The sharia is a set of traditional laws that define a Muslim's obligations to God and his fellow human beings. Westerners often misunderstand the nature of the sharia, born as it is of a complicated legal and academic tradition that may not always seem relevant to today's world. Written for those unfamiliar with Islam, this volume provides an accurate and objective assessment of the sharia's achievements, shortcomings and future prospects. It explores the fundamentals of Islam and traditional sharia laws. In addition, the sharia is discussed with respect to Ottoman law, puritanism and jihad. The sharia's relevance to today's world events is also explored. Among items provided in appendices are a commentary on a Western translation of the concept of jihad and an analysis of the sharia in 29 selected countries.

Sharia has been a source of misunderstanding and misconception in both the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds. Understanding Sharia: Islamic Law in a Globalised World sets out to explore the reality of sharia, contextualising its development in the early centuries of Islam and showing how it evolved in line with historical and social circumstances. The authors, Raficq S. Abdulla and Mohamed M. Keshavjee, both British-trained lawyers, argue that sharia and the positive law flowing from it, known as fiqh, have never been an exclusive legal system or a fixed set of beliefs.

Author Andrew G. Bostom expands upon his two previous groundbreaking compendia, The Legacy of Jihad and The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism, with this collection of his own recent essays on Sharia - Islamic law. The book elucidates, unapologetically, Sharia's defining Islamic religious principles and the consequences of its application across space and time, focusing upon contemporary illustrations. A wealth of unambiguous evidence is marshaled, distilled, and analyzed, including: objective, erudite studies of Sharia by leading scholars of Islam; the acknowledgment of Sharia's global "resurgence," even by contemporary academic apologists for Islam; an abundance of recent polling data from Muslim nations and Muslim immigrant communities in the West confirming the ongoing, widespread adherence to Sharia's tenets; the plaintive warnings and admonitions of contemporary Muslim intellectuals - freethinkers and believers, alike - about the incompatibility of Sharia with modern, Western-derived conceptions of universal human rights; and the overt promulgation by authoritative, mainstream international and North American Islamic religious and political organizations of traditional, Sharia-based Muslim legal systems as an integrated whole (i.e., extending well beyond mere "family-law aspects" of Sharia). Johannes J. G. Jansen, Professor for Contemporary Islamic Thought Emeritus at Utrecht University, says this book "will prove sobering to even staunch optimists."

In the West, "sharia" often calls to mind antiquated laws founded upon gender discrimination and barbaric punishments. In the East, for some it means the ideal standards by which Muslims strive to live; for others, it is the greatest obstacle to modernization of their societies. These clashing views sometimes lead to violence. Clarification of the term has therefore become an urgent necessity. Sharia is all of these things and much more. It is the legal system of Islam, a series of guidelines and prohibitions. But it is also a concept invested with a whole range of meanings, from the virtuous attributes of an "'ideal"' society, to the confinement of particular elements to otherness and adversity. Moving through history, society and Islamic thought to explore the sources of sharia law, Baudouin Dupret gets to the heart of its uses and abuses in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This short, accessible book provides an invaluable guide for those seeking to understand a matter more complex and pressing today than ever before.

This book covers the ins and outs of Islamic legal change and provides readers with step-by-step instructions for shaping the future of Islamic law.

Few symbols in today’s world are as laden and fraught as sharia—an Arabic-origin term referring to the straight path, the path God revealed for humans, the norms and rules guiding Muslims on that path, and Islamic law and normativity as enshrined in sacred texts or formal statute. Yet the ways in which Muslim men and women experience the myriad dimensions of sharia often go unnoticed and unpublicized. So too do recent historical changes in sharia judiciaries and contemporary strategies on the part of political and religious elites, social engineers, and brand stewards to shape, solidify, and rebrand these institutions. Sharia Transformations is an ethnographic, historical, and theoretical study of the practice and lived entailments of sharia in Malaysia, arguably the most economically successful Muslim-majority nation in the world. The book focuses on the routine everyday practices of Malaysia’s sharia courts and the changes that have occurred in the court discourses and practices in recent decades. Michael G. Peletz approaches Malaysia’s sharia judiciary as a global assemblage and addresses important issues in the humanistic and social-scientific literature concerning how Malays and other Muslims engage ethical norms and deal with law, social justice, and governance in a rapidly globalizing world.

"Sharia law is a distillation of rulings that purport to represent the divine diktat in all worldly affairs. It provides injunctions for the conduct of criminal, public and even international law. Marriage and divorce, the custody of children, alimony, sexual impropriety and much else come within its remit Sharia courts are operating in Britain, handing down rulings that may be inappropriate to this country, being linked to elements in Islamic law that are seriously out of step with trends in Western legislation that derive from the values of the Enlightenment and are inherent in modern codes of human rights. Sharia rulings contain great potential for controversy and may involve acts contrary to UK legal norms and human rights legislation. Denis MacEoin argues against the wider use of sharia law."--Back cover.

This book offers unique insights into Islamic law, considering its theoretical perspectives alongside its practical application in daily Muslim life.

"[A] summer must read." — SEAN HANNITY, Fox News "[No Go Zones] should be required reading for conservatives, Republicans, liberals, teachers, students, reporters, editors, and activists all alike." —NIGEL FARAGE, Member of the European Parliament No Go Zones. That's what they're called. And while the politically correct try to deny their existence, the shocking reality of these "No Go Zones"—where Sharia law can prevail and local police stay away—can be attested to by its many victims. Now Raheem Kassam, a courageous reporter and editor at Breitbart, takes us where few journalists have dared to tread—inside the No Go Zones, revealing areas that Western governments, including the United States, don't want to admit exist within their own borders. With compelling reporting, Kassam takes you into Islamic areas you might not even know existed—communities, neighborhoods, and whole city districts from San Bernardino, California, (a No Go Zone of the mind) to Hamtramck, Michigan (essentially an Islamic colony in the Midwest); from Malmö, Sweden, to the heart of London, England—where infidels are unwelcome, Islamic law is king, and extremism grows. In No Go Zones, Kassam reveals: How in No Go Zones a blind eye is being turned to polygamy, female genital mutilation, sexual assault, segregation, and even honor killings Why Muslim ghettos in the West aren't the equivalent of Little Italy or Chinatown, but a serious cultural and political threat How the welfare state actually funds and supports a Muslim subculture of resentment How to identify extremist mosques A matter of numbers: how mass migration could transform Europe into a Muslim-dominated continent within our own lifetimes The alarming speed at which No Go Zones are coming to America Compelling in its reporting, shocking in its detail, Raheem Kassam's No Go Zones is one of the most frightening true stories you will read this year.

Drawing on ethnographic research, Living Sharia examines the role of sharia in the sociopolitical processes of contemporary Malaysia. The book traces the contested implementation of Islamic family and criminal laws and sharia economics to provide cultural frameworks for understanding sharia among Muslims and non-Muslims. Timothy Daniels explores how the way people think about sharia is often entangled with notions about race, gender equality, nationhood, liberal pluralism, citizenship, and universal human rights. He reveals that Malaysians’ ideas about sharia are not isolated from—nor always opposed to—liberal pluralism and secularism. Living Sharia will be of interest to scholars as well as to policy makers, consultants, and professionals working with global NGOs.