Because of the religious origin of the word, some prefer to capitalize it and others not. The word sharia means  the path  or  the path to wate r. Sharia as a source of law, is, by definition, arbitrary and discretionary-some would prefer to describe it as flexible.
COUNTRY OVERVIEW. LOCATION AND SIZE. Qatar is a tiny peninsula jutting into the Persian Gulf and bordering only Saudi Arabia. With an area of 11,437 square kilometers (4,416 square miles) and a short coastline of 563 kilometers (345 miles), Qatar is slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut.
Photo by: Paul Cowan. Qatar, which became independent from British protection in 1971, is located on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The territory includes the mainland and a number of small islands. It is bounded by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to the south and by the Persian Gulf to the north, east and west. Qatar itself is a peninsula that extends northward covering an area of 11,437 square km.