III. The Concise Law Dictionary(5)
(Legal Definitions)

Please note, the following definitions deal with the British Common Law system and do not cover the French/Civil/Roman law system, yet they could help for a sort of a comparison with the Muslim Law provisions.
 

Blasphemy "The public or ciminal libel of speaking matter relating to God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, or the Book of Common Prayer, intending to wound the feelings of mankind or to excite contempt and hatred against the Church by law established, or to promote immorality. It is a common law misdemeanour."

Apostasy "The total renunciation of Christianity by one who has been educated in or professed that faith within this realm. It is punishable under 9 WILL, 3, c.35"

Nationality "The character of or quality arising from membership of some particular nation or state, which determines the political status and allegiance of a person. It may be acquired by birth, descent, naturalisation, conquest, or cessation of territory, or (if a woman) by marriage."

Naturalization "When a person becomes the subject of a State to which he was before an alien."

State "The organized community: the central political authority. In international law, a State is a people permanently occupying a fixed territory, bound together in one body politic by common subjection to some definite authority exercising, through the medium of an organized government, a control over all persons and things within its territory, capable of maintaining relations of peace and ware, and free from political external control."

Treason "Breach of allegiance -- In all prosecution for treason some overt act must be alleged and proved: there existed formerly both high treason and petty treason -- The Treason Act, 1800, provided that in case of high treason, where the acts charged were the killing of the king or any direct attempt against his life or whereby his life might be endangered or his person suffer bodily harm, the person charged should be indicted, arraigned and tried in the same manner as if he stood charged with murder. The Treason Act, 1945 amended the Act of 1800 to make it of general application to all cases of treason."

Capital punishment "Punishment of death, awarded for treason and the capital felonies . . ."

Law "A law is an obligatory rule of conduct. The command of him or them that have coercive power (Hobbs); A law is a rule of conduct imposed and enforced by the Sovereign (Austin). But the law is the body of principles reorganised and applied by the State in the administration of justice (Salmond).

Ihering found the end of law in the delimitation of interests; and Vinogradoff saw law as "a set of rules imposed and enforced by a society with regard to the attribution and exercise of power over persons and things."

Right "An interest recognised and protected by the law, respect for which is a duty and disregard of which is a wrong (Salmond). A capacity residing in one man of controlling, with the assent and assistance of the State, the actions of others (Holland.)"

Obligation "A duty: the bond of legal necessity which binds together two or more determinate individuals. It is limited to legal duties arising out of a special personal relationship existing, whether by reason of a contract or a tort, or otherwise between two or more individual persons; e.g. debtor and creditor."
 



5. P.G Osborn, The Concise Law Dictionary 4th Edition, London, U.K., Sweet and Maxwell, 1954,