Many non-Muslims, especially in the West, speak and criticize Sharia without knowing its true meaning. It is often described as a harsh or rigid system, sometimes even as the root of terrorism. Yet this vision is not only unjust but profoundly wrong. Sharia is not a political creation, nor a human ideology, but the Law of God.
The Arabic term Sharia means “law” or “path,” the road that leads human beings towards justice and truth. It is nothing other than the Word of God, just as the Torah is for the Jews and the Gospel for the Christians. The Qur’an repeatedly states: “as those who believed before you,” referring to Jews and Christians who had received the earlier Scriptures. The Torah and the Injil were therefore the Sharia of those peoples and of their times, a divine law that guided them according to the will of the Creator.
The Qur’an itself confirms this: “Indeed, We revealed the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who had submitted judged by it for the Jews…” (Qur’an 5:44). And again: “And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which came before him in the Torah; and We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light…” (Qur’an 5:46). This shows that there is no contradiction, but continuity: the Law of God manifested itself in different forms through the ages, reaching its fullness in the Qur’an and in the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Sometimes it is said that Sharia is interpreted differently and that this gives rise to extremism. It is true that there are different interpretations, but we must distinguish between Sharia, which is perfect and divine, and fiqh, which is the human understanding of the law. Fiqh is the result of study and reflection by scholars who, over the centuries, sought to apply divine principles in various societies. Thus arose the different Islamic schools of law: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi‘i and Hanbali. All share the same foundations, but differ in details, just as theologians in other religions do.
Extremism, however, arises when individuals or groups driven by ideology rather than knowledge manipulate the sacred texts for political purposes. Those who oppress, who kill innocents, or who impose faith by force do not apply Sharia but betray it. The fundamental principles of the divine law are justice, mercy, the protection of life, of faith, of reason, of property, and of human dignity. Wherever these virtues are denied, there is no Sharia, but an abuse of religion.
Today, unfortunately, modern man has lost his compass and seeks to rise above the Creator. He does not do so out of conscious rebellion, but often out of superficiality, believing that life is only this world and forgetting that there is another dimension, that of the soul and eternity. Materialism has created models of life without God, where families are broken, values dissolved, and man reduced to a mere consumer. New human idols are built that have nothing to do with the Creator and that, for a believer, cannot be accepted.
When people say that Sharia leads to terrorism, they forget the millions of Muslims who live in our cities, who are our neighbors, colleagues, and friends. The overwhelming majority live Sharia as a path of justice, peace, and solidarity, not as a weapon of violence. Reality disproves prejudice: Muslim societies, when rooted in true faith, do not produce anarchy but harmony.
Today the believer — whether Muslim, Christian, or Jew — disturbs those who have forgotten that life is a passage and that another dimension exists, the dimension of the soul. He disturbs because he reminds everyone that there is a Creator and that man is not the absolute master of himself. Faith remains the last barrier against unbelief and against the illusion of a world without God.
The European Muslims League therefore calls on all to view Sharia not as a threat, but as a spiritual heritage that unites humanity in the pursuit of justice and mercy. For the Law of God, in whatever revelation it is manifested, remains eternal and universal, above every temporary fashion or ideology.
