Islam Is a Religion of Law Rather Than of Theology. Discuss.

“Islam
 is
 a
 religion
 of
 ritual
 and
 law
 rather
 than
 pure
 theology.”
 Discuss
 
 
 
  The
  Sharī’ah,
  or
  ‘religious
  law’
  is
  almost
  contradictory
  to
  Western
  notions
  of
  law
  and
 religion.
 Whilst
 religion
 is
 seen
 as
 entailing
 faith
 in
 a
 non-­‐material
 force
 of
  some
  kind,
  law
  is
  seen
  as
  something
  external
  to
  ourselves
  which
  has
  been
  established
  to
  regulate
  the
  material
  needs
  of
  the
  community.1
  This
  view
  of
  religion
  and
  law
  being
  disparate
  concepts
  is
  assumed
  in
  the
  question
  of
  this
  study,
  and
  so
  a
  critique
  of
  the
  question
  will
  first
  be
  given.
  After
  this,
  a
  close
  comparison
  between
  kalām
  (theology),
  Sharī’ah
  and
  usul
  al-­fiqh
  (legal
  theory),
  will
  be
  made
  to
  determine
  how
  closely
  related
  theology
  and
  law
  are,
  then
  a
  critical
 examination
 of
 some
 of
 the
 components
 of
 the
 Sharī’ah
 will
 be
 made.
 The
  study
 will
 conclude
 after
 proving
 the
 question
 at
 hand
 to
 be
 largely
 redundant,
  and
 the
 Sharī’ah
 to
 be
 a
 unified
 whole.
 
 
  Before
 attempting
 to
 the
 answer
 the
 question,
 it
 is
 necessary
 to
 first
 comment
 on
  the
  nature
  of
  the
  question
  itself.
  The
  question
  is
 decidedly
  Western
  secular
  in
  its
  inspiration,
 in
 that
 it
 tries
 to... [continues]

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