Editing List of national legal systems (section)

==Religious law==
{{main|Religious law}}

Religious law refers to the notion of a religious system or document being used as a legal source, though the methodology used varies. For example, the use of Judaism and ''[[halakha]]'' for public law has a static and unalterable quality, precluding amendment through legislative acts of government or development through judicial precedent; Christian [[canon law]] is more similar to [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] in its use of [[code (law)|codes]]; and Islamic [[sharia]] law (and ''[[fiqh]]'' jurisprudence) is based on legal [[precedent]] and reasoning by [[analogy]] (''[[qiyas]]''), and is thus considered similar to [[common law]].<ref>{{citation|title=Islamic Finance: Law, Economics, and Practice|first=Mahmoud A.|last=El-Gamal|year=2006|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=0-521-86414-3|page=16}}</ref>

The main kinds of religious law are [[sharia]] in Islam, ''[[halakha]]'' in Judaism, and [[canon law]] in some Christian groups. In some cases these are intended purely as individual moral guidance, whereas in other cases they are intended and may be used as the basis for a country's legal system; the latter was particularly common during the [[Middle Ages]].

[[File:Aleppo Codex Joshua 1 1.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Aleppo Codex: 10th century Hebrew Bible with Masoretic pointing]]
''Halakha'' is followed by [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] and [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] Jews in both ecclesiastical and civil relations. No country is fully governed by ''halakha'', but two Jewish people may decide, because of personal belief, to have a dispute heard by a Jewish court, and be bound by its rulings.

[[Canon law]] is the internal [[ecclesiastical]] law, or operational policy, governing the [[Catholic Church]] (both the [[Latin Church]] and the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]]), the [[Canon law of the Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] churches, and the individual national churches within the [[Anglican Communion]].<ref>Boudinhon, Auguste. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09056a.htm "Canon Law." ] The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 9 August 2013</ref> [[Canon law of the Catholic Church]] ({{Langx|la|jus canonicum}})<ref>Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edition, pg. 771: "Jus canonicum"</ref> is the [[legal system|system]] of [[law]]s and [[canon law|legal principles]] made and enforced by the [[Hierarchy of the Catholic Church|hierarchical authorities]] of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organisation and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the church.<ref>Della Rocca, ''Manual of Canon Law'', p. 3.</ref> The canon law of the Catholic Church has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system: laws, [[Ecclesiastical court|courts]], [[Ecclesiastical lawyer|lawyers]], judges.<ref name="clinfocat">[[Edward N. Peters]], [http://www.canonlaw.info/a_catechistintro.htm "A Catechist's Introduction to Canon Law"], CanonLaw.info, accessed June-11-2013</ref> The canon law of the Latin Church was the first modern Western [[legal system]],<ref>Berman, Harold J. ''Law and Revolution'', pp. 86, 115.</ref> and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the [[Western world|West]].<ref>[[Edward N. Peters]], [https://canonlaw.info/ CanonLaw.info Home Page], accessed 11 June 2013.</ref><ref>Raymond Wacks,''Law: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd Ed.'' (Oxford University Press, 2015) p. 13.</ref> while the distinctive traditions of [[Eastern Catholic canon law]] govern the 23 Eastern Catholic [[particular church]]es ''[[sui iuris]].'' 

The Islamic legal system, consisting of [[sharia]] (Islamic law) and ''[[fiqh]]'' (Islamic jurisprudence), is the most widely used [[religious law]] system, and one of the three most common legal systems in the world alongside common law and civil law.<ref>{{citation|title=Islamic Law: Its Relation to Other Legal Systems|first=Gamal Moursi|last=Badr|journal=The American Journal of Comparative Law|volume=26|issue=2 – Proceedings of an International Conference on Comparative Law, Salt Lake City, Utah, 24–25 February 1977|date=Spring 1978|pages=187–198|doi=10.2307/839667|jstor=839667}}</ref> It is based on both [[divine law]], derived from the [[hadith of the Quran and Sunnah]], and the rulings of ''[[ulema]]'' (jurists), who use the methods of ''[[ijma]]'' (consensus), ''[[qiyas]]'' (analogical deduction), ''[[ijtihad]]'' (research), and ''[[urf]]'' (common practice) to derive [[fatwā]] (legal opinions). An ''ulema'' was required to qualify for an ''[[ijazah]]'' ([[Law degree|legal]] [[doctorate]]) at a ''[[madrasa]]'' ([[law school]] or [[college]]) before they could issue ''fatwā''.<ref name=G-Makdisi>{{citation|last=Makdisi|first=George|title=Scholasticism and Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=109|issue=2|date=April–June 1989|pages=175–182 [175–77]|doi=10.2307/604423|jstor=604423}}</ref> During the [[Islamic Golden Age]], classical Islamic law may have had an [[Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe|influence on the development]] of common law<ref name=J-Makdisi>{{citation|last=Makdisi|first=John A.|title=The Islamic Origins of the Common Law|journal=[[North Carolina Law Review]]|date=June 1999|volume=77|issue=5|pages=1635–1739}}</ref> and several civil law institutions.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{citation|title=Islamic Law: Its Relation to Other Legal Systems|first=Gamal Moursi|last=Badr|journal=The American Journal of Comparative Law|volume=26|issue=2 – Proceedings of an International Conference on Comparative Law, Salt Lake City, Utah, 24–25 February 1977|date=Spring 1978|pages=187–198 [196–8]|doi=10.2307/839667|jstor=839667}}</ref> Sharia law governs a number of Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, though most countries use Sharia law only as a supplement to national law. It can relate to all aspects of civil law, including property rights, contracts, and public law.

{| style="width:100%;" class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:175px;"|Country
! Description
|-
| {{flagicon|Afghanistan}} [[Law of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]]
| Islamic law, based on Sunni [[Hanafi school|Hanafi]] jurisprudence.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arwa |first1=Ibrahim |title=Explainer: The Taliban and Islamic law in Afghanistan |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/23/hold-the-taliban-and-sharia-law-in-afghanistan |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=2021-08-23}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagicon|Iran}} [[Law of Iran|Iran]]
| Islamic law, based on Shia [[Ja'fari school|Jaʽfari]] jurisprudence.<ref>{{cite web |title=An Intellectual History of the Ja'fari School |url=https://lawandreligionforum.org/2022/08/25/an-intellectual-history-of-the-jafari-school/ |publisher=Law and religion forum |access-date=2022-08-25}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagicon|Nigeria}} [[Law of Nigeria|Nigeria]]
| [[Sharia in Nigeria|Sharia in the northern states]], [[common law]] in the south and at the federal level.
|-
| {{flagicon|Saudi Arabia}} [[Law of Saudi Arabia|Saudi Arabia]]
| Islamic law, based on Sunni [[Hanbali school|Hanbali]] jurisprudence.
|-
| {{flagicon|Yemen}} [[Legal system of Yemen|Yemen]]
| Islamic law.
|}