() is an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic term referring to the custom, or 'knowledge', of a given society. To be recognized in an Islamic society, must be compatible with

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

.H. Patrick Glenn, ''Legal Traditions of the World''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2007, pg. 201. When applied, it can lead to the deprecation or inoperability of a certain aspect of

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

(Islamic

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

). is a source of Islamic legal rulings where there are not explicit primary texts of the

Qur'an and Sunnah The hadith of the () refers to a statement, attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, that introduces the Quran, the principal religious text in Islam, and his progeny as the only two sources of divine guidance after his death. Widely reporte ...

specifying the ruling. can also specify something generally established in the primary texts.

Overview

;Terminology The term , meaning "to know", refers to the customs and practices of a given society. ;History was first recognized by

Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim al-Ansari (), better known as Abu Yusuf () (729–798) was an Islamic jurist, as well as a student of Abu Hanifa (d.767) and Malik ibn Anas (d.795), who helped spread the influence of the Hanafi school of Islamic law, and w ...

(d. 182/798), an early leader of the Ḥanafī

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

, though it was considered part of the , i.e genuine and not a formal source. Later al-Sarak̲h̲sī (d. 483/1090) opposed it, holding that custom cannot prevail over a written text. ;Scriptural basis The "maxim" that custom is an authoritative source for Islamic law "appears in the Quran and Hadith". One hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ud stated 'Whatever the Muslim saw as good is onsideredgood by God, and whatever the Muslim saw as evil is evil according to God.'"

Sharia

Although this was not formally included in Islamic law,"Urf", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' the Sharia recognizes customs that prevailed at the time of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

but were not abrogated by the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

or the

Sunnah is the body of 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 supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

(called "Divine silence" ***sunnah is not "divine silence"). Practices later innovated are also justified, since Islamic tradition says what the people, in general, consider good is also considered as such by

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

(see

God in Islam In Islam, God (, contraction of , ) is seen as the Creator god, creator and God the Sustainer, sustainer of the universe, who God and eternity, lives eternally. God is conceived as a perfect, Tawhid, singular, immortal, omnipotent, and omnisc ...

). According to some sources, holds as much authority as (consensus), and more than (legal reasoning by analogy). is the Islamic equivalent of "

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

".Hasan (2004), p. 169-71 In the application of , custom that is accepted into law should be commonly prevalent in the region, not merely in an isolated locality. If it is in absolute opposition to Islamic texts, custom is disregarded. However, if it is in opposition to , custom is given preference.

Jurists A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...

also tend to, with caution, give precedence to custom over doctoral opinions of highly esteemed scholars. In some countries such as

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, marriage, the way, refers to a form of

common law marriage Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, de facto marriage, more uxorio or marriage by habit and repute, is a marriage that results from the parties' agreement to consider themselves married, follo ...

that does not involve obtaining official papers issued by the state ( ). The validity of that type of marriage is still under debate, and women may have fewer rights than under an officially-registered marriage.Egypt: Customary marriage
refworld.org

References

Bibliography

* * Libson, G.; Stewart, F.H. "ʿUrf."

Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the Islamic studies, academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill Publishers, Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, Isl ...

. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 10 April 2008 Arabic words and phrases in Sharia Marriage in Islam Common-law marriage Islamic jurisprudence {{Islam-studies-stub

Overview

Sharia

See also

References

Bibliography