Anushka Bhattacharjee, Symbiosis Law School, Nagpur
INTRODUCTION
Islamic law, also known as the Sharia law or Muslim Law, is the Islamic legal system and is spread throughout the world. Sharia means “the clear, well-trodden path to water” and is seen as an expression and belief of god. It signifies the Divine nature of the Islamic Community and lays down laws and rules which are to be followed very carefully. The people who chose to follow these laws and rules laid down by the Islamic law are called as Muslims. There are two types of Muslims – a) Shias and b) Sunnis and a person can be a Muslim either by taking birth in a Muslim family or by converting from any other religion into Islam. Sharia law has its basis on the directions and directives given by God and constitutes the duties that all Muslims are bound to follow because of their religious beliefs. It also divides the laws into two categories -a) man made laws and b) divine laws. It not only regulates the individual’s relationships with the sate and the neighbours bhut also with the divine source – GOD which makes it different from many other legal systems in the world.is Islam or the countries where the Muslims are in majority Islamic law is very straightforward in nature and specifies what all is expected from an individual and any breach of the duties often leads to extreme punishments. In countries were the National religion is Islam or the countries with majority population of Muslims, these countries punish the culprits based on the crimes committed by them. In the Islamic law Hadd is the punishment awarded for serious crimes which have fixed penalties (these crimes are said to be against god and anybody who commits them is punished severely). Another crime is known as Tazir and here the punishment awarded is decided by the courts (discretion of the courts).
