What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia

There exists a good deal of misunderstanding regarding laws in general. Some laws are categorised as civil or common laws even though their contents are Islamic while others are labelled Islamic but they fail to meet the standards required by Islamic law. This article discusses the characteristi...

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Main Author:	Wan Muhammad, Ramizah
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	International Islamic University Malaysia. 2019
Subjects:	KBP Islamic Law KPG Malaysia
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/1/IIUM%20law%20journal%202019.pdf

id	iium-72979
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-729792020-01-09T02:13:01Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/ What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia Wan Muhammad, Ramizah KBP Islamic Law KPG Malaysia There exists a good deal of misunderstanding regarding laws in general. Some laws are categorised as civil or common laws even though their contents are Islamic while others are labelled Islamic but they fail to meet the standards required by Islamic law. This article discusses the characteristics, which make a law, “Islamic”. Based on a content analysis of the revealed sources, the opinion of the majority of Muslim scholars, and the relevant court cases, this study argues that a law does not become Islamic by merely claiming it to have been derived from or somehow related to the divine revelation. It is true that for any law to be Islamic, it must indeed be based upon the divine revelation, and supported by Muslim jurists. Nevertheless, it must also simultaneously be promoting justice for everyone, irrespective of race, religion, gender, social, economic or political status. The law must also be of benefit to all mankind and not only to the Muslims. Finally, the law must fulfil the requirements of MaqāÎid al-sharÊ‘ah (objectives of the law). Judged as such, most of the Malaysian laws may be considered to be Islamic, by nature. These aspects have not been given due attention by many scholars, which leads either to the condemnation of all laws in Malaysia as secular or as un-Islamic. This fact alone justifies the need for a study to provide guidelines to judge the Islamicity of a certain law, which is done herein. International Islamic University Malaysia. 2019-06-30 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/1/IIUM%20law%20journal%202019.pdf Wan Muhammad, Ramizah (2019) What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia. IIUM Law Journal, 27 (1). pp. 209-232. ISSN 0128-2530 https://journals.iium.edu.my/iiumlj/index.php/iiumlj/article/view/420/247 10.31436/iiumlj.v27i1.420
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	KBP Islamic Law KPG Malaysia
spellingShingle	KBP Islamic Law KPG Malaysia Wan Muhammad, Ramizah What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia
description	There exists a good deal of misunderstanding regarding laws in general. Some laws are categorised as civil or common laws even though their contents are Islamic while others are labelled Islamic but they fail to meet the standards required by Islamic law. This article discusses the characteristics, which make a law, “Islamic”. Based on a content analysis of the revealed sources, the opinion of the majority of Muslim scholars, and the relevant court cases, this study argues that a law does not become Islamic by merely claiming it to have been derived from or somehow related to the divine revelation. It is true that for any law to be Islamic, it must indeed be based upon the divine revelation, and supported by Muslim jurists. Nevertheless, it must also simultaneously be promoting justice for everyone, irrespective of race, religion, gender, social, economic or political status. The law must also be of benefit to all mankind and not only to the Muslims. Finally, the law must fulfil the requirements of MaqāÎid al-sharÊ‘ah (objectives of the law). Judged as such, most of the Malaysian laws may be considered to be Islamic, by nature. These aspects have not been given due attention by many scholars, which leads either to the condemnation of all laws in Malaysia as secular or as un-Islamic. This fact alone justifies the need for a study to provide guidelines to judge the Islamicity of a certain law, which is done herein.
format	Article
author	Wan Muhammad, Ramizah
author_facet	Wan Muhammad, Ramizah
author_sort	Wan Muhammad, Ramizah
title	What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia
title_short	What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia
title_full	What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia
title_fullStr	What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia
title_sort	what makes a law “islamic”? a preliminary study on the islamicity of laws in malaysia
publisher	International Islamic University Malaysia.
publishDate	2019
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72979/1/IIUM%20law%20journal%202019.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:43:29Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:43:29Z
_version_	1777413295099084800

What makes a law “Islamic”? A preliminary study on the Islamicity of laws in Malaysia

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