Shariʿah (‘straight path’) as a code of behaviour and ethics for Muslims; as a legal system

Shariʿah, meaning 'straight path', serves as a guideline for Muslim behavior and ethics, functioning as a legal framework. It includes: (a) The sources of Shariʿah, which are the Qurʾan and the sunnah; (b) The purpose of fiqh, which is to comprehend God's law; (c) Ijtihad, representing the intellectual effort to make independent judgments; (d) Ijmaʿ, which refers to the consensus among qualified legal experts; (e) Qiyas, the process of reasoning by analogy to assess similar situations; (f) The principles of halal (permissible) and haram (forbidden), which dictate actions and thoughts based on Shariʿah.