Conditions of a Valid Custom in Islamic and Common Laws
Hafiz Abdul Ghani

Abstract
This research paper highlights different kinds of customs and conditions for the validity of a legal custom in Islamic Sharī’a and common law. Both Islamic and the Western Jurisprudences have accepted custom and usages as an important sources of law. There is hardly any aspect of Islamic and English Jurisprudences where customary laws do not make their presence felt. From the individual to the international level, the use of customs in legal injunctions is a proven and undeniable fact. In social interaction, customs and usages encompass all these matters of every day life: inheritance, marriage, divorce, dowry, guardianship, adulthood, family ties, will, property, bestowal, division, religious rituals and adoption of a child. It is true that ‘urf and ‘ādat cannot attain the status of law unless they are supported by some political authority. But this is also a fact – and an undeniable fact – that, in the beginning, customs and usages as well as moral values acquired the status of laws.

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