Legislation

Legislation mean statutes enacted by the Parliament or the State legislature for the regulation of human actions in a particular aspect.

As per Islamic religious belief the prophet is the only supreme law maker; hence no one can make Muslim law. In case any change is made it is considered as invasion. In spite of this there are number of Acts passed by Indian Parliament since form British Rule.

There have been several legislation enacted by the Parliament to lay the foundation of Muslim law in India. These legislative enactments have considerably amplified, altered or modified the original Muslim law.

e.g. 1) Shariat Act, 1937: The first law that was passed was the Shariat Act, 1937. In Islam, the entire body of law that governs their day to day personal laws, marriage, divorce, etc. are collectively called the Sharia.

Thus, based on Sharia and with the object to make it a complete body of Muslim laws, the Act was titled as the Shariat Act. It contained only six provisions dealing mainly with:

a) Law relating to the succession of a Muslim person dying intestate. i.e. without a will or a testament.

b) Law relating to vesting of properties and gifts on females of the Sect.

c) Law relating to marriage, divorce, grounds of divorce, Mehr, guardianship and maintenance.

d) Law relating to wakfs i.e. any trust created for the Muslim religion.

2) The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939: The issue of divorce has been a major drawback in the Muslim personal law because the Holy Quran gives the right to divorce a woman to her husband but is silent on divorce by a woman. This has led to struggle by a woman in an unhappy marriage and affected by domestic violence and cruelty.

In 1939, an attempt was made to allow the woman to divorce their husbands through the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939. The woman could divorce their husband on three main grounds, viz.

a) Refusal from maintaining the wife, financially and emotionally,

b) Ill-treatment in the matrimonial house and

c) Desertion by the husband.

3) The Muslim Women (Protection of Right on Divorce) Act, 1986: Another issue that came after the divorce was the maintenance of the divorced wife. Since women in India are still fighting for their right to work and equal opportunity in employment, women needed certain financial security for their livelihood and their children’s well-being. Hence, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 was enacted that gave them the right to maintenance from their husband.

4) The Guardians and Wards Act, 1890

5) The Mussalman Waqf Validating Act, 1913

6) The Mussalman Waqf Act, 1923

7) Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929

8) The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019: The most recent development in legislations has been the Triple Talaq Bill, that prohibited any form of an oral or written declaration of divorce to be illegal unless it is executed with the due procedure of law.

Short Q & A: Muslim Law 4

Q. When did the development of Muslim law come to its full in India?

Ans. During the 1980’s

Q. Which is first landmark judgement in Muslim Law?

Ans. The first landmark judgement that deals with the Muslim personal law was the 1986 judgement in Shah Bano V. Md. Ahmed Khan.

Q. What is the judgement in Shah Bano V. Md. Ahmed Khan?

Ans. In this case, the Apex Court held that Muslim women have a right to maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code even if the Quran or their personal laws have provided for an alternate remedy.

Q. Name the case of Triple Talaq?

Ans. case of Shayara Bano V. Union of India

Q. Why Triple Talaq was held unconstitutional?

Ans. Apex Court held the system of instantaneous divorce by the utterance of the word ‘Talaq’ thrice orally is unconstitutional because the right to instantaneous divorce is only with the men and not with women. Further, the system is arbitrary and hence, violation of Article 14.

Q. What is Legislation?

Ans. Legislations mean statutes enacted by the Parliament or the State legislature for the regulation of human actions in a particular aspect.

Q. What is Sharia?

Ans. In Islam, the entire body of law that governs their day to day personal laws, marriage, divorce, etc. are collectively called the Sharia.

Q. How many provisions are there in Shariat Act, 1937?

Ans. 6

Q. On which grounds a Muslim woman can divorce her husband as per Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act?

Ans. a) Refusal from maintaining the wife, financially and emotionally,

b) Ill-treatment in the matrimonial house and

c) Desertion by the husband.

Q. Which act gives a right to maintenance after divorce to aMuslim woman?

Ans. Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986

Q. According which bill Triple Talaq is illegal?

Ans. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019

Q. Enlist the Acts passed by Indian Parliament for Muslims?

Ans. 1) Shariat Act, 1937; 2) The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939; 3) The Muslim Women (Protection of Right on Divorce) Act, 1986; 4) The Guardians and Wards Act, 1890; 5) The Mussalman Waqf Validating Act, 1913; 6) The Mussalman Waqf Act, 1923; 7) Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929; 8) The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019.

Short Q & A: Muslim Law 3

Q. What is Sunna?

Ans. The Sunna are the implied revelation in the precepts and sayings and actions of the prophet, not written down in his lifetime, but preserved by traditions and handed down by authorised agents. The word Sunnabasically means ‘path’.

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Q. When Sunna is followed?

Ans. whenever there is a situation where the Holy Quran is silent and the people are unable to make a decision, Sunna i.e. the actions of the prophet are followed.

Q. What is Hadith or Hadis?

Ans. Hadis or Hadith are implied revelations in the precepts and sayings and actions of the prophet, not written down in his lifetime, but preserved by traditions and handed down by authoriesd agents.

Q. How many Hadis are recorded by Bukhari?

Ans. Near about 7000.

Q. What is Ijma?

Ans. Ijma the agreement of the jurists among the followers of the prophet in a particular age on particular question.

Q. What is Qiya?

Ans. Qiya basically means an analogical deduction from the existing sources which do not explain something.

Q. What is a custom?

Ans. A custom is a tradition passing on from generation to another, which originally governed human conduct and obtained the force of law in a particular locality. Customs are basically practices that people follow continuously for a long period of time. In fact, people follow them for so long that they obtain the status of law in some cases. It is a natural source oflaw.

Q. In which Muslim matters the customs are still applicable?

Ans. Customs are still applicable in the matters of religious and charitable endowments.

Judicial Precedents:

Interpretation of Muslim law by the judges of the Indian High Courts and Supreme Court continue in modern times to supplement and modify the Islamic law. These include the decisions of the Privy Council, the Supreme Court, High Courts in India. These decisions are regarded as precedents for future cases.

It is said that the law protects only the vigilant. This is very much applicable in the case of Muslims in India. The development of Muslim law by the judiciary came to its full development during the period of 1980’s because till then, the Muslim men and women were ignorant about their rights.

The first landmark judgement that deals with the Muslim personal law was the 1986 judgement in Shah Bano V. Md. Ahmed Khan. In this case, the Apex Court held that Muslim women have a right to maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code even if the Quran or their personallaws have provided for an alternate remedy. The same ration was upheld by the Apex Court in Daniel Latifi v. Union of India.

Recently, in the leading case of Shayara Bano V. Union of India, the Apex Court held the system of instantaneous divorce by the utterance of the word ‘Talaq’ thrice orally is unconstitutional because the right to instantaneous divorce is only with the men and not with women. Further, the system is arbitrary and hence, violation of Article 14.

Therefore, the judiciary has assisted in the development of Muslim personal law.

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Customary sources:

The Muslim people are governed by some informal laws based on customary practices, which differ from cultural, social and political scenario. A custom is a tradition passing on from generation to another, which originally governed human conduct and obtained the force of law in a particular locality. Customs are basically practices that people follow continuously for a long period of time. In fact, people follow them for so long that they obtain the status of law in some cases. It is a natural source of law.

Muslim law contains various customs regulating practices of people. There were many customs during the pre-Islamic period. The prophet had approved a number of them. Some of them continued with his tacit consent and these became part of Ijma. These gained legal status in course of time; e.g. the practices of Caliphs, the decisions of the judges and the traditions of the people.

The Muslim Jurists do not expressly describe it as a source of law but those customs and usages which were not modified or abrogated by prophet, remained good and valid. The primeval customs were regulated by the prophet Muhammad. The custom is not a legal source of Muslim law.

But even then Quran acted as a mentor guiding the people. For instance, Caliph Abu Bakr made alms payment compulsory in the light of Quran. The Quazis i.e. judges did equity by seeking guidance from Quranic verses; e.g. under verses 3 of Surah Al-Nisa, that the customary right of unlimited polygamy was curtailed to a maximum of four wives. Thus supremacy of Quran as a primary Islamic Cource got fully established in that epoch.

