{"collection":"Texts of Islam","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_isl_isl16_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_isl_isl16_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_isl_isl_isl16_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/isl/isl/isl16.htm","summary":"This is a scholarly introduction to Islamic law (the Shar\u012b'a), likely an excerpt from an academic survey or anthology of Islamic texts, written in the tradition of Western orientalist scholarship. The central argument is that legal scholarship \u2014 not theology \u2014 has been the defining intellectual activity of Islam, rooted in the Qur'\u0101n's depiction of a commanding God and supplemented by the \u1e24ad\u012bth and prophetic example, and further necessitated by the early empire's practical need for a governing legal system. The author traces the development of key terms (fiqh, Shar\u012b'a) to show how law and religion were originally inseparable in Islam, and explains how joyful observance of the Law is understood as a positive spiritual act rather than mere compliance. A notable claim is the distinction between orthodoxy and \"orthopraxy\": Sunni Islam has historically been more concerned with correct conduct than correct belief, making it slow to excommunicate groups for doctrinal error alone. The piece also addresses internal tensions \u2014 mystics who felt legalism threatened genuine submission to God \u2014 and the modern dilemma of how much medieval jurisprudence should govern contemporary Muslim states. It serves as a framing introduction to a collection of legal texts by medieval scholars, positioning those texts as authoritative but not infallible.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"Islam: Chapter Three: The Law: Fiqh, Shar\u012b\u2018a: Introduction","tradition":"Texts of Islam","translated_text":null,"word_count":882}