Shari‘a law is not monolithic. It is not a menacing body of uniform law ordained by a state, “or one book or a single collection of rules. Shari‘a is divine and philosophical." Interpretation of Shari‘a, or Fiqh, ranges depending on the degree of education and expertise of the individual, the individual’s method of construction, age, gender, race, and a wide range of other variables. Mirroring the diversity of the global Muslim population, interpretation of Shari‘a is heterogeneous.

DEFINE: Clarifies that Shari'a (divine/philosophical) is distinct from Fiqh (human interpretation), and that interpretation is heterogeneous rather than monolithic.

Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Unde…, loc. 305