However, Shariat Act, 1937 was made to apply only the Sharia and not the customs. During the British regime, Courts in India recognised the legal force of customs on some occasions in spite of the fact that they were opposed to the clear texts of a primary source of Muslim law. This caused great dissatisfaction among the orthodox Muslims and led to the passage of Shariat Act, 1937; which abolishes most of the customs from the Muslim personal law. Section 2 of Shariat Act, 1937 lays down that if the parties are Muslims, only Muslim personal law will be applied to them in the following matters – [i] inheritance, [ii] special property of females, [iii] marriage, [iv] dower, [v] divorce [vi] maintenance, [vii] guardianship, [viii] gift, [ix] Waqf, [x] trust.

In respect of these matters customs or usages have no place. But customs are still applicable in the matters of religious and charitable endowments.

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Qiyas:

In cases when something needs a legal ruling, but has not been clearly addressed in the other sources, judges may use analogy, reasoning and legal precedent to decide new case law. This is often the case when a general principle can be applied to new situations.

Qiyas means ‘measuring’, ‘accord’ or ‘equality’. In Muslim jurisprudence it means an extension of law from the original text by means of common sense. According to Jung, ‘it is a process of deduction applying the law of the text to the cases which, though not covered by the language of the text, are nevertheless covered by the reason of the text.’

As Islam spread in various parts of the world, they rendezvous with several other communities, and with the passage of time new difficulties arose. The Holy Quran was not capable of dealing with new emerging difficulties arising from contact with the outside world. To resolve this problem, the Muslim jurists commenced referring to Quran and Sunna to compare the situations and deduce an answer to the problem on the basis of some analogy. When the answer is found and all the jurists together agree to it, it was called the Qiyas. Thus Qiya basically means an analogical deduction from the existing sources that do not explain something. It involves both the knowledge of the rules of Islamic law and the exercise of one’s judgement, even Qiyas would be impossible if jurists were not allowed to apply their own reasoning.

An example of this procedure can be found in the prohibition of alcohol. The drinking of wine is one of the Quranic crimes against religion. With the appearances of other alcoholic drinks unknown to early Islam, the jurists extended the prohibition of wine to include such drinks by analogical deduction from the Quranic ruling.

Qiya helps in deducting interpretations that seem to be the most obvious. It can only explain or interpret the law, but it cannot change the law for its essence. This source of Muslim law ranks below other ancient sources because of its deductive nature. Qiya is essentially a tool of interpretation and is not a mean to alter the existing law but can only be used to find a legal principle in conformity with Quran and Sunna for a new factual situation. The Qiya has its own limitations as it derives its authority from the Quran. Human reason was not to be exercised independently but rather in accordance with the Divine Will as manifested in Quran.

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Ijma:

When all judges in the Supreme Court unanimously agree to a point and pronounce judgement on that point, it becomes a precedent and a binding law. Similarly Ijma is a concept of law made by consensus of all Islamic Jurists or other persons of knowledge and skill.

Ijma means the consensus of the companions and followers of the prophet Muhammad. Abdul Rahim defines it as ‘the agreement of the jurists among the followers of the prophet in a particular age on particular question.’ Ijma is the doctrine of consensus and a source of harmony in Muslim community.

It is based on the belief that when all the most revered persons of the society having maximum knowledge of the Quran have together taken a decision, it should be for the benefit of the Muslim community.

After demise of the prophet, Islamic expansion took place and a large number of new situations and problems cropped up, which would not be decided with the reference of only Quran and Hadis. The jurists then took the recourse to the principle of Ijma, which is based on tradition. Ijma is the majority view of the Scholars. It became a communal legislation by the great authorities. This was based on equity, public interest and sound precedent.

A good illustration for the principle of Ijma is occurred right after the death of the prophet; no guidance was available on who would now be successor of the prophet as a leader of the community i.e. Caliph. The election of Abu Bakr to the post of the Caliph by the votes of the people was the first manifestation of Ijma.

The authority of Ijma for legal innovation is very limited and that is why it ranks lower than the Holy Quran.

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Hadith

Hadis or Hadith:

Just as Quran is the express revelation through Muhammad, the Hadis or Hadith are implied revelations in the precepts and sayings and actions of the prophet, not written down in his lifetime, but preserved by traditions and handed down by authoriesd agents. Hadis is totally based on traditions of Islamic community. These are recorded and are authoritative sources. Bukhari has recorded about 7000 such hadis. The words of the Quran are the words of the Allah, while the words of Hadith are the words of the prophet reported by people. Hadis are recorded after one and half century of the demise of the phrophet.

