Shari'a
/ʃɑːˈriːə/noun
Islamic law derived from the Qur'an, Hadith, and legal scholarship.
Did you know?Shari'a comes from an Arabic root connected to the idea of a clear path to a watering place, which is why its oldest sense is about the way that leads to life, not just rules.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
PSem
*šrʕ
“to open, make a path, or begin”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
شَرَعَ (šaraʿa)
“to ordain, prescribe, or set out a way”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
شَرِيعَة (šarīʿa)
“a prescribed path; a way to water; religious law”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
الشريعة (al-sharīʿa)
“the divinely ordained law or path”
19th–20th Century
English
shari'a / sharia
“Islamic law”