Law #3

       While the Islamic believe in the Shari’ah Law, Christians believe in Divine Law. The Divine Law states that “any law comes directly from the character of God” and that God has revealed Himself through nature (286). On the other hand, the Shari’ah Law does not say that God revealed Himself through nature. The Islamic view of law involves politics, economics, banking, business, contracts, social issues, and much more. Basically, it is involved in every part of everyone’s life. Not following the Islamic laws in an Islamic society has very bad consequences; most involve being killed or having great physical pain inflicted on the person. The source of the Christian view of law is the Bible. Christian law reflects the character of God, shows us that we are created in His image, and does not exclude anyone from following its laws. One major difference between the Shari’a and the Bible is that the Bible teaches forgiveness.  Unlike the Shari’a which promotes drastic consequences for breaking the law, the Bible says that we are to forgive one another. However, this does not mean that we are simply to let a murder go free. We still need to deal with their crime accordingly. Another difference between Islamic law and Christian law is that the Islamic law does not promote individual freedom within its religion. The Christian perspective of law “respects both human dignity and human depravity” (296). The Islamic law focuses on the society, and making sure that everyone follows the rules, and if they do no, there will be consequences. Also, their view of law does not involve a personal God who knows and understands the struggles they go through, or who offers them forgiveness for the wrongs they have done. The Christian law on the other hand does involve accountability for the individual, but it also involves forgiveness and a personal God who knows and understands His people and everything that troubles them.