15.9 Sharia Comparison:
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Turkey
🇸🇦 SAUDI ARABIA
Government: Absolute monarchy (theocracy)
Who has final say? King
Sharia role: Main foundation of law
Model: Sharia enforced by a centralized ruler.
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🇮🇷 IRAN
Government: Islamic republic (theocracy + elections)
Who has final say? Supreme Leader (religious authority)
Sharia role: Built directly into the legal and political system
Model: Sharia enforced through religious institutions.
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🇵🇰 PAKISTAN
Government: Parliamentary republic
Who has final say? Constitution + courts
Sharia role: Influences laws, especially family and finance laws
Model: Hybrid system (British common law + Sharia).
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🇮🇩 INDONESIA
Government: Democratic republic
Who has final say? Elected government
Sharia role: Limited (mainly regional or personal law)
Model: Mostly secular with selective Sharia application.
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🇹🇷 TURKEY
Government: Secular republic
Who has final say? Elected government
Sharia role: Not part of the legal system
Model: Fully secular state. No Sharia application.
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Out of these five Muslim-majority countries, all of the countries have a Sunni majority except Iran, which has a Shia majority. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population.Â
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: The ruler enforces Islam.
🇮🇷 Iran: The system enforces Islam.
🇵🇰 Pakistan: Islam influences the system.
🇮🇩 Indonesia: Islam coexists with the system.
🇹🇷 Turkey: The system is separate from Islam.
These examples show that Muslim-majority countries can have varying implementations of Sharia.
Beyond these five examples, other countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Palestine also hold Muslim-majority populations and they implement Sharia in other ways as well. We will also look at some of these countries in upcoming modules.
Next, in Module 16, we will look at minorities under Islamic rule.