Changes

First, in the Muslim world, the Sharia is not confined to purely religious matters. On the one hand, it aims at equally regulating individuals’ relationship with their neighbors and the state, and on the other - with God and their conscience. The Islamic law also is concerned as much with ethical standards and ritual practices, as with a wide variety of “secular” legal issues, ranging from an inheritance, marriage, divorce, contracts, and criminal punishments. Therefore, the Sharia should not be mistaken for merely a general system of law. Instead, it ought to be considered a far more comprehensive code of behavior that embraces both private and public activities. The

The second significant distinction between the Sharia and Western legal systems is the result of the Islamic concept of law as an expression of the divine will. The line between the religious and secular obligations is not as well-established in the Muslim world, as it is in the Western countries. In the United States, there is a clear distinction between church and state that is written into the Constitution, but this distinction is not as defined in Islam.  With the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, communication between the divine will and the human beings ceased. That fixed the very terms of the divine revelation and made them entirely immutable.<ref>"Reclaiming Tradition: Islamic Law in a Modern World" - www.iar-gwu.org </ref> Thus Sharia law became a rigid and static system. Furthermore, unlike the secular legal systems that grow out of society and change over time, Sharia law was forced and imposed upon society “from above.” Because in Islamic jurisprudence it is not the society that molds and fashions the law but it is the law that precedes and controls society instead.