It is best therefore that we change the accepted form of the...

It is best therefore that we change the accepted form of the definition of a law of the Shari’ah as mentioned above to state that a law of the Shari’ah is "The legislation originating from Allah to regulate the life of man, regardless of (the fact) whether it is connected with his actions or with his own self or with other things forming a part of his life".

Division of Laws into Positive (Taklifi) and Situational (Waz'i) In the light of the above we may divide the laws of the Shari’ah into two categories: Those laws connected with the actions of man and regulating his conduct directly in the different spheres of his life -personal, devotional, matrimonial, economic, and political, that have been treated and regulated by the Shari’ah , like the prohibition from drinking wine, the obligation of offering prayers, the obligation of spending money on some categories of relatives, the permissibility of cultivating the land and the obligation on the ruler for dispensing justice.

This is the category of positive laws ( al-Ahkam al-Taklifiyah ). Those laws of the Shari’ah that do not directly lay down regulations for man in his actions or conduct. This covers every law dealing with a specific situation and having indirect influence on the conduct of man. It is of the nature of the laws that regulate the matrimonial relationship.

These laws deal specifically with a specific relationship between a man and a woman and influence their conduct indirectly and direct, that a woman, after becoming a wife, has to conduct herself in a specific manner vis-à-vis her husband. This category of laws is known as the situational laws ( al-Ahkam al-Waz'iyah ). The connection between the situational laws and the positive laws is very strong, since each and every situational law is accompanied by a positive law.

Thus matrimony is a situational law and is accompanied by positive laws, like the obligation on the husband of maintaining his wife and the obligation on the wife of obeying her husband under specific conditions. Similarly ownership is a situational law of the Shari’ah and is accompanied by formal laws of the nature of the prohibition on a non-owner to dispose of property without the consent of the owner, and so on. Subdivisions of Positive Laws The positive laws, i.e.