The Muslim law is believed to have been derived from the divine. Muslim law or the law of Allah is the part of the family law which is applied only on Muslims. It is a branch of a civil law that is applied by courts in regard to family matters when the parties are Muslims. Muslim law is that part of the law which is derived from Quran and by other recorded sayings of Prophet Muhammad.
Sources of Muslim Law is classified into two major categories:-
A. PRIMARY SOURCE- These sources are the foundation of the Muslim law. These are those sources on which the Muslim law relied on.
a) Quran
b) Sunnat
c) Ijma
d) Qiyas
THE QURAN-( THE BOOK OF ALLAH)
Quran is the supreme source of Muslim Law as it is believed to contain the verses of god himself. Muslim Law is founded by AL-Quran which is believed by the Muslims to have been existed from eternity. Quran is the primary source. The Islamic society or the Islam religion owes its birth to the word of Quran. It contains the words of God which was communicated to Prophet Mohammad through angel Gabriel. It contains philosophical laws, code, conduct and punishment, which regulates the secular and spiritual life of the Muslims. Quran consists of 114 chapters and 6236 Ayats.
SUNNAT-
In Islam, Sunnat, are the traditions and practices of the Prophet Mohammad. It is about the Prophet’s modal behavior, the procedure that was followed by the Prophet, his way of action, his sayings, his doings. All these are considered as traditions. There are types of sunnah. The first is the sayings of the Prophet that is Sunnah Hadith. The second is the actions of the prophet that is Sunnah Al Filiyya. The final type of Sunnah is the practi8ces prevailing during Muhammad’s time which he did not oppose which is Sunnah Taqririyyah.
IJMA
Ijma is the approved and agreed opinion of Muslim jurist. Ijma in Islamic law, is the universal and infallible agreement of either the Muslim community as a whole or Muslim scholars in particular. The Sunni jurist agree that Ijma is the third source of Islamic law after the Quran and the Sunna of the prophet. It is necessary to determine the form which the concept of Ijma, should take in the modern times in order to answer and solve the current problem which confront Muslim Society. There are three types of Ijma:-
Ijma of companions of prophet universally acceptable.
Ijma of jurist- best after Ijma of companions.
Ijma of people- not of much importance
QIYAS
This is last primary source of the Muslim law. It basically means to use logic and reasoning to apply on a known law to a new situation which is not originally covered in the law. Qiyas is the analogy from the Quran, the Sunnat and Ijma. Qiyas doesn’t purport to create new laws but applies the old principles to the new circumstances. It is used to solve modern problems by finding something similar in the Quran.
B. SECONDARY SOURCES- these sources are not the basic but the supplementary sources of the Muslim law.
CUSTOM
These are termed as urf in Muslim law. Customs are never recognized as a source of Muslim law but it also can’t be denied that custom has always been given a place under Muslim law especially in matters like agriculture, charities under wakf etc. Not all customs hold importance in Muslim law. There are certain conditions for a valid custom under Muslim law, which are :-
It must be ancient
It must be territorial
It must be continuous
It must not oppose the public policy
It must not oppose the Quran or Ijma
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
It includes the decisions given by the Privy Council, the Supreme Court and the High Courts of India. It acts as precedents for the future cases. It is supplementary to Muslim law. For instance, in Maini Bibi v. choudhary Vakil Ahmad, the privy council held that a widow possesses the right to retain the property of her husband till her dower money was paid.
LEGISLATION
Muslims are governed by various legislations passed by many legislatures, which have considerably supplemented the Muslim law like:-
Shariat Act, 1937
The Mussalman Waqf Act, 1923
The dissolution of the Muslim Marriage Act, 1939
Guardians and Wards Act, 1890
These acts have considerable affected, supplemented and modified the Muslim law.
JUSTICE EQUITY AND GOOD CONSCIENCE
It refers to as Istihsan in Muslim law, which means juristic equity (or juristic discretion). According to Abu Hanifa, the man has been endowed with intelligence to use his common sense to do what he thinks fit. Several portions of Muslim law have been modified so as to meet the changing conditions in India.
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