan. The use of Sharia in Sudan ended in September 2020, when Sudan officially became a secular state after Sudan's transitional government agreed to separate religion from the state, ending 30 years of Islamic rule and Islam as the official state religion in the North African nation. It also scrapped the apostasy law and public flogging. However after 1 year of military coup took place, sharia got installed once again and harsh punishment like floggings still exist according to article 146.


Tanzania

Sharia is applicable to Muslims under the Judicature and Applications of Laws Act, empowering courts to apply Sharia to matters of succession in communities that generally follow Sharia in matters of personal status and inheritance. Unlike mainland Tanzania,
Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...
retains Islamic courts.


Togo

It has a customary law system.


Tunisia

Tunisia has a long secular tradition with a legal system based on French civil law. The Law of Personal Status, considered a reference in secular family law across the Arab world, bans polygamy and extrajudicial divorce. Sharia courts were abolished in 1956. Secular inheritance laws are indirectly based on Islamic jurisprudence, with religion never being mentioned in the Code of Personal Status; these laws accord to women half the share of property due to men.


Uganda

Article 129 (1) (d) of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
allows the parliament to establish by law "Qadhi’s courts for marriage, divorce, inheritance of property and guardianship".


Americas


Canada

Sharia is explicitly banned in
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, upheld by a unanimous vote against it in 2005 by the
National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, dépu ...
, while the province of
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
allows family law disputes to be arbitrated only under Ontario law.


United States

In the United States, various states have outlawed sharia, or passed some form of ballot measure that prohibits state courts from considering foreign, international or religious law in their decisions. these include Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee. * Stahnke, Tad and Robert C. Blitt (2005), "The Religion-State Relationship and the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Comparative Textual Analysis of the Constitutions of Predominantly Muslim Countries." Georgetown Journal of International Law, volume 36, issue 4; also se
Sharia Law profile by Country
, Emory University (2011)


Asia


Afghanistan

Criminal law in Afghanistan continues to be governed in large part by Sharia. The 1976 Criminal Code introduced a quasi-secular system for all ''
tazir In Islamic Law, ''tazir'' (''ta'zeer'' or ''ta'zir'', ar, تعزير) refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state.hudud ''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are ...
'', ''
qisas ''Qisas'' or ''Qiṣāṣ'' ( ar, قِصَاص, Qiṣāṣ, lit=accountability, following up after, pursuing or prosecuting) is an Islamic term interpreted to mean "retaliation in kind",Mohamed S. El-Awa (1993), Punishment In Islamic Law, Amer ...
'' and ''
tazir In Islamic Law, ''tazir'' (''ta'zeer'' or ''ta'zir'', ar, تعزير) refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state.Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
jurisprudence. In practice, as of 2003, the 1976 code was not widely applied, and virtually all courts, including the
Supreme Court of Afghanistan prs, دادگاه عالی , image = Logo of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.jpg , imagesize = 150 , alt = , caption = Logo of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan , image2 ...
, relied on Sharia directly.


Bahrain

Article 2 of Bahrain's 2002 Constitution as originally adopted, as well as after February 2012 amendment, declares Islamic Sharia is a chief source of legislation. Four tiers of ordinary courts have jurisdiction over cases related to civil, administrative and criminal matters, with Court of Cassation the highest civil court in Bahrain; in all matters, the judges are required to resort to Sharia in case legislation is silent or unclear. Sharia courts handle personal status laws. A personal status law was codified in 2009 to regulate personal status matters. It applies only to Sunni Muslims; there is no codified personal status law for Shiites. In a Shari’a court a Muslim woman's testimony is worth half of that of a Muslim man.


Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a secular constitution but marriage, divorce, alimony and property inheritance are regulated by Sharia for Muslims. The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 (XXVI of 1937) applies to Muslims in all matters relating to family affairs. Islamic family law is applied through the regular court system. There are no limitations on interfaith marriages.


Brunei

Sharia courts decide personal status cases or cases relating to religious offences. Sultan
Hassanal Bolkiah Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III ( Jawi: ; born 15 July 1946) is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei since 1967 and the Prime Minister of Brunei since independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. He is on ...
declared in 2011 his wish to establish Islamic criminal law as soon as possible. A new penal code enacted in May 2014 prescribes sharia punishments, including the severing of limbs for property crimes and death by stoning for adultery and homosexuality.


