The role of Shari’a as a source of Law: looking for a pragmatic approach

Starting from the second half of the last century, a great emphasis has been put on Shari’a as a central element in the legal system of many Muslim-majority states. The common approach to considering Islamic legal systems, however, is still dominated by a monolithical conceptualization of Islamic law, where the description of Shari’a is derived from abstract reasoning on what Shari’a is or ought to be. The aim of this article, after a discussion of the concept of law in Islamic legal thought and an overview of the different interpretations of Islamic law as elaborated within divergent cultures (Arab Republic of Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia), is to advance the idea of Islamic Law as an essentially contested concept, and to detach its analysis from any formalism in favour of an acknowledgment of its antagonistic, unfixed and ever-evolving nature