Variants of Sharia Law and Globalization

On the past three posts I've mentioned that Sharia Law is not exactly the same in each and every Islamic country, this is due to the different schools of Sharia Law: Hanbali, Hanifi, Maliki, Shafi'i (Robinson). The essence of the system is the same, all of them are are based on the Koran (the "Word of God") and also taken from Sunna (Islamic customs based on the life of Prophet Muhammad) (Robinson).

The Hanifi Law is the most liberal of all 4 schools and the one that might consider some contemporary opinions, on the other hand Hanbali is the most conservative and has been linked to the most severe punishments mentioned on the previous post (Robinson). The last two, Maliki and Shafi'i are similar, the latter is still conservative and heavily takes its principles from Sunna while the former is based on what the people of Medina did then Prophet Muhammed lived (Robinson).

Another ideal that this four schools have in common is that every Muslim should take their belief and faith wherever they go. However I believe that due to the globalized nature of our world, it is much more likely that people that live under a more liberal variant of Sharia Law will continue to practice their religion. By traveling or living in another country they are being exposed to other beliefs and ways of living and, for example, Hanifi allows a more open state of mind than any of the other schools, therefore this simple quality would make a big impact on the way the Muslim develops in another country since it allows him or her to adapt to a new environment. For this reason I think not only old-school Sharia Law, but a lot of religions should update themselves to meet the needs of the citizens of the 21st century.

Works Cited

Robinson, B. A. "Sharia Law: A Brief Introduction." Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Web. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/islsharia.htm>.