Reconsidering Shariah
By Saleem Ahmed, Ph.D.
Shariah continues to drive a wedge among Muslims and also isolates Muslims from others. What some Muslims regard as religious obligations - or "Words of God" - are looked upon by others possibly as violent and misogynic practices. Stoning adulterers to death, cutting hands of thieves, beating drunkards, and requiring women to wear the veil are the most commonly mentioned "questionable" practices.
Trying to trace these practices historically, I recently discovered an anomaly: While the Shariah is supposedly based on hadith, it predates about 90% hadith. Please consider:
The Shariah was formulated by the following five imams on the basis of hadith available to them: Abu Hanifa (699-767 CE); Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (702-765); Malik ibn Anas (711-795); al-...