Muslim rulers wanted
a way to make Shari'ah into law. To do so, they decided which rules needed to
be laws, first. Then the jurists used their interpretations of Shari'ah to show
the new laws were Islamic. The result is what we call Islamic Law. Islamic Law is always based on someone's
interpretation of the Shari'a, (which is an interpretation of the Qur'an and
Hadith). Because it is a human interpretation, Islamic Law can mean different
things in different places and at different times in history.
Islamic Law is followed by many
Muslims as a way of life, not as law. In this case, those Muslims relinquish
their free will, though it is not required by Quran. Following shari’ah is a person utilizing
their own free will to evaluate their Quranic understanding and beliefs as a
Muslim, supplemented by human interpretations derived from Quran and Hadith,
and derive reasonable conclusions in order to resolve conflicts in their lives today.
