MAHOMEDAN LAW
Mahomedan Law Introduction of Mahomadan Law in British India:
The Mahomedan Law is applied by Courts in British India to Mahomedans not all together but in some matters only. the power of Courts to use Mahomedan springs from and is controlled partly by Statutes of the Imperial Parliament but mostly by Indian legislation.
The extent of application.
As regards British India, the foundations of Mahomedan law comprise three divisions, namely:
1. Those which are expressly directed by the Legislature to be applied to Mahomedans, like rules of Succession and Inheritance;
2. Those which are applied to Mahomedans as a matter of justice, equity, and good conscience, just like the principles of the Mahomedan law of Pre-emption;
3. Those which don't seem to be applied within the least, though the parties are Mahomedans, just like the Mahomedan code, and so the Mahomedan Law of Evidence.
Matters expressly enumerated:
The rules of Mahomedan Law that are expressly directed to be applied to Mahomedans are to be applied.
The exception to the rule:
So far as they have been altered or abolished by legislative enactment.
Matters not expressly enumerated:
No rules of Mahomedan law that haven't been expressly directed to be applied to Mahomedans are applied if they have been excluded either expressly or by implication by legislative enactment.
Sources of Mahomedan law
There are four sources of Mahomedan law namely;
1. Quran
2. Hadis(that is, precepts, actions, and sayings of the Prophets Mahomed, not written down during his lifetime, but preserved by tradition and handed down by authorized persons;
3. Ijma, that is, a concurrence of the opinion of the companions of Mahomed and his disciples;
4. Kiyas, being analogical deductions derived from a comparison of the first three sources once they did not apply to the particular case.
Kiyas, reasoning by analogy. Abu Hanifa, the founding father of the Hanafi sect of Sunnis frequently preferred it to traditions of a single authority.
The founders of the other Sunni sect, however, seldom resorted thereto. Interpretation of Quran The Courts, in administrating Mahomedan law, should not, as a rule, attempt to put their own construction on the Quran con to the express ruling of Mahomedan commentators of great antiquity and high authority. Precepts of the Prophet: Neither the normal texts nor the precepts of the Prophet Mahomed should be taken literally so on deduce from the new rules of law, especially when such proposed rules don't conduce to substantial justice. General rules of interpretation of Hanafi law:
The three great exponents of the Hanafi-Sunni law are Abu Hanfia, the founding father of the Hanafi school, and his two disciples, Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad.
It is a superb rule of interpretation of the Hanafi law that where
there is a difference of opinion between Abu Hanifa and his two disciples, Abu
Yusuf and Imam Muhammad, the opinion of the disciples prevails. Where there's a
difference of opinion between Abu Hanifa and Imam Muhammad that opinion is to
be accepted which coincides differ from their master and from each other, the
authority of Abu Yusuf is generally preferred. But these rules don't seem to be
inflexible; they're to be considered rules of preference adopted by ancient
jurists for or their own guidance, but the subsequent history of opinion and
practice will generally be of greater importance. Where there is a conflict of
opinion and no specific rule to guide the Court, the Court should follow that
opinion which is most in accordance with justice, equity, and good conscience.