and the latter to the path of spiritual states and listening. They may also concern outward acts of worship and the policies of rulers. Speculative theologians set rational or theological doctrines over against matters of the sharī'a; Sufis set experiential insights and spiritual realities over against them; philosophers set philosophy over against the sharī'a; and kings set statecraft over against it. As for jurists and ordinary people, they depart from what they regard as the sharī'a in favour of some of these things, or set custom, a legal school, or personal opinion over against it.

The truth of the matter is that the sharī'a with which Allah sent Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, encompasses everything conducive to well-being in this world and the Hereafter. Whatever in these things conflicts with the sharī'a is false, and whatever accords with it is true. Yet most people also alter the meaning of the term sharī'a. Kings and ordinary people understand shar' and sharī'a to mean a judge’s ruling. It is well known, however, that adjudication is only one branch of the sharī'a. Rather, the sharī'a encompasses every exercise of authority and every action that promotes the good of religious and worldly life. The sharī'a is precisely the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, and the way followed by the early generations of the Muslim community in beliefs, spiritual states, worship, deeds, governance, rulings, offices of authority, and grants.

In people’s usage, the term has three senses:

Revealed law: what Allah and His Messenger have prescribed.

Law based on interpretation: matters in which independent scholarly judgment is permissible.

Altered law: the lies and wickedness perpetrated by those who promote falsehood under an outward guise of the sharī'a, or religious innovations, or misguidance that is attributed