India

The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act 1937 directs the application of
Muslim personal law All the Muslims in India are governed by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. This law deals with marriage, succession, inheritance and charities among Muslims. The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 deals with the cir ...
to Muslims in a number of different areas, mainly related to family law.


Indonesia

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...
is the only part of Indonesia to apply Sharia to criminal law. Islamic courts in Aceh had long handled cases of marriage, divorce and inheritance. After special autonomy legislation was passed in 2001, the reach of courts extend to criminal justice. Offences such as being alone with an unrelated member of the opposite gender and gambling can be punished with canings. In 2014, the provincial government of
Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...
extended sharia's reach to non-Muslims whose offenses also involve a Muslim. If a non-Muslim commits an offense covered by the secular criminal code, the non-Muslim may choose to be punished under either the secular national criminal code (KUHP) or under Acehnese Sharia Law. In other parts of Indonesia, religious courts have jurisdiction over civil cases between Muslim spouses on matters concerning marriage, divorce, reconciliation, and alimony. The competence of religious courts is not exclusive, and parties can apply to District Courts for adjudication on basis of
Roman Dutch law Roman-Dutch law ( Dutch: ''Rooms-Hollands recht'', Afrikaans: ''Romeins-Hollandse reg'') is an uncodified, scholarship-driven, and judge-made legal system based on Roman law as applied in the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries. As suc ...
or local
adat Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) is a magnetic tape format used for the recording of eight digital audio tracks onto the same S-VHS tape used by consumer VCRs. Although it is a tape-based format, the term ''ADAT'' now refers to its succ ...
.
Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto l ...
's New Order expanded the reach of Sharia, first with the 1974 Marriage Act, which assigned jurisdiction over the marriage and divorce of Muslims to the Islamic courts ( id, peradilan agama), and with the 1989 Religious Judicature Act, which elevated Islamic courts by making them a parallel legal system, equal to state courts and gave them jurisdiction over inheritance (''wasiyyah''), gifts (''hibah'') and religious endowments. Muslim litigants could originally choose whether to have inheritance questions decided by the Islamic courts or by the civil courts, but a 2006 amendment eliminated this possibility; the same amendment gave Islamic courts new jurisdiction over property disputes, including financial and economic matters. Muslims seeking a divorce must also file their claim in Islamic courts. The Compilation of Islamic Law 1991 ( id, Kompilasi Hukum Islam) regulates marriage, inheritance, and charitable trusts ( wakaf). Sharia falls outside the jurisdiction of the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
.


Iran

Article 167 of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
states that all judicial rulings must be based upon "authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa". Book 2 of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran is entirely devoted to
hudud ''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are ...
punishments. Iranian application of sharia has been seen by scholars as highly flexible and directly contradicting traditional interpretations of the sharia.


Iraq

Article 1 of Civil Code identifies Sharia as a main source of legislation. The 1958 Code, made polygamy extremely difficult, granted child custody to the mother in case of divorce, prohibited repudiation and marriage under the age of 16. In 1995, Iraq introduced Sharia punishment for certain types of criminal offenses. Iraq's legal system is based on French civil law as well as Sunni and Jafari (Shi’ite) interpretations of Sharia. Article 41 of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
allows for personal status matters (such as marriage, divorce and inheritance) to be governed by the rules of each religious group. The article has not yet been put into effect, and a unified personal status law remains in place that builds on the 1959 personal status code.


Israel

Sharia is one of the sources of legislation for Muslim citizens. Sharia is binding on personal law issues for Muslim citizens. The Sharia Courts of Israel arose as a continuation of the Ottoman sharia courts, whose jurisdiction was restricted under the British Mandate. The Sharia Courts operate under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice and adjudicate matters relating to marriages, divorce, financial maintenance, legal capacity and guardianship, custody of children, paternity, prevention of domestic violence, conversion to Islam, and inheritance, among others.


Jordan

Jordan has
Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accorda ...
and civil courts. Sharia courts have jurisdiction over personal status laws, cases concerning
Diya Diya may refer to: * ''Diya (film)'', 2018 Tamil- and Telugu-language film * Diya (Islam), Islamic term for monetary compensation for bodily harm or property damage * Diya (lamp), ghee- or oil-based candle often used in South Asian religious ceremo ...
(blood money in cases of crime where both parties are Muslims, or one is and both the Muslim and non-Muslim consent to Sharia court's jurisdiction), and matters pertaining to Islamic Waqfs. The Family Law in force is the Personal Status Law of 1976, which is based on Sharia . In Sharia courts, the testimony of two women is equal to that of one man.


