Mardheeya S.

Nuruddin
Legal History I-A
Religion and Law: The society that gave birth to the most questionable rules in shariah: polygamy
and death penalty

There are 1.6 Billion Muslims in the World and if Shariah is about killing, the entire human
population would have been extinguished by now. What really is Shariah law?

Islamic law is very poorly understood. Few people know much about its content or about the means
by which it is supposed to achieve results. Sharia is one of many Islamic laws. It tackles disciplines
and principles that govern the behavior of a Muslim towards himself and the people around him.
It also governs interaction between communities and groups.

In the video that we watched inside the class, the speaker pointed out that extremism, such as ISIS,
is due to examining Islamic laws in a fragmented context. To fraction it into its component, then
examine them individually, will yield little or no understanding.

In understanding Sharia law, one must read and interpret it from a comprehensive perspective.
Moreover, each law must be read in the social context when that law arose. To further explain, it
is beneficial to cite two Islamic practices that are greatly misunderstood.

Shariah is not synonymous with heads being cut off. The greatly misunderstood death penalty is a
small component of Shariah that is taken out of context. In Islam, these laws are purely
discretionary. In fact, in the first thousand years of Islam, theres not a single incidence of a person
being stoned for committing adultery. That is due to several complicated conditions before
punishment can be carried over a suspect of horrible crimes. If we were to read the bible and
history books, we can find death penalty and other capital punishment as part of the rules that
govern the ancient times. I would like to explain that death penalties in Islam should be seen along
with the other capital punishments during the old times. That is, death penalty is a common
punishment in Ancient laws. And we can infer from the general context during those times that
penalties in Shariah law were generally acceptable.

Similar to this explanation is the circumstance of females during war when the law on polygamy
was implemented. After several wars in Middle east, females became widows and were left alone
in managing household. Allowing those few males who survived the war to marry and manage
more than one household became a solution. Looking at polygamy in the present time, its
practicability can be explained by two reasons. There is a great number of female compared to
male and the rule of monogamy might be seen as barring other women from marriage.
Moreover, polygamy addresses the social problems of prostitution and extramarital affairs. Instead
of cheating, Islam allows a man to marry more than one wife, with full recognition of the rights of
all of them.

In the end, we conclude that law must be seen in context. There is a reason behind that law.
Regardless of whether the purpose is to criticize it or implement it, we should understand it in the
light of social context.
 Mardheeya S. Nuruddin
Legal History I-A
Reaction paper on The Journey of Humankind: Power of Money

In the film The Journey of Humankind: Power of Money, we have seen how money shaped
society from generations to generations. Money, a symbolic representation of value, have changed
interaction among people. The Journey of Humankind rewinds all the way back to the beginning
and traces how the invention and innovation of money brought us to where we are now.

Moreover, the speaker in the film displayed a notion that money is everything. However,
money is not something we cannot live without. As a matter of fact, civilization existed
before money. Many people have attempted to live without money. Some have accomplished
this but not without something in exchange. Living without money caused these people to
live by planting their own source of food and being self-reliant. Modes of interaction with
other people have been limited in an attempt to live without money. Civilization probably
wouldnt have gotten very far without money. Ancient humans invention of money was a
revolutionary milestone. It helped to drive the development of civilizatio n.

Over the centuries, money continued to evolve in form and function. One interesting point
to consider is the fact that money evolved together with the developments in law. Both of these
aimed at governing interaction between people. As an example, when the ancient worlds stones
and shells gave way to coins and eventually to paper currency and checks drawn upon bank
accounts, the commercial law have evolved too by adding provisions that govern bank ing
and digital currency.

In every 500 pesos bill, the faces of Benigno Aquino and Corazon Aquino are featured while
the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the blue-naped parrot are featured on
the reverse side. A 30-peso bill featuring President Duterte went viral. These are proofs that money
reflects the history of a certain society. On the other hand, money has also affected interaction of
people in a society. Money shapes behavior of people. Money and our continual need for it
exert a powerful behavioral influence upon all of us.

A few days ago, the House of Representatives moved to appropriate 1000 pesos budget for the
Commission on Human Rights. This sparked varied reactions from Filipino netizens. People react
to money issues. People are concern with money allocation. This is a good example of how money
is entangled in our everyday lives. Some interpreted the allocation of 1000 pesos as the price or
value that the current government is putting on the human rights of Filipinos. We can infer from
the issue on budget allocation that money is in the hands of the powerful and that money is power.
This is exactly the point made on the film.