Kaffarah: A Comparative Analysis across Islamic Schools of Thought and World Religions

Abstract

The concept of kaffarah, a religious expiation in Islam, is one among the many important topic of Islamic laws and theology. The study discusses the madhabs comparison of make-up and the way it is included in the world religions. Classification will be conducted through studying the primary sources of Fiqh such as the Quran and Hadiths to elucidate the basic establishment and the nature of Kaffarah. It will be followed by the analysis of the opinions and solutions on Kaffarah provided by the most famous scholars within the four schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali) as well as the Jaferian sect. Using this comparative approach of Kaffarah will insight to different Islamic legal traditions philosophy in both similarities and differences in applying the concept of Kaffarah. Besides the research will also analyses another major world religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism on this concept for example of expiation or atonement. The study will scrutinize the scriptures and the practices of both religions in order to determine possible similarities and/or disparities in how deeds that transgress the law and harm others are confronted and even mended. This evaluation study attempts to achieve a higher understanding of Kaffarah within the Islam and facilitate inter-religious talks through the examples of how different religious communities deal with sin, repentance and forgiveness.

Keywords: Kaffarah, World Religions, Islamic Schools of Thought, Reconciliation