Sharia (path or way) has been both a source of law and ethics for Muslims for centuries. Despite differences in culture, Islamic law underlines a sense of identity and a common code of behaviour for Muslim societies. Islam came to a society where tribal customs were the only law that existed. When the fledging Muslim community established itself in Medina, revelation and the Prophet became the sources of social and legal guidance to Muslims. Despite the fact that Muhammad was a jurist and supported the "law of God", the Qur'an is not a law book. In the strict sense, the Qur'an comprises no more than about eighty legal verses.

When the Prophet was alive there was no need for systematic law or jurisprudence. Whenever someone had a question in religious matters, he or she would ask the Prophet directly In return, the inquirer would receive a new revelation of the Qur'an or an advice from Muhammad answering the question. The Prophet had a school next to the mosque where he personally taught Islam and the Qur'an to hundreds of his companions.

After the Prophet, companions dispersed throughout the rapidly expanding Muslim world. The scholarly companions became a centre of Islamic learning. They taught Islamic practice and gave legal rulings according to the Qur'an and what they knew from the Sunnah (sayings, actions and approvals) of the Prophet. When they were faced with new situations they tried to find an answer in the Qur'an and Sunnah as they knew best. If they could not find an answer they used reason to find a solution taking into consideration the circumstances, customs and culture of the people they were living amongst.

After the generations of the companions, differences in understanding and interpretation of jurisprudence and law started to emerge. Astute scholars of this time have realised the need to standardise religious scientific methodology into disciplines based on the prime sources of religion. They developed large volumes of rulings based on deductions covering worship, commercial, social, criminal and civil law in an attempt to identify clearly the rules and regulations of religion comprehensively covering all aspects of life based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Consensus was reached in the Muslim world on the following four sources of law.

1. The Qur'an: As the primary source of God's revelation, the Qur'an is the sourcebook of Islamic principles and values. About 600 verses out of 6,238 verses are related to law and only about 80 can be considered legal verses in the strict sense of the word.

2. Sunnah of the Prophet: Qur'anic principles and values are interpreted by a second and complementary source of law, the Sunnah of the Prophet. The importance of the Sunnah is firmly based in the Qur'an – "If you should quarrel over anything refer it to God and the Messenger" (4:59) and "In God's Messenger you have fine model for anyone whose hope is in God and the last Day" (33:21). Hadith scholars evaluated the vast volumes of Sunnah collection focusing on chain of narrators and the subject matter. Tough objective criteria were set and applied to the chain or narrators link by link to every hadith narration. The content of the hadith was examined to see if it contradicted the Qur'an, an already verified hadith or human reason. Thus, a set of authoritative collections was compiled.

3. Consensus of the Community: Based on the saying of the Prophet "My community will not agree on an error", consensus of the community is the third source of the law. Where previous three sources are silent, legal jurists use their reason based on custom, public interest and equity to come up with a ruling. When a certain ruling lasts the test of time, more and more jurists as well as people accept the ruling making it a consensus.

4. Analogical Reasoning: When faced with a new situation and problem, legal scholars sought a similar situation in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. The key is the discovery of the effective cause or the reason behind the existing rule. If a similar cause is identified in the new situation, the ruling was extended to resolve the matter.

It is important note that all rulings and interpretations altogether form the Islamic jurisprudence as all of these interpretations are possible within the context of the sources of Islam. Different rulings, although seldom, occurs in the peripheral issues of the jurisprudence and law. In no way, do they cover or apply to theology or doctrine. Having more than one interpretation in applied Islam brings immense flexibility to the practice of Islam. This is reflected in the saying of the Prophet "the difference of my community is a mercy (from God)". When one ruling becomes impossible to follow, the other steps in. This situation is a testimony to not only the freedom of speech enjoyed by millions of scholars since the advent of Islam but also the non-existence of coercion in presenting only one view to the greater Muslim community.