The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2216 page)

, and in practice through
fatw
. It is also modified by local custom (
adat
).
Actions are classified in shar
‘a into five categories (with detailed sub-divisions in each case:

(i) obligatory (
fard
or
w
jib
);
(ii) meritorious;
(iii) indifferent;
(iv) reprehensible;
(v) forbidden (
ar
m
: see
AL-HALAL WA’L-
AR
M
). Fundamental to all are the
Five Pillars
.

 
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(1933–77)
. Iranian thinker whose writings and lectures represent the ideology that precipitated the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. From 1964 until his death, he attracted vast audiences, mainly university and college students, at the Husayniya-i-Irshad, a religious centre in Tehran. During this time he produced his greatest work,
The Desert
(Pers., Kavir): ‘Seeking refuge in history out of fear of loneliness, I immediately sought out my brother Ayn al-Quzat [12th-cent. Persian S
f
] who was burned to death in the very blossoming of his youth for the crime of awareness and sensitivity, for the boldness of his thought. For in an age of ignorance, awareness is itself a crime.’ The government closed the centre and imprisoned Shar
‘at
for eighteen months, during which time he was tortured. Upon his release he was allowed to go to England, where shortly after his arrival he died in mysterious circumstances.