‘Islamic law’ refers to the diverse legal systems that have been and continue to be produced with the objective of being in accord with the Islamic faith. Islamic legal systems operate in multiple and sometimes discontinuous ways. Usage of the singular term ‘Islamic law’ should not be understood as suggesting the absence of legal polycentricity (multiple groups and institutions generate Islamic law) or legal pluralism (within Islamic societies, since Islamic and non-Islamic legal systems coexist). There are significant historical and substantive distinctions between ‘Islamic law’ and ‘Muslim legalities’ (the legal systems in use by Muslims). ‘Islamic law’ refers to juristic interpretations (fiqh) of divine law (sharīʿah); ‘Muslim legalities’ refers to either state law (where Muslims are the majority or minority) or the legal practices of non-state Muslim communities. The key distinction between these two overlapping categories is that Islamic jurisprudence is generated by an interpretive process anchored in canonical Islamic texts; in comparison, Muslim legalities are generated by an interpretive process anchored in a state or other legal system that may or may not be Islamic and with a population that may or may not have a Muslim majority (Salaymeh, 2014). The historical section on Islamic law in this article focuses on Arabia and other parts of the Near East, but Islamic law spread internationally by the beginning of the modern era.
Under Islam, all property vests in God and is temporally enjoyed by human beings. Islam promotes individual property rights subject to ethical rules laid down by Islamic law. Private home ownership is commonly a high priority for Muslims. Islam also has a pro-poor agenda facilitating collective rights and social housing. Muslim countries, despite their differential economic capacities, aim to priorities the poor and homeless for initiatives through the State treasury. Another way low-cost housing has been funded, for example in Malaysia, is through State collection of obligatory charity (zakat), which is one of the five pillars of Islam. The primary objectives of Islamic law (maqasid sharīʿah) are the protection of life, property, mind, religion, and offspring. The State thus has, under Islamic law, to protect property and by extension the inviolability of homes. Further, Islamic law provides legal remedies and mechanisms for arbitrary eviction from homes by State or private parties and well-developed alternate dispute resolution mechanisms of negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.
More than any other religion, Islam understands itself in relation to its past, as believers seek to emulate the lives of the Prophet and his associates. This means that the language and culture of Arabia are of critical spiritual import for all Muslims.
Covers• The geographies of places and environments in the past• The dynamics of place, space, and landscape• Historiography and philosophy of historical geography• Methodological challenges and problems in historical geography
• Landscape, memory, and environment
Lawyer’s Suit
The legal profession plays an important role in the administration of justice. As part of the legal profession, lawyers have unique roles of creating a proper image and building the confidence and trust of the public through observing certain codes of ethics. Lawyers are bound with a high standard of code of ethics to ensure that the profession is able to fulfill its role within the justice system adequately and lawyers are ethically equipped for the powerful roles that they play in society. The lawyers’ code of ethics reflects standards of chosen behavior and provides guidelines for desirable conduct between individual lawyers, clients, courts, and the public at large. Generally, a lawyer refers to a specialist in or a practitioner of law, one as an attorney, counselor, solicitor, barrister, or advocate whose profession is to conduct lawsuits as to legal rights and obligations in other matters. In the context of Malaysia, lawyers can be divided into two namely an advocate and solicitor and a Peguam Syarie. An advocate and solicitor are a lawyer admitted and enrolled under the Legal Profession Act 1976 whereby a Peguam Syarie refers to those who practice specifically in the Shariah courts.
Ethical principles of lawyers refer to a rule or code of conduct binding to all members of the legal profession. Professional ethic is a hallmark of the legal profession and Islam extremely concerns about the duty of the lawyers to observe certain codes of ethics as stipulated in al-Quran and al-Sunnah. The Legal Profession (Practice and Etiquette) Rules 1978 (LPPER) and the Code of Ethics of Peguam Syarie 2000 (COEPS) provide the minimum standards of conduct to the legal practitioner whereby the former binds an advocate and solicitor and the latter a peguam syarie.
The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ethnos, which means character. It represents a wide meaning of character, behavior, or code of conduct. On the other hand, legal ethics specifically refers to principles of conduct governing an individual or a profession. In Islam, the word ethic is synonym with the terms adab and khuluq. These two terms denote good behavior or a standard of conduct to be observed in social interactions.
In the Holy Qur’an, the term Khuluq can be found in Surah al-Qalam verse as Allah says
“And surely you (Prophet Muhammad) have the best form of morals,”
Surah al-Shu’ara verse 137
“There is no other than khuluq of the ancient”.
Apart from these, the Prophetic hadith had made reference to ethics and morality reported that “the Khuluq (Morals) of the Prophet was based upon the Qur’an”. The Quranic dictums and the Prophet’s tradition obviously demand that all Muslims have a high moral standard of behavior and a good character regardless of what profession that they hold. Moreover, lawyers who have specialized knowledge in law are accounted and obligated to observe certain codes of ethics in order to gain confidence and to build the trust of the general public in the dignity of the profession.
