Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians - Electric Scotland
Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians - Electric Scotland
Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians - Electric Scotland
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180 t CHAPTER SEVEN<br />
claimed by Christian bishops <strong>and</strong> in particular, after the erosion of<br />
their powers <strong>and</strong> the growth of his, by the pope, the bishop of<br />
Rome.<br />
There are no great divergencies between Sunni <strong>and</strong> Shiite law in<br />
practice, but two examples deserve notice. Unlike, the Sunnis, the<br />
Shiites permit the practice of temporary marriage (muta), a sexual<br />
union <strong>for</strong> a limited period of time, even hours, in exchange <strong>for</strong> a<br />
fixed sum of money. The Sunnis regard this as mere prostitution;<br />
the Shi‘ites claim, perhaps correctly, that the Prophet himself allowed<br />
it <strong>and</strong> that it was only outlawed by the caliph Umar. Since<br />
the Shiites do not accept the authority, political or legal, of any of<br />
the first three caliphs, muta st<strong>and</strong>s. Taqiyya, or dissembling, is a<br />
characteristic Shiite teaching born as a reaction to living as an often<br />
persecuted minority under Sunni sovereignty. Indeed, Muhammad<br />
himself had lived under such circumstances, <strong>and</strong> according to<br />
the Shiite underst<strong>and</strong>ing of Quran 16:106, which promises the<br />
wrath of God will descend on those who disbelieve “except <strong>for</strong><br />
those who are compelled but whose hearts are firm in faith,” it is<br />
permissible to dissemble one’s beliefs, specifically one’s Shiite beliefs,<br />
when there is danger of losing life or property. Though generally<br />
associated with Shiites, taqiyya was also permitted to the<br />
Sunni Muslims of Spain, <strong>for</strong> example, when they were threatened<br />
with death if they did not convert to Christianity.<br />
Ijtihad<br />
Since the lawyers of <strong>Islam</strong> were essentially rabbis <strong>and</strong> not bishops<br />
speaking com<strong>for</strong>tably ex cathedra, they had early begun to employ<br />
various <strong>for</strong>ms of legal reasoning that have been the staples of lawyers<br />
always <strong>and</strong> everywhere. The earliest generations of Muslim<br />
jurisprudents had often simply rendered an “opinion” (ray) on a<br />
matter of practice in the still ill defined field of <strong>Islam</strong>ic law, <strong>and</strong><br />
more often than not this was sufficient to settle the matter. By the<br />
generation of Shafii, however, things had become considerably<br />
more complex, <strong>and</strong> the Egyptian lawyer was clearly attempting to<br />
rationalize legal thinking when he insisted that “opinion,” which