History of Hospitality Laws - Do Islamic and South Asian Legal History Have the same Approach? (A Comparative Approach of Sharīʿah & Law)

Abstract

Respect for guests and visitors, indeed, always remain a common notion of civilized nations; existing on this earth since its inception. This peculiar characteristic, of course, differentiates human beings from animal where the previous are rightly called social animals. The South Asian countries i.e. Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal are not different in this regard. Their history is always remained a solid evidence of their generosity towards the guests and visitors. Being remained under the rule of the Great Britain, these countries have the same legal history and legal spectrum for dealing tourists and visitors. However, this similarity in terms of hospitality laws is also owing to the similar teaching of their corresponding religions. Findings show that Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism have some common teaching regarding the respect of guests. While having deep sentiments for religious teaching, the residents of such states want the inculcation of religious guidelines in their legal system. Islamic law offers a comprehensive guideline for hospitality comparatively to other religions. Being an Islamic country, it is supposed that such guidelines should be followed while framing legislation for hospitality and tourism. However, study shows that much work is not done yet in this regard. Content analysis technique of qualitative research has been followed in the present work for the investigation of the issue.