Kazakhstan

Sharia was in force up until early 1920. The 1995
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
is not based on sharia.


Kuwait

Article 2 of Kuwait's constitution identifies Islamic Sharia as one of the main sources of legislation. According to the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
, Kuwait's legal system is a combination of
British common law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, b ...
,
French civil law The Law of France refers to the legal system in the French Republic, which is a civil law legal system primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with case law also playing an important role. The most influential of the French legal codes is t ...
, Egyptian civil law and Sharia. The sharia-based personal status law for Sunnis is based on the Maliki
fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...
and for Shiites, their own school of Islam regulates personal status. Kuwait attempts to block some internet content prohibited by Sharia, such as
pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,
.


Kyrgyzstan

It has a civil law system.


Lebanon

Lebanon's legal system is based on a combination of Civil Law, Sharia and Ottoman laws. There are eighteen official religions in Lebanon, each with its own family law and religious courts. For the application of personal status laws, there are three separate sections: Sunni, Shia and non-Muslim. The Law of 16 July 1962 declares that Sharia governs personal status laws of Muslims, with Sunni and Ja'afari Shia jurisdiction of Sharia.


Malaysia

Schedule 9 of Malaysian constitution recognizes Sharia as a state subject; in other words, the states of Malaysia have the power to enact and enforce sharia. Islamic criminal law statutes have been passed at the state level in
Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith") ...
,
Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in t ...
and
Perlis Perlis, ( Northern Malay: ''Peghelih''), also known by its honorific title Perlis Indera Kayangan, is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. Located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it borders the Thai provinces ...
, but as of 2014, none of these laws have been implemented, as they contravene the Federal Constitution. In 2007, Malaysia's Federal court ruled that
apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
matter lay "within the exclusive jurisdiction of Sharia Courts". Malaysian Muslims can be sentenced to
caning Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or hands (on the ...
for such offences as drinking beer, and adultery. Several sharia crimes, such as ''khalwat'' (close proximity of unmarried man and woman) are punishable only in Sharia courts of Malaysia. Publishing an Islamic book that is different from official Malaysian version, without permission, is a crime in some states. Other sharia-based criminal laws were enacted with "Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territory) Act of 1997". Muslims are bound by Sharia on personal matters, while members of other faiths follow civil law. Muslims are required to follow Sharia in family, property and religious matters. In 1988, the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
was amended to state that civil courts cannot hear matters that fall within the jurisdiction of Sharia courts.


Maldives

Article 15 of the Act Number 1/81 (Penal Code) allows for
hudud ''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are ...
punishments. Article 156 of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
states that law includes the norms and provisions of sharia.


Myanmar

In
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, sharia has been applied for personal status issues since colonial times, under section 13 of Burma Law Act, 1898. Court precedents also decided that
Waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitab ...
matters are to be decided under Sharia. The 1952 Myanmar Muslim Dissolution of Marriage Act states that a Muslim woman has the right to divorce her husband with appropriate cause. Matters relating to sharia family law are decided by civil courts.


Oman

Islamic Sharia is the basis for legislation in Oman per Article 2 of its Constitution, and promulgated as Sultani Decree 101/1996. The Personal Statute (Family) Law issued by Royal Decree 97/32 codified provisions of Sharia. Sharia Court Departments within the civil court system are responsible for personal status matters. A 2008 law stipulates that the testimonies of men and women before a court are equal. Oman's criminal law is based on a combination of Sharia and English common law. Omani commercial law is largely based on Sharia; Article 5 of its Law of Commerce defaults to primacy of Sharia in cases of confusion, silence or conflict.


