Modernization of Islamic legal systems : the case of the Jordanian legal system

Abstract EN

The vast majority of the Middle and Far East Islamic and Arab countries carried out a secular reform to their Shari'a-based laws.

Political, social, economic and legal developments, influenced by Western civilization, have led to the building up of distinct national systems of law in each country of the Middle and Far East, such as Jordan, and made the principles of Shari'a no longer supreme.

The trend to modernize or replace the existing legal systems, or at least to replace some of the present laws, in some Muslim world countries, by codes of law largely of European origin, is driven by many reasons.

The purpose of this article is to consider these reasons and to show clearly that the Jordanian legal system is flexible and hence is able to be modernized by receiving new ideas and by borrowing further foreign legal rules and principles, providing these rules and principles do not contradict Shari'a rules.

It discusses the process of modernization of Islamic legal systems and particularly focuses on the Jordanian legal system.