religious laws
Divine legal codes
Religious laws are rules of conduct derived from sacred texts, religious traditions, or divine authority.
They govern behavior within a faith community and may cover worship, diet, dress, marriage, and ethics.
Some legal systems incorporate religious law directly—Islamic sharia, Jewish halakha, or Catholic canon law.
In secular societies, religious laws bind believers morally but lack civil enforcement: The restaurant follows religious laws about food preparation.
- Ten CommandmentsScriptural moral code
- commandmentsAuthoritative rules demanding compliance
- mitzvotJewish religious commandments
- moral codeStandards of right conduct
- canon lawReligious institutional regulations
fatwa · kosher · halal · fasting rules · prayer · Sabbath observance · day of rest · dharma · ritual purity · sharia · tithing · excommunication · confession booth · halacha · abstinence · head covering · ordination · holy days
- religionChristianity, Islam, beliefs, Judaism, Hinduism
- Plato's Lawslawgiver, ideal state, preludes, Crete, Sparta
- nationalismpatriotism, national pride, national sovereignty, national identity, national symbols
- Church decreesencyclicals, bulls, promulgations, canons, briefs
- Hawaiian lawskapu system, royal decrees, royal edicts
religious lawssecular law
Legal code without religious basis
civil law · state law · human law · statutory law · constitutional law