Hadis are the books containing the Sunna. It means that Sunna is the Action and words spoken by the prophet and Hadis is the scripture where these are recorded. It is believed that the prophet forbade his followers from writing his preaching and his actions. He believed that writing what was being done might cause confusion between his actions and the words of the Quran. Therefore, no Hadis has been discovered from the time of the prophet. Nevertheless, it is believed that after his death, the Sunna were written down in several books and all complied together are called the Hadis.

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Sunna:

Just as Quran is the express revelation through the prophet, the Sunna are the implied revelation in the precepts and sayings and actions of the prophet, not written down in his lifetime, but preserved by traditions and handed down by authorised agents. The word Sunna basically means ‘path’.

After demise of Prophet Muhammad, the Muslims were divided into two sects on the issue of a worthy and competent successor; first being Shia Muslims and Second being Sunni Muslims. One believed that the one elected by the people as the Caliph would be the successor of the prophet while other sect believed that only the descendents or relatives of the prophet could be worthy successors.

Sunna is followed by the Shia Muslims in their day to day lives to comprehend answers to questions that they face. Sunna is believed to be the customs and traditions followed by the actions and assertions. According to the Quran, the prophet preached that his traditions and his actions should be followed even after his death and therefore the actions of his daughter and that of the Shia Imams after the prophet are also counted in Sunna.

Sunna is second in priority after the Quran. Therefore, whenever there is a situation where the Holy Quran is silent and the people are unable to make a decision, Sunna i.e. the actions of the prophet are followed.  It means Sunna teaches people what prophet would have done himself if he was in a situation like this. Since people believe that prophets actions are motivated by Allah’s grace and his actions are those of Allah himself, adherence to Sunna became popular. The authority of the Sunna is derived from the text of the Quran. Because the circumstances of each revelation were thought necessary to correct interpretation, it was imperative to gather as many traditions as possible about the actions of the prophet to fully understand the Quran.

The Sunna clarifies the ambiguities of the Quran. The Quranic injunction is sometimes implicit; the Sunna makes it explicit by providing essential ingredients and details. The details of the acts of prayer, fasting, alm-giving and pilgrimage were all illustrated by the Sunna of the prophet. Again, it was established by the Sunna that a killer cannot inherit from the property of his victim. Thus, for answers to many problems to which the Quran offers no solution jurists turn to second source of Islamic law. Thus Sunna is the second most important ancient source of the Muslim law from which decisions are made in the personal matters of Muslims.

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Classification of Sunna:

i) Sunnat-ul-Qual: - All words, counsel and precepts of the prophet

ii) Sunnat-ul-Fail: - All actions, words and daily practice of the prophet

iii) Sunnat-ul-Taqrir: - Silence of the prophet implying a tacit approval of what was done in his presence.

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Quran:

The Quran is composed of such express revelations as were made in the very words of Allah to prophet Muhammad through Angle Jibrail, when he was bestowed with the office of the prophet and messenger of Allah. Since Quran represents the voice of Allah, its authority is paramount.

The standard authoritative version of the Quran was prepared after the death of the prophet, during the time of third Caliph and all the other versions were destroyed. The script who had been employed by prophet himself during the prophet’s lifetime assisted the third Caliph in preparing the standard text. The Quran is like a constitution for the Muslims and it contains all principles to be used in personal laws including marriage, divorce, succession, etc. In a strict sense, the Quran cannot be called a legalcode and Muslims jurists agree that it contains verses explaining the way of living and the morals of life and it is not a legal code backed by sanctions.


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It is divided into 114 chapters and composed about 6236 verses. It is in the form of a series of communications addressed by Allah to the prophet. The communications were declared to the people on a large number of different occasions during the life of prophet. There are near about 600 verses in Quran which are law making, which embody rules of law.

All tenets, teachings, principles and practices of Islam originate from the Quran. Due to its stature as Islam’s holy book, it is the final authority on Muslim law.

For Allah’s commandments, the technical name is “Sharia”. There are five categories of rules described in Sharia as follows:

a) Fard means “shall be done” e.g. daily prayers

b) Haram means “prohibited” e.g. wine

c)  Makruh means “advised not to do” e.g. not to eat meat of certain animals

d) Mandub means “advised to do” e.g. additional prayers

e) Jaiz means  left to the individual to decide to do or not to do.

