Research on Sharia law Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

On Sharia law - Research Paper Example , the origins of Sharia laws derive from a combination of laws, like Roman laws, contents of the Holy Koran (qiyas), teachings of Prophet Mohammed and present day assimilations of ancient legal interpretations and treatises (ijmas). However, an interesting aspect of Shari has been that in their countries of acceptance and faith, different interpretations exist for these laws. Modernists, traditionalists and fundamentalists all hold different views of Sharia, as do adherents to different schools of Islamic thought and scholarship. Different countries and cultures have varying interpretations of Sharia as well. Thus, Sharia practices in African countries may be quite different from those in Arab countries. On the other hand, Muslim population in India may have different cultural and sociological interpretation of Sharia than what is being done in Indonesia, or Yemen, for that matter. Thus, what is important is the sociological background of these laws in the context of respective countries where these laws are followed. Moreover, it is also seen that Islam has two sub sects – Sunnis and Shias. It is now necessary to consider the differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims, which essentially finds the difference in religion but politics. This is primarily because it concerns leadership matters subsequent to the prophet’s era and what led to division of Muslim sect soon after the death Mohammed. When the question arose as to who would inherit the mantle of the Prophet, of one sect believed that leadership should be taken over by one of his worthy followers. But Shias believed th at leadership should move to the member of his own kith or kin, like his son- in- law, or nephew. Thus, major differences arose between Sunnis and Shias, such that the latter were not able to ever reconcile themselves to the fact that Ali’s descendants were not provided due leadership in the Muslim order after the lifetime of Prophet. Thus, they refused to accept the authority of Sunni

Jewish children and the Holocaust Research Paper

Jewish children and the Holocaust - Research Paper Example The odds of survival for the older children were comparatively higher as they could be used in ghettos and concentration camps for forced labour. The children who faced the Holocaust can be divided into three age segments: from infants to toddlers aged 6; children between ages of 7 and 12; and teenagers from age of 13 to 18. The chances of survival and the ability of performing labour at camps varied majorly between these age segments (Rosenberg 15). The ideology and the policies of Nazis specially targeted the Jews, which then resulted in the official German policy called ‘Final Solution’. The Jews and their children faced a lot of suffering at the Nazis’ hands; as soon as the Nazis came into power in January 1933, they restricted the rights of the Jewish children (Wiesel 33). The Jewish children in Germany began enduring a progressively hostile atmosphere after 1935. They faced alienation from their close friends, even aggression at their hands, and spiteful and unfriendly attitudes. The letters to editors of Der Stà ¼rmer, a Nazi tabloid by the German children, expose a reprehensible outburst of passion and foolishness against their classmates who were Jewish. Jewish and Gypsy children faced a massive amount of humiliations in the classrooms of Germany. The Social Darwinism as well as the degrading and oppressive doctrine of what was called the racial biology had a great role in humiliating these children and establishing their race as inferior. This resulted in development of education as a form of resistance in various Jewish schools in Germany after 1933, and it provided the background and experience for the secret schools which were created later in concentration camps and ghettos. Passed on 25th of April 1933, ‘The Law against Overcrowding in German Schools and Universities’ was among the initial laws that directly affected the students that were Jewish. This tyrannical law