Pakistan

The
Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's opposition parties, it was approved by ...
acknowledges God as the sole sovereign of the universe and the Parliament as a delegate. The Constitution of Pakistan requires that all laws conform with Islam and not conflict with the Quran or Sunnah. The Council of Islamic Ideology reviewed the British era legislation and found most of it did not conflict with Sharia. Sharia was declared the Supreme Law of Pakistan in the 1991 Enforcement of Shariat Act. Section 4 stipulates that courts select an interpretation of law consistent with Islamic jurisprudence and principles. The Federal Shariat Court was formed to judge the conformity of Pakistani laws with Islam according to the Quran and Sunnah. It has appellate, original and revisional jurisdiction. It consists of 8 judges including three ulama who are required to be qualified in Sharia. The Federal Shariat Court invalidated 55 federal statutes and 212 provincial statutes over 30 years. Originally certain legislative documents such as the Muslim Personal Law, the Constitution, fiscal and procedural laws were excluded from the original jurisdiction of the Federal Shariat Court. In its 1994 judgement the Supreme Court declared that the term "Muslim personal law" used in Article 203B, which excludes the Federal Shariat Court's jurisdiction under Article 203D only referred to the personal law of each Muslim sect according to their interpretation of the Quran and Sunnah. Hence, the Federal Shariat Court judgement in 2000 held that all other legislation which applied to Muslims in general were under the jurisdiction of the Federal Shariat Court under Article 203D. The court also held that the Constitution had not intended to reduce the role of the Federal Shariat Court. Pakistani evidence law has been brought into conformity with Sharia. However, only 9 sections needed to be changed from the British era 1872 evidence act. The differences in the Islamic version focus more on rules concerning the number, character and competence of eyewitnesses. For example, in financial or future matters, the Law of Evidence says that evidence must be attested to by two men, or one man and two women. The Law of Evidence also requires a court to determine competence of a witness by reference to the Islamic injunctions in the Quran and Sunnah. Qisas and Diyat laws prescribe retaliatory punishments or compensatory blood money for offenses such as murder and injury. The Qisas and Diyat laws in Pakistan make offences such as murder a private offence against the victim and their family, instead of classifying them as a public offence against the state as it had been during the British rule who had abandoned the Qisas and Diyat laws because they made enforcing law and order difficult since the victim or victim's family could pardon or take blood money as compensation. The Qisas and Diyat laws were first introduced by presidential ordinance in 1990 and were then enshrined in law in 1997. Most offences in Pakistani law fall under tazir and siyasah. The Pakistan Penal Code is regarded as a code of tazir offences although it includes siyasah offences too even though the term siyasah is not mentioned. The Hudood Ordinance divides the crimes of zina, qazf, drinking and theft into two categories: those liable to hadd and those liable to tazir. Shariah leaves tazir punishments to discretion. If the strict evidentiary requirements for hadd offences are not fulfilled, the tazir (discretionary) punishments can be awarded to hadd offences too. Tazir punishments can include forms of punishments such as fines, imprisonment and whipping. There are very strict conditions for imposing the hadd punishment of amputation on thieves. The principle used is that the accused will be spared from hadd punishment for any minor doubt and the court will use all legitimate means to avoid imposing a hadd punishment. For this reason, no amputation has ever been occurred for theft. Theft which is committed under pressure is not liable to hadd. Other factors taken into consideration are the relationship between a victim and the culprit as well as the value of the stolen property. However, Section 13 of the Ordinance states that theft which is not liable to hadd can be punished under tazir. The punishment under Pakistan Penal Code such as fines or imprisonment are applied to theft liable to tazir. Pakistani law also classifies robbery (harabah) as a hadd offence. President
Zia ul Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...
introduced the Zakat system to Pakistan through the Zakat and Ushr Ordinance (1980). In Ramadan Pakistani banks deduct 2.5 percent from bank accounts above the ''Nisab'' amount. The banks send the collection to the Ministry of Finance. The Zakat and Ushr Ordinance specify which categories of people are eligible for receiving zakat. These include religious students, orphans and the sick. Pakistani ushr law levies 5 percent tax on harvests from artificially irrigated lands and 10 percent tax on lands which are not artificially irrigated. Pakistan eliminated interest from domestic transactions but not from foreign debt. Profit and loss sharing schemes and contract markups were started. However, the ulama considered profit and loss to also be a form of riba. The Finance Minister Ghulam Ishaq Khan admitted this in 1984 and said that illegal profiteering and hoarding had to be eliminated. In 1991, the Federal Shariat Court declared riba to be haram and struck down 32 financial laws for being unIslamic. Two private banks challenged this ruling on the grounds that while they accepted the ruling, there was no alternative available. The federal law minister stated: "the government does not challenge the contention that interest is against the Quran, but the system is so deeply entrenched that it cannot be eliminated overnight." Punishment for apostasy have been effectuated through Pakistan's blasphemy laws. In 2006 the government sent a bill to the parliamentary committee for consideration which would impose the death penalty on apostates. The bill has not been passed yet. The principle is that a lacuna in statute law is to be filled with Sharia. Martin Lau hypothesized that even though there was no statutory provision concerning apostasy, it may already be punishable by death in Pakistan because of this principle. In 2010, the Federal Shariat Court held that apostasy and treason are both hadd offences. In 2010, the Court also invalidated those sections of the 2006 Women's Protection Act which had overrode the clauses of the zina and qazf Ordinances.