When the Quran itself does not speak directly or in detail about a certain subject Muslims only then turn to alternative sources ofIslamic law.

It is criticised that Quran is not a code of law because of two main reasons:

a) It is argued that Quran is rather a moral code determining ones way of life.

b) It contains not more than 600 verses dealing with specifically legal matters out of 6236 verses.

But it is the Quran  that identifies six specific crimes against religion i.e. had punishments. There is an authentic Hadis of the prophet that “he who knows the law of inheritance is possessed of half the knowledge of the world.”

Some of the verses seek to repeal objectionable customs such as infanticide, gambling, usury, unlimited polygamy, etc., some seek to make reforms in the cases of women, succession and inheritance while some lay down punishment. It also contains general injunctions. But still the Quran is the foundation and framework of Islamic law.

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Short Q & A: Muslim Law 2

Q. What are the ways in which a person can be regarded as Muslim

Ans. There are two main ways in which a person can be regarded as a Muslim:

1) Muslim by birth and 2) Muslim by conversion

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Q. How a person can be Muslim by birth?

Ans. If a person a) Believes in One God, and b) follows Prophet-hood of Muhammad then he is the Muslim by birth.

Q. How a person of other religion can be converted in Muslim?

Ans. A person a) Converts by profession of Islam or b) Converts by formal ceremony into a Muslim.

Q. What is meaning of “sources”?

Ans. Sources means the origin, a place from which a person or thing has emerged.

Q. Why it is not possible to frame laws contradictory to the religious beliefs?

Ans. Since the personal laws are based on the customs and practices of the religion, it is not possible to do away with them and frame the laws completely adverse to the religious beliefs.

Q. What are the types of sources of personal law?

Ans. 1) Ancient Sources, 2) Customary Sources, 3) Modern Sources.

Q. What are the types of religious sources of Muslim law?

Ans. There are five types of religious sources of Muslim Law: 1) Quran, 2) Sunnah, 3) Qiyas, 4) Ijma, 5) Hadith.

Q. What is Quran?

Ans. The Quran is composed of such express revelations as were made in the very words of Allah to prophet Muhammad through Angle Jibrail, when he was bestowed with the office of the prophet and messenger of Allah. Since Quran represents the voice of Allah, its authority is paramount.

Q. How many chapters and verses are there in Quran?

Ans. Quran has 114 chapters and composed of about 6236 verses.

Q. How many law making verses are there in Quran?

Ans. There are near about 600 verses in Quran which are law making, which embody rules of law.

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Sources of Muslim Law:

Sources means the origin, a place from which a person or thing has emerged. There can only one source of law and that is the Indian Parliament and the State legislatures, which are the law-making bodies of our nation. But since the personal laws are based on the customs and practices of the religion, it is not possible to do away with them and frame the laws completely adverse to the religious beliefs.

The Islamic law is referred as “Sharia”. Islam has its own personal, civil, criminal, evidence and international law. Following are the types of sources under Muslim Law

1) Ancient Sources

2) Customary Sources

3) Modern Sources

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1) Ancient sources of Muslim law:

These are also called as primary sources of Muslim law. Ancient sources are those sources which are based on religious beliefs mentioned in Holy Scriptures or books. These sources are universally accepted as authentic and these sources shall be relied before any other source. For any question relating to the personal life of family, the Muslims shall resort to these ancient sources of law to understand the legal opinion in such situations. The ancient sources are the governing pillars of this religion. Even today in 21^st century, most of the Muslim personal laws are uncodified and some which are codifies are not being followed because of conflict with their traditional sources.

There are five types of religious sources of Muslim Law:

1) Quran: It is the collection of commandments communicated to prophet Muhammad by Allah through Angel Jibrail. It’s authority is paramount.

2) Sunnah: Just as Quran is the express revelation through the prophet, the Sunnah are implied revelations in the precepts and sayings of the prophet, not written down in his lifetime, but preserved by traditions and handed down by authorities agents.

3) Hadith: Just as Quran is the express revelation through the prophet, the Hadith or Hadis are implied revelations in the precepts and sayings of the prophet, not written down in his lifetime, but preserved by traditions and handed down by authorities agents.

