Transcript Islam Continued

Islam Continued
Morality
Shariah Law
• Set of moral rules
• Set out by Allah
• A path towards living a devout life
• Legal rules to help govern Muslim society
•Qur’an
• Sunna
•Hadith
Origins of Shariah
•If not covered in the above: legal experts
provide interpretations, called fiqh
Implementing Shariah
• Obligatory actions / duties (5 Pillars)
• Recommended actions (e.g., charity work)
• Neutral actions (not covered by Shariah)
• Discouraged actions (e.g., divorce)
• Forbidden actions (e.g., murder, adultery)
Shariah Law in Canada
• Muslims observe shariah in non-legal moral areas
• Some want to use shariah to solve legal disputes,
e.g., family disputes, marriage, divorce
• Some people fear equality rights of women could
be threatened if shariah replaces civil law
Fatwas
• interpretations of scripture for today
•A fatwa: a religious opinion on Islamic
law from a scholar
•Can be on any matter
Family Life
• Arabia during Muhammad’s time: harsh & patriarchal
• Qur’an improved the treatment of women
• In Canada, husbands & wives share household and
child rearing duties
• Challenge: finding gender roles that respect Canadian
laws & nurture families, still reflecting Islam’s
teachings
Clothing
• Based on virtues of modesty & respect
• Styles vary worldwide:
• Garment covering whole body when outside
one’s home, may or may not cover face
• Western style clothes, headscarf (hijab)
• Modest dress following local customs
• Men: covered at least from navel to knees
Education
• Muslim schools: madrasas
•Areas of study: Arabic, Qur’an, shariah,
Hadith, logic, Muslim history
Diet
•Foods allowed: halal
• Foods forbidden: haram
• e.g., alcohol, pork
• Meat must be slaughtered in a ritual way
•Kosher foods are permitted when halal
foods are not available
Sexuality
•Catholics, Jews & Muslims affirm the joy
of sexual relationships between husband
& wife
•Same purpose of conjugal love:
•Good of the spouses
•Transmitting life
Islam teaches
•Sexual relations  ritual impurity
• Ritual purification before prayer
•Sins: premarital sex, masturbation,
homosexual acts & pornography
•Islam not against artificial birth control,
joined Catholics at UN condemning
government-imposed birth control
regulations.