Palestine

The Egyptian personal status law of 1954 is applied. The personal status law is based on Sharia and regulates matters related to inheritance, marriage, divorce and child custody. Shari’a courts hear cases related to personal status. The testimony of a woman is worth only half of that of a man in cases related to marriage, divorce and child custody.


Philippines

There are sharia trial and circuit trial courts in
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
, which is home to the country's significant
Filipino Muslim Islam was the first-recorded monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Islam reached the Philippines in the 14th century with the arrival of Muslim traders from the Persian Gulf, southern India, and their followers from several sultanates in th ...
minority. Sharia District Courts (SDCs) and Sharia Circuit Courts (SCCs) were created in 1977 through Presidential Decree 1083, which is also known as the Code of Muslim Personal Laws. Sharia only applies to civil cases involving all Muslims nationwide. Cases are handled in
Bangsamoro ar, منطقة بانجسامورو ذاتية الحكم فى مسلمى مينداناو , native_name = , settlement_type = Autonomous region , anthem = Bangsamoro Hymn , image_skyline ...
and a couple of
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
provinces outside the autonomous region by both sharia district and circuit courts, organised into five sharia districts. Outside these areas, sharia-related cases are processed in civil courts under a session from the five sharia districts. All other cases, including criminal ones, are dealt with by local civil courts.


Qatar

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
is the main source of Qatari legislation according to Qatar's Constitution. Sharia is applied to laws pertaining to
family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage ...
,
inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Of ...
, and several
criminal acts In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
(including adultery, robbery and murder). In some cases in Sharia-based
family court Family courts were originally created to be a Court of Equity convened to decide matters and make orders in relation to family law, including custody of children, and could disregard certain legal requirements as long as the petitioner/plainti ...
s, a female's testimony is worth half a man's and in some cases a female witness is not accepted at all.
Flogging Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...
is used in Qatar as a punishment for alcohol consumption or illicit sexual relations. Article 88 of Qatar's criminal code declares the punishment for adultery is 100 lashes. Adultery is punishable by death when a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man are involved. In 2006, a
Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
woman was sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery. In 2012, six expatriates were sentenced to floggings of either 40 or 100 lashes. More recently in April 2013, a Muslim expatriate was sentenced to 40 lashes for alcohol consumption. In June 2014, a Muslim expatriate was sentenced to 40 lashes for consuming alcohol and driving under the influence.
Judicial corporal punishment The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
is common in Qatar due to the Hanbali interpretation of Sharia. Article 1 of the Law No. 11 of 2004 (Penal Code) allows for the application of "Sharia provisions" for the crimes of theft, adultery, defamation, drinking alcohol and apostasy if either the suspect or the victim is a Muslim.


Saudi Arabia

Saudi law is based entirely on sharia. No codified personal status law exists, which means that judges in courts rule based on their own interpretations of sharia. See
Legal system of Saudi Arabia The legal system of Saudi Arabia is based on Sharia, Islamic law derived from the Qur'an and the Sunnah (the traditions) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The sources of Sharia also include Islamic scholarly consensus developed after Muhammad's ...
. However as of 2021, Saudi Arabia has implemented codified personal status laws, including the Personal Status Law, the Civil Transactions Law, the Penal Code for Discretionary Sanctions, and the Law of Evidence implemented by reformist crown prince
Mohammed Bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
.


Singapore

Sharia courts may hear and determine actions in which all parties are Muslims or in which parties involved were married under Muslim law. Court has jurisdiction over cases related to marriage, divorce, betrothal, nullity of marriage, judicial separation, division of property on divorce, payment of dowry, maintenance, and muta.


