The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2215 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Shan-tao
(founding master):
Shao-lin-ssu
(Jap., Sh
rin-ji)
Chinese Buddhist monastery, built in 477 CE, by the emperor Hsiao-wen. It was to here that
Bodhidharma
moved from S. China when he saw that the time was not ripe for the reception of
dharma
there. Shao-lin-ssu is associated with the development of
kung-fu
, an aspect initially of ch’i-kung (see
CH’I
).
Kung-fu
was initially concerned with control of interior fears and thoughts, but developed in different directions in Japan in association with other
martial arts
.
Shar
‘a
(Arab., ‘the path worn by camels to the water’). The path to be followed in Muslim life. The term goes back to Qur’
n. It became the description of the systematic organization of how Muslims should live, wherever there is no permitted freedom (see
AL-HALAL WA’L-
AR
M
). This especially applies to the four classic
schools
,
anafite
,
anbalite
,
M
likite
, and
Sh
fi‘ite
. They are rooted in Qur’
n and
ad
th
, the
sunna
of the Prophet, but with different attitudes to what else is legitimizing (see further
SCHOOLS OF LAW
). Shar
‘a is constantly extended in the present, since Islam cannot be a reproduction of life in 6th-cent. Arabia. The extension of shar
‘a is made particularly by
ijma‘
, qiy
s and
ijtih
d

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