Chapter 2 analyzes the Islamic concept of the territorial sea, its seaward breadth, and the state’s sovereignty over offshore zones adjoining the coastal frontiers, with an emphasis on the exclusive jurisdiction over that part of the Red Sea stretching along the coast of the Hijaz. The chapter describes the regime of passage through international straits, which as in the past plays a vital role today in global trade networks; in addition, the chapter investigates the judicial system in Islam and expounds the reasons why the Qur’ān and judicial authorities favor legal pluralism as opposed to a single unified legal system, and the way that the legal theory has been translated into practice.