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18CIRCLES OF POWER AND COUNTERBALANCESmatters such as marriage, inheritance etc., Islamic lawor syarî‘ah is implemented. Third, there are a very fewMuslim countries which prefer to have a ‘secular state’on the pattern of the Western concept of the separationof politics and religion. J.N.D Anderson, in his IslamicLaw in the Modern World, classifies the legal systems ofthe Muslim world today: (1) those that still considerthe sharî‘ah as the fundamental law and still practiceit to a certain extent in their countries; (2) those thathave abandoned the sharî‘ah and become secular; (3)those have reached some compromise between thesestwo position (Anderson 1959, 83).It is interesting to look at various definitions of Islamiclaw. Joseph Schacht, for example, defines this law as:The epitome of Islamic thought, the most typicalmanifestation of the Islamic way of life, the coreand kernel of Islam itself. The very term fiqh,‘knowledge’, shows that early Islam regardedknowledge of the sacred law as the knowledge parexcellence (Schacht 1964, 1).The terms fiqh and sharî‘ah have similar meanings. Fiqhis used in the literal sense to mean “understanding” (alfahm).Basically, the meaning of the term fiqh is usuallysimilar to words such as ‘ilm (knowledge) and kalâm(theology). The term ‘ilm has the same meaning, andin the era of the Prophet there appears to have beenno difference between the two terms. According toNyazee, “as sophistication crept in, the term ‘ilm cameto be applied in a narrow sense to mean knowledge thatcomes through report, that is, traditions: hadith andathar. The term fiqh….came to be used exclusively fora knowledge of the law” (Nyazee 1994, 21). Thus theterms ‘ilm and fiqh were separated when specializationin law and tradition came into existence toward the endof the first century of Hijrah.Furthermore, the terms kalâm and fiqh were notseparated until the time of al-Ma’mun (d.218 A.H.).Fiqh previously had embraced both theologicalproblems and legal issues. That is why Abu Hanifah(d. 150 A.H.) defined fiqh as “ma‘rîfah al-nafs mâ lahâwa mâ ‘alayhâ (understanding the self in terms of one’srights and duties)” (Dahlan 1997, 333). This meansthat fiqh concerns understanding Muslims’ rights andobligations. However, when the Mu‘tazilah (an Islamictheology group) began to use the term kalâm for theirteaching, the term fiqh came to be restricted to thecorpus of Islamic law. This differentiation has seriousimplications for the study of Islamic law.There are many definitions of fiqh. Abdul WahhabKhalaf (1978, 11) defines fiqh as: “al-‘ilm bi ak-ahkâmal-sharî‘ah al-‘amâliyyah al-muktasib min adillatihâ altafshiliyyah(the knowledge of the legal rules pertainingto conduct that have been derived from specificevidence).” Khallaf also highlights another definitionof fiqh as: “majmû‘ât al-ahkâm al-sharî‘ah al-‘amâliyyahal-mustafadah min adillatihâ al-tafshiliyyah (thecompilation of the legal rules pertaining to conductthat have been derived from specific evidence)” (1978,12). It can also be defined as a “statement concerningthe understanding of the speaker of the meaning of hisspeech” (‘ibârah ‘an fahmi gharadhî al-mutakallimunmin kalamihi) (Minhaji 2001, 94). It is perhaps safeto say that fiqh is the finding of Islamic law from themain sources (Qur’an and Sunna) through ijtihâd. Theperson who looks at the law is called mujtahid and thisprocess is termed ijtihâd. Finally, the finding of thisactivity is called fiqh al-Islamî or Islamic law (al-ahkâmal-Islâmiyyah).The term sharî‘ah means the source of drinking water.For Arabic people, sharî‘ah means religion, ath-tharîqahal-mustaqimah (the right way), and an-nusûs almuqaddas(sacred texts) from the Qur’an and Sunnah(Dahlan 1997, 335). Schacht says that sharî‘ah is “thesacred law of Islam.” He goes further, saying that, “It isan all-embracing body of religious duties, the totality ofAllah’s commands that regulate the life of every Muslimin all aspects; it consists of ordinances regarding worshipand ritual, as well as political and (in the narrow sense)legal rules” (Schacht 1964, 1).In other cases, scholars differentiate between shariahand fiqh. First, while sharî‘ah comes from Allah, fiqhis the product of human interpretation. Second,there is only one sharî‘ah, while fiqh implies diversity.Third, sharî‘ah is very authoritative while fiqh is veryliberal, since it is a human product. Fourth, sharî‘ahis not subject to change; on the contrary, fiqh facesmany changes through socio-cultural dynamics. Fifthand finally, shari’ah is idealistic while fiqh is realistic.To clarify, I mean to say that Islamic law is fiqh, notshari’ah. In this context, fiqh as human interpretationhas produced Islamic law or the Islamic legal system.There are at least four types of Islamic legal literature:kutûb al-fiqhiyyah (books on Islamic jurisprudence),decrees of the Islamic courts, the laws and regulationsof Muslim countries and fatwa (legal pronouncementsof jurisconsult) (Mudzhar 1998, 80).Discourse of Islamic State and Islamic Law inMalaysiaIn this section I will discuss the interpretation ofAsian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows