Contradictions of Civil Law with Islamic Law and its Implication on a Muslim’s Responsibility

This paper aims to understand the implications of civil law on a Muslim’s responsibility resulting from contradictions between civil law and Islamic law. The research uses the qualitative method. This paper looks at general laws that allow Muslims not to practise Islamic law. The study shows that law acts contradict Islamic practice. Thus, every Muslim should not disregard his responsibilities to fulfil worldly desires.

Law is vital for a country to ensure benefit for society (Aulia & Al-Fatih, 2017). It protects individual freedom and rights by providing important frameworks and rules to help resolve disputes and by offering legal alternatives to finding solutions for the community (Burchardt, 2019).

In Singapore, all Singaporeans are bound with the legal system based on English common law regardless of their race, language, or religion. Hence, the government plays a vital role in crafting appropriate state laws for society. Singapore law is founded on four pillars – Constitution, Legislation, Subsidiary Legislation and judicial decisions of judges (GuideMeSingapore, 2008).

Here, the Muslim community is also subjected to Shariah law, which is regulated explicitly by the AMLA (Administration Muslim Law Act) apart from Singapore’s civil law. For most Muslims, Shariah law relates to wills, administration, inheritance planning, and divorce (Abbas, 2012).

Although AMLA is intended for the Singaporean Muslim community, its scopes are limited to a few areas. While most Singaporeans are subject to the common law, the minority Muslim community raises the question of their responsibility to apply what Islam advocates. Here lies the contradiction between the provisions to use Islamic law and that which is contained in the Koran, as-Sunnah, and the ijtihad (the exercise of personal judgement in legal matters) of Islamic scholars.

Bibliographic Information

Title: Contradictions of Civil Law with Islamic Law and its Implication on a Muslim’s Responsibility

Author(s): Siti Khadijah Binte Mahfuh

Published in: Audito Comparative Law Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 2, 2022.

Language: English

Length: 7 pages

Contradictions of Civil Law with Islamic Law and its Implication on a Muslim’s Responsibility