Editing Urf (section)

==Sharia==
Although this was not formally included in Islamic law,<ref name="UrfEI">"Urf", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''</ref> the Sharia recognizes customs that prevailed at the time of [[Muhammad]] but were not abrogated by the [[Qur'an]] or the [[Sunnah]] (called "Divine silence" ***sunnah is not "divine silence"). Practices later innovated are also justified, since Islamic tradition says what the people, in general, consider good is also considered as such by [[Allah]] (see [[God in Islam]]). According to some sources, {{Transliteration|ar|ʿurf}} holds as much authority as {{Transliteration|ar|[['ijma]]}} (consensus), and more than {{Transliteration|ar|[[qiyas]]}} (legal reasoning by analogy). {{Transliteration|ar|ʿUrf}} is the Islamic equivalent of "[[common law]]".<ref name="Urf">Hasan (2004), p. 169-71</ref>

In the application of {{Transliteration|ar|ʿurf}}, custom that is accepted into law should be commonly prevalent in the region, not merely in an isolated locality. If it is in absolute opposition to Islamic texts, custom is disregarded. However, if it is in opposition to {{Transliteration|ar|qiyas}}, custom is given preference. [[Faqīh|Jurists]] also tend to, with caution, give precedence to custom over doctoral opinions of highly esteemed scholars.<ref name="Urf" />

In some countries such as [[Egypt]], marriage, the {{Transliteration|ar|ʿurfi}} way, refers to a form of [[common law marriage]] that does not involve obtaining official papers issued by the state ({{lang|ar|زواج عرفي}} {{Transliteration|ar|Zawāj ʿUrfi}}). The validity of that type of marriage is still under debate, and women may have fewer rights than under an officially-registered marriage.<ref>[http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab8910.html Egypt: Customary marriage] refworld.org</ref>