4) Ijma: Ijma means the consensus of the companions and followers of the prophet Muhammad. Abdur Rahim defines it as ‘the agreement of the jurists among the followers of the prophet in a particular age on particular question.’

5) Qiyas: Qiyas means ‘measuring’, ‘accord’ or ‘equality’. In Muslim jurisprudence it means an extension of law from the original text by means of common sense. According to Jung, ‘it is a process of deduction applying the law of the text to the cases which, though not covered by the language of the text, are nevertheless covered by the reason of the text.’

2) Customary sources:

The Muslim people are governed by some informal laws based on customary practices, which differ from cultural, social and political scenario. A custom is a tradition passing on from generation to another, which originally governed human conduct and obtained the force of law in a particular locality. Customs are basically practices that people follow continuously for a long period of time. In fact, people follow them for so long that they obtain the status of law in some cases. It is a natural source of law.

3) Modern Sources:

Apart from ancient and customary sources enlisted above, secondary sources or modern sources also govern Muslim law.

1) Legislation: There have been many legislative enactments which have considerably amplified, altered or modified the original Muslim law.

e.g. 1) Shariat Act, 1937; 2) The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939; 3) The Muslim Women (Protection of Right on Divorce) Act, 1986 etc.

2) Judicial Precedents: Interpretation of Muslim law by the judges of the Indian High Courts and Supreme Court continue in modern times to supplement and modify the Islamic law. These decisions are regarded as precedents for future cases.

3) Other modern sources: These are based on law of equity and good conscience. Sometimes analogical deductions failed to satisfy the jurists owing to the narrowness and inadaptability of the habits due to hardship to public. In such case a jurist could use good conscience. These may include the following:

i) Isti Hasan – it is based on the jurist preference of equity.

ii) Isti Salah – it is based on the jurist preference of public interest.

iii) Ijtehad – Shariyat is based on this.

iv) Taqlid – It is nothing but the law of precedents.

v) Fatwas – These are decisions of Muslim judges.

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Application of Muslim Law:

It is Muslim personal law which is applied in India to Muslims. It is not the pure Muslim law that is so applied. The entire Muslim jurisprudence is a huge mass, only a limited portion of it has now the force of law. A great portion of it has come to be rejected as uncertain, complex and artificial. The gap caused such rejection has been compensated by the rules equity, justice and good conscience. Many modifications have been made, intentionally through legislation and unintentionally through judicial precedents. Hence at the present day in matters only of inheritance and succession, wills, gifts, marriage, dower, divorce, paternity, guardianship, maintenance, trust and waqfs, the Muslim law is applied to Indian Muslims.

Notwithstanding any customs or usage to the contrary, in all questions (save questions relating to agricultural land) regarding intestate succession, special property of females, including personal property inherited or obtained under contract or gift or any other provision of Personal Law, marriage, dissolution of marriage, including talaq, ila, zihar, lian, khula and mubaraat, maintenance, dower, guardianship, gifts, trusts and trust properties, and wakfs (other than charities and charitable institutions and charitable and religious endowments) the rule of decision in cases where the parties are Muslims shall be the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat).

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The rules of Muslim law so far applicable in India may be classified as under:

(i) Those which have been expressly directed to be applied: These rules are expressly directed by the legislature to be applied to Muslims such as rules of inheritance and succession. These rules are applicable only to the extent that they are not interfered by the subsequent legislation. Thus, where Muslim law is specifically directed to be administered, the Courts has to administer the rules of Muslim law irrespective of the fact that they might not, in the opinion of the court, conform with justice, equity and good conscience.

(ii) Those which are applied on principles of justice, equity and good conscience: These are neither expressly directed to be applied not abrogated by legislative Acts, are applied as principles of justice, equity and good conscience such as the law of pre-emption. It is on this ground that some High Courts have held that Muslim law of pre-emption is applicable to Muslims. But the same law of pre-emption has been made inapplicable in Madras on the same ground of equity, justice and good conscience in as much as the law of pre-emption places restriction upon the liberty of transfer of propery.