Sri Lanka

Private matters of Muslims are governed by Muslim Law, including marriage, divorce custody and maintenance. Muslim law principles have been codified in the Act No. 13 of 1951 Marriage and Divorce (Muslim) Act; Act No. 10 of 1931 Muslim Intestate Succession Ordinance and Act No. 51 of 1956 Muslim Mosques and Charitable Trusts or Wakfs Act.


Syria

Article 3 of the 1973
Syrian constitution The current Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic was adopted on 26 February 2012, replacing one that had been in force since 13 March 1973. The current constitution delineates the basic function of that state's government. Among other things, ...
declares Islamic jurisprudence one of Syria's main sources of legislation. The Personal Status Law 59 of 1953 (amended by Law 34 of 1975) is essentially a codified Sharia. The Code of Personal Status is applied to Muslims by Sharia courts. In Sharia courts, a woman's testimony is worth only half of a man's.


Tajikistan

The government is declared to be secular in the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
.


Thailand

In Yala,
Narathiwat Narathiwat ( th, นราธิวาส, ) is a town (thesaban mueang) in southern Thailand and capital of Narathiwat Province. The town is in the Mueang Narathiwat District and was established in 1936. As of 2008, the population was 40,521. ...
, Pattani and
Satun Satun (, , ms, Setul) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Satun Province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' Phiman of Mueang Satun. Satun lies 985 km south of Bangkok. As of 2005 it has a population of 21,498 ...
provinces, Sharia is allowed for settling family and inheritance issues under a 1946 law. The remaining provinces of Thailand have a civil law system with common law influences.


Turkey

As part of Atatürk's reforms, sharia was abolished in April 1924, with the ''Law Regarding the Abolition of Islamic Law Courts and Amendments Regarding the Court Organization''.


Turkmenistan

Article 11 of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
declares that religious groups are separate from the state and the state educational system. But the legal system is civil law with Islamic influences


United Arab Emirates

The court system comprises Sharia courts and civil courts.
Judicial corporal punishment The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
is a legal form of punishment in UAE due to the Sharia courts.
Flogging Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...
is used in UAE as a punishment for criminal offences such as
adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
, premarital sex and prostitution. In most emirates, floggings of Muslims are frequent, especially for adultery, prostitution and drunkenness, with sentences ranging from 80 to 200 lashes. Between 2007 and 2013, many people were sentenced to 100 lashes. Moreover, in 2010 and 2012, several Muslims were sentenced to 80 lashes for alcohol consumption. Under UAE law, premarital sex is punishable by 100 lashes.
Stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. The Torah and Ta ...
is a legal form of judicial punishment in UAE. In 2006, an
expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
was sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery. Between 2009 and 2013, several people were sentenced to death by stoning. In May 2014, an Asian housemaid was sentenced to death by stoning in
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...
. Sharia dictates the personal status law, which regulate matters such as marriage, divorce and child custody. The Sharia-based personal status law is applied to Muslims and sometimes non-Muslims. Non-Muslim expatriates are liable to Sharia rulings on marriage, divorce and child custody. Sharia courts have exclusive jurisdiction to hear family disputes, including matters involving divorce, inheritances, child custody, child abuse and guardianship of minors. Sharia courts may also hear appeals of certain criminal cases including rape, robbery, and related crimes.
Apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
is a crime
punishable by death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
in the UAE. UAE incorporates
hudud ''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are ...
crimes of Sharia into its Penal Code – apostasy being one of them.Butti Sultan Butti Ali Al-Muhairi (1996)
The Islamisation of Laws in the UAE: The Case of the Penal Code
, Arab Law Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 4 (1996), pp. 350–71
Article 1 and Article 66 of UAE's Penal Code requires hudud crimes to be punished with the death penalty, therefore apostasy is punishable by death in the UAE. Emirati women must receive permission from male guardian to remarry. The requirement is derived from Sharia, and has been federal law since 2005. Included in Federal law No. 28 is that men may unilaterally divorce their wives, however for a woman to get divorced she must apply for a court order. Women may also lose their right to maintenance if they refuse to have sexual relations with her husband without a lawful excuse. In 2010 the Federal Supreme Court provided an amendment to the law stating sanctioning the beating and punishment of women by men provided there is no physical mark left on the woman. In all emirates, it is illegal for Muslim women to marry non-Muslims. In the UAE, a marriage union between a Muslim woman and non-Muslim man is punishable by law, since it is considered a form of "
fornication Fornication is generally consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. When one or more of the partners having consensual sexual intercourse is married to another person, it is called adultery. Nonetheless, John ...
".
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...
and
Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...
are not part of the federal judicial system.


