The Shariah: General Principles or Specific Law?

SUMSA Lecture The Shariah: General Principles or Specific Law?

The Islamic code of law - the Shariah - once the fountain from which sprang the most prosperous civilisation the world has ever known - is today demeaned as a backward and outdated system. Yet Muslims know that the Shariah is divine and cannot be dispensed with, but in this climate of pressure, some are driven to the thought that perhaps the divinity lays in the general principle, and not the specific details, which can alter with time and place. To what extent is this the case? How much of the Shariah is general principles, and how much of the detail matters? Does it change according to time and place, or must place, values, and laws accord with the shariah? Come along and explore this intriguing topic with us.