Shariat as Element of Public Order in the Arabic Countries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17323/2072-8166.2026.3.261.289Keywords:
Shariat, public order, Fiqh, Quran, Sunna of Prophet Muhammad, legislation, court, court decision, personal status, usury prohibitionAbstract
The Islamic Law is still occupying an important place in the legal systems of many Arabic countries. Its role manifests itself in different forms. One of them is Islamic Shariat’s status as an element of the public order (policy). Such role of Islamic provisions draw an attention for its close links with implementation of norms of foreign legislation as well as fulfilment of court and arbitration decisions in the mentioned countries. The traditional Fiqh (Islamic science dealing with people’s behaviour rules and estimation of everything which have upper presentation) didn’t elaborate the notion of notion of the public order, but it put down some concepts which the Islamic thought uses today when approaching this phenomenon. The modern Islamic jurisprudence understands the public order as common interest (welfare) and Shariat postulates which are characterised by precise fixation and are interpreted in similar way by the Muslim scholars in the field of Fiqh. Legislation of merely all Islamic states includes the Islamic Shariat as a whole or its institutions and provisions into the public order. As a rule, it concerns many legislative norms on personal status questions in particular regulating family and marriage relations as well as inheritance issues in accordance with Shariat provisions. At the same time in a lot of Arab countries among the elements of the public order there is Sharia prohibition of usury profit for loan or delay of fulfilment of money obligation. Sometimes an apostasy is considered as a violation of the public order as well. Along with legislation court decisions play an important role in giving Sharia norms a place within the public order. Judicial organs of different levels (including supreme courts and institutions of constitutional control) in Arab countries adopt decisions concerning concrete provisions of Quran and Sunna of Prophet Muhammad that belong to the public order or their interpretation together with legislative norms. Such judicial practice is the foundation of the notion of “Islamic public order” which modern Islamic legal thought is elaborating.
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