Mohammed Presiding: The Analogous Legal Approaches of Sharia and Common Law

Abstract

Common law and sharia law are often viewed as two diametrically opposed legal traditions. This view is, as this thesis will explore, not only flawed but wrong. Due to the existence of countries with dual legal systems, there is evidence that common and sharia law systems can coexist with one another. This thesis contributes to the literature which currently lacks an explanation of the similarities between common and sharia law with respect to their legal reasoning, decision making, and patterns of thought. These similarities create analogous systems wherein sharia and common law could feasibly be interchangeable with one another. The compatibility argument relies on the examination of corresponding judicial characteristics between the two to establish the fact that the two are not only capable of coexisting with one another, but the judicial philosophy of one is compatible within the system of the other.