Islamic criminal law in Aceh sharia courts hear and rule on both civil cases under Islamic law (such as divorce and inheritance) and criminal law under the "qanuns". However, civil cases continue to be the vast majority of cases heard by the court. In 2016 the courts received 10,888 first instance civil cases and 131 appeals, compared to 324 first instance criminal cases and 15 appeals. The sharia courts are part of the broader Indonesian legal system. Their decisions can be appealed to the Supreme Court, and their judges (including the chief judge) are appointed by the Supreme Court. Amnesty International said that they are
Sharia whether sharia is compatible with secular forms of government, human rights, freedom of thought, women's rights and banking. The word "sharīʿah" is used by Arabic-speaking peoples of the Middle East to designate a prophetic religion in its totality. For example, "sharīʿat Mūsā" means law or religion of Moses and "sharīʿatu-nā" can mean "our religion" in reference to any monotheistic faith. Within Islamic discourse, "šarīʿah" refers to religious regulations governing the lives of Muslims. For many Muslims, the word merely means "justice," and they will consider any law that promotes justice and social welfare to conform to sharia. Jan Michiel Otto