ABSTRACT
Sunn• Islam (as compared to the Sh•>a, to be dealt with in Chapter 8) is defined not by theological allegiance but by practice. Following one of the four schools of law authenticated by the agreement of the community as being true implementation of the sunna or practice of Mu˙ammad makes one a member of Sunn• Islam. It is the individual believer’s perspective on the law which becomes the central element of self-definition as a Muslim and which has thus evolved as the controlling element of the community’s identification as a whole. Law in this sense, however, is a far broader concept than that generally perceived in the English word. Included in it are not only the details of conduct in the narrow legal sense, but also minute matters of behaviour, what might even be termed “manners,” as well as issues related to worship and ritual. Furthermore, the entire body of law is traditionally viewed as the “revealed will of God,” subject neither to history nor to change.