Uzbekistan

It has a civil law system.


Yemen

Law 20/1992 regulates personal status. The
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
mentions sharia. Penal law provides for application of hadd penalties for certain crimes, although the extent of implementation is unclear. Article 263 of the 1994 penal code states that "the adulterer and adulteress without suspicion or coercion are punished with whipping by one hundred strokes as a penalty if not married. ..If the adulterer or the adulteress are married, they are punished by stoning them to death."


Europe


Bosnia and Herzegovina

In spite of the fact that the country has a slight Muslim majority, it has a civil law system.


Germany

Under certain conditions, Sharia rules on
domestic relations In the common law tradition, the law of domestic relations is a broad category that encompasses: * divorce; * property settlements; * alimony, spousal support, or other maintenance; * the establishment of paternity; * the establishment or termin ...
are recognized by German courts based on
private international law Conflict of laws (also called private international law) is the set of rules or laws a jurisdiction applies to a case, transaction, or other occurrence that has connections to more than one jurisdiction. This body of law deals with three broad ...
if no party has German citizenship. As a result, cases such as marriage, divorce, as well as many personal cases cannot be handled under German law if it is between Muslims who are not citizens (For example, a couple from Pakistan moves to Germany, they don't have citizenship and then a divorce happens, unlike in other Western societies like Canada or the UK, the couple cannot get the divorce done under secular German law but only under sharia.) The outcome in most circumstances must not violate the principles of the German legal system according to the
ordre public A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes wi ...
. The only times it can violate the German legal system are situations like for example when a non-citizen Muslim woman wants an equal inheritance but because of the use of sharia law in the German legal system, the woman does not have that choice, no matter if the deceased relative lived in Germany or abroad.


Greece

In
Western Thrace Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a geographic and historica ...
, under the terms of the 1920
Treaty of Sevres A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...
and 1923
Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the confl ...
, sharia courts historically had exclusive jurisdiction over the Muslim population in issues related to family law. Since 2018, Muslims in the region have been given the choice of registering a civil marriage and pursuing civil cases in the national court system. The Treaty of Lausanne also allows for the establishment of
waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitab ...
s. In other parts of Greece, all people are subjected exclusively to the provisions of the civil code, regardless of their religion.


Turkey

As part of Atatürk's reforms, sharia was abolished in April 1924, with the ''Law Regarding the Abolition of Islamic Law Courts and Amendments Regarding the Court Organization''.


United Kingdom

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...
: Sharia councils, which have no legal status and no legal jurisdiction, are consulted by many Muslims as a source of religious guidance and as an instance granting religious divorces. Likewise,
Muslim Arbitration Tribunal The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal is a form of alternative dispute resolution which operates under the Arbitration Act 1996 which is available in England. It is one of a range of services (Islamic Sharia Council is another) for Muslims who wish to ...
s are afforded limited recognition as purveyors of arbitration. In 2018, a British court recognized Sharia in a divorce ruling in 2018, noting that a Muslim couple married under Sharia will also be recognized under British law and that the woman may claim her share of assets in a divorce.


Territories with limited recognition


Kosovo

Kosovo uses civil law.


Northern Cyprus

It has a secular legal system with heavy influence from the modern-day Turkish legal system. It is unclear if Northern Cyprus is a civil law system, or if it uses common law.


Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Local
qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
s (
sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
judges) have jurisdiction over personal status and family law issues.


Somaliland

Islamic and customary law apply.


See also

* Status of women's testimony in Islam *
Islam and secularism Secularism—i.e. the separation of religion from civic affairs and the state—has been a controversial concept in Islamic political thought, owing in part to historical factors and in part to the ambiguity of the concept itself. In the Muslim ...
*
Ban on sharia law A ban on sharia law is legislation that prohibits the application or implementation of Islamic law ( Sharia) in courts in any civil (non-religious) jurisdiction. In the United States, various states have "banned Sharia law," or passed some kind of ...


References

{{Law country lists
Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...