Islamic Law essays

Islamic Law essays The religion and the practices of Islam have often been seen in a negative light in the Western world. This can be attributed to the effects that Islamic fundamentalists have had on society through their attacks on the Western world. For this reason many Westerners have developed an Islamophobia. A direct result of this Islamophobia is a negative perception of Islamic Law. Many Westerners feel that Islamic Law is very unjust, however in reality this is not the case. Islamic Laws may be strict relative to Western society, but their main purpose is to give people a guideline of how to live their lives in a clean fashion (Nasr, 1997). The punishments that people receive for violating Islamic Law are believed to be very brutal by Western Society; but this is not necessarily the case. Most Muslims believe that these punishments are just and also that these punishments are minor compared to the ultimate punishment that will be delivered by the hand of God on the Day Of Judgement. Islamic L aw also has a positive impact on society by helping out others through required charitable donations called Zakat. For these reasons Islamic Law should not be perceived as unjust by Western Society. Islamic Law extends into every aspect on life from how to use water to banking. It is based on the Muslim Holy Book, the Koran. The Koran is the primary source for Islamic Law, as it laid a solid foundation upon which Muslim scholars devised guidelines (Seestani, 1994). Muslims believe that the Koran contains the words of Allah. So, whatever is written in the Koran is considered to be sacred and everything in it is obeyed. But the Koran was not written in detail. The Koran gave people a guideline as to how they should live their lives but not the specifics on how they should do this. For example, the Koran says that people must pray but it did not say how to pray. In order to clear up any confusion caused by the generalization of the ...