(iii) Those provisions which are not applicable at all: The application of some portions of Muhammedan law barred by the enactment of statutory provisions such as the Muhammedan law of Crimes, law of evidence, law of torts, etc. Some of the provisions of Muslim law have come under the provisions of various statutes. In such cases the Muslims are governed by the same statute law which governs other communities. The portions of procedure and evidence under Muslim jurisprudence have now been superseded by the codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.

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Short Q & A: Muslim Law 1

Q. From where did Muslim Law has its origin?

Ans. Muslim Law had its origin in Arabia when Prophet Muhammad proclaimed the Islam religion.

Q. Who is Muslim?

Ans. The person following the Islam religion and teachings of Quran is called Muslim.

Q. To whom Muslim Law is applicable in India?

Ans. In India, the term Muslim Law is applicable to the personal matters concerning the section of the Indian Society following the Islam religion.

Q. Why Muslims adhere to the Islam law strictly?

Ans. Muslims adhere to the Islam law strictly because Prophet Muhammad had proclaimed Muslim law to be the commandment of God.

Q. How personal law of Muslims guides them?

Ans. The personal law of Muslims provides guidance in matters of marriage and divorce, succession, adoption, inheritance and charity in Indian Islamic community.

Q. When Muslim law is applied by Courts?

Ans. In family Court matters, when parties are Muslims then the Muslim law is applied by Courts.

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Q. What are various names of Muslim personal law?

Ans. Sharia in Arabic, Muslim law, Islam law, Law of Allah.

Q. What is express revelation of Muslim law?

Ans. The Express revelation consists in Quran which contains the direct revelation from God in his own words.

Q. What are implied revelations of Muslim law?

Ans. A hadis and Sunna i.e. traditions are implied revelations through Prophet Muhammad.

Q. What is meaning of the word Sharia?

Ans. Scholars describe the Arabic word Sharia as “Pathway to be followed”.

Q. When did the Muslim law systematised?

Ans. Shariya or Islamic law was systematised during 8^th and 9^th centuries.

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Origin of Muslim Law:

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Muslim law claims its origin from divinity. Thus the primary source of Muslim Law is divine revelation which has been of two kinds – Express and Implied.

The Express revelation consists in Quran which contains the direct revelation from God in his own words. A hadis and Sunna i.e. traditions are implied revelations through Prophet Muhammad. The divine legislator delegated this power of making laws to the Prophet Muhammad. The precepts and every word and saying of the prophet constitutes the Muslim law and they are believed to be in accordance with the communications from Allah. The notable peculiarity of this system is the complete identification of its origin with the personality of the prophet.

In the later days, the disciples of the prophet have refined and polished these principles. Scholars describe the Arabic word Sharia as “Pathway to be followed”. Shariya or Islamic law was systematised during 8^th and 9^th centuries.

Islamic law in application constitutes a system of duties that are incumbent upon a Muslim by virtue of his religious belief. The law constitutes divinely ordained path of conduct that guides Muslims towards a practical expression of religious conviction in this world to come.

A Muslim is a person who follows the religion of Islam. There are two main ways in which a person can be regarded as a Muslim:

1) Muslim by birth:

a) Believes in One God,

b) Prophet-hood of Muhammad

2) Muslim by conversion

a) Converts by profession of Islam

b) Converts by formal ceremony

Thus these are the minimum and fundamental rules for a person to be called a Muslim.

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Introduction: Muslim Law

Hello friend this the introduction to the Muslim Law in India. This blog is only regarding study material of law.

Introduction:

Islam means “Submission to the will of God and establishment of peace”. Muslim law had its origin in Arabia, where the Prophet Muhammad started it and the Mohammadan invaders brought the religion in India.

In India, the term Muslim Law applies to the personal matters concerning the section of the Indian society following the Islam religion. Hence the Muslim personal law governs the institutions of marriage and divorce, adoption, succession and charity in the Indian Islamic Community. Muslim personal law in India is largely uncodified. It is not based on laws made by the legislature.

Prophet Muhammad had proclaimed Muslim law to be the commandment of the God – Allah, so most Muslims adhere to it strictly. It dictates several religious and legal activities of Muslims.

The Muslim law or Islam law or the Law of Allah is a part of family law. It is a personal law applied by Courts in regard to the family matters when the parties are Muslims. Muslim law is called Sharia in Arabic. Muslim Law in general draws no distinction between religious life and secular life.

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