Islamic law is a legal tradition entrenched within a religious context; it is one of the most intriguing and fascinating areas of Islamic Studies. Many practitioners of Islam believe that their lives should be governed by a divinely revealed and sanctioned form of law that affects every aspect of their daily routines. Thus, whether it be a conventional religious act such as prayer, a customary practice such as marriage, or commercial activities such as trade, all these activities are determined by their legal validity within the Islamic law.
Islamic law has developed over many centuries of juristic effort into a subtle, complex, and highly developed reality. Thus, Islamic law, like any other, has its 'sources' (al-masadir); it also has its 'guiding principles' (al-usul) that dictate the nature of its 'evidence' (al-adilla); it equally employs the use of 'legal maxims' (al-qawa’id) and utilizes a number of underlying 'objectives' (al-maqasid) to underpin the structure of its legal theory.
Volume I of this new Routledge collection brings together the best scholarship to detail the origins and sources of Islamic law. The materials in Volume II, meanwhile, examine the genesis of schools of law, their utilization of specific juristic methodologies, and their development of legal theory. Volume III focuses on the consolidation and stagnation of Islamic law in the medieval period, since although the development of the schools and a number of competing legal theories played a huge role in the codification of Islamic law, at the same time the competitive nature of such methodologies led to divisiveness because of strict adherence to a specific school. The final volume in the collection examines Islamic law today, and the challenges of living in a modern, technologically advanced world.
Supplemented with a full index, Islamic Law includes a comprehensive introduction newly written by the editor which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context. It is certain to be valued as a vital research resource.
PROVISIONAL CONTENTS
Volume I: Origins and Sources
The Primacy of Revelation
1. Zafar Ishaq Ansari, ‘The Contribution of the Qur’an and the Prophet to the Development of Islamic Fiqh’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 1992, 3, 2, 141–71.
2. Ahmed Souaiaia, ‘On the Sources of Islamic Law and Practices’, Journal of Law and Religion, 2004–5, 20, 1, 123–47.
The Quran
3. Roger Arnaldez, ‘La place du Coran dans les usul al-fiqh d’après le "Muhalla" d’Ibn Hazm’, Studia Islamica, 1970, 32, 21–30.
4. John Burton, ‘The Exegesis of Q. 2:106 and the Islamic Theories of Naskh: Ma Nansakh Min Aya Aw Nansaha Na’ti Bi Khairin Minha Aw Mithliha’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1985, 48, 3, 452–69.
5. Christopher Melchert, ‘Ahmad ibn Hanbal and the Qur’an’, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 2004, 6, ii, 22–34.
Hadith and Sunna
6. Wael B. Hallaq, ‘The Authenticity of Prophetic Hadith: A Pseudo-Problem’, Studia Islamica, 1999, 89, 75–90.
7. Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad, ‘Twelve Sii Hadit from Tradition to Contemporary Evaluations’, Oriente Moderno, 2002, 82, i, 125–45.
8. Yasin Dutton, ‘An Innovation from the Time of the Bani Hashim: Some Reflections on the Taslim at the End of the Prayer’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 2005, 16, ii, 147–76.
9. Scott C. Lucas, ‘Divorce, Hadith-Scholar Style: From al-Darimi to al-Tirmidhi’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 2008, 19, 3, 325–68.
Ijmfi
10. Wael Hallaq, ‘On the Authoritativeness of Sunni Consensus’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1986, 18, 4, 427–54.
Qiys
11. Nabil Shehaby, ‘Illa and Qiyas in Early Islamic Legal Theory’, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1982, 102, 1, 27–46.
Subsidiary Sources of Law
12. Ayman Shabana, ‘Urf and Adah with the Framework of al-Shatibi’s Legal Methodology’, UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law, 2006–7, 6, 1, 47–65.
13. John Makdisi, ‘A Reality Check on Istihsan as a Method of Islamic Legal Reasoning’, UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law, 2002–3, 2, 1, 99–127.
Ijtihd
14. Hamid Algar, ‘Q. 21: 78–9: A Qur’anic Basis for Ijtihad?’, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 2002, 4, ii, 1–22.
15. Éric Chaumont, ‘La problématique classique de l’Ijtihâd et la question de l’Ijtihâd du prophète: Ijtihâd, Wahy et "Isma"’, Studia Islamica, 1992, 75, 105–39.
Volume II: The Genesis of Legal Theory and the Schools of Law
Malik B. Anas (d. 179/795) and the Muwatta
16. Yasin Dutton, ‘Juridical Practice and Madinan "Amal: Qada" in the Muwatta of Malik’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 1999, 10, i, 1–21.
17. Harald Motzki, ‘The Prophet and the Cat: On Dating Malik’s Muwatta and the Legal Traditions’, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 1998, 22, 18–83.
18. Wael Hallaq, ‘On Dating Malik’s Muwatta’, UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law, 2001, 2, 1, 47–65.
al-Shafii (d. 204/820)
19. Wael Hallaq, ‘Was al-Shafii the Master Architect of Islamic Jurisprudence?’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1993, 25, 4, 587–605.
20. Sherman Jackson, ‘Setting the Record Straight: Ibn al-Labbid’s Refutation of al-Shafi’i’’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 2000, 11, 2, 121–46.
21. Joseph Lowry, ‘Ibn Qutayba: The Earliest Witness to al-Shafi’i and his Legal Doctrines’, in James Montgomery (ed.), Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta (Peeters, 2004), pp. 303–19.
Contemporaneous Juristic Activity
22. Harold Motzki, ‘Der Fiqh des Zuhri’, Der Islam, 1991, 68, 1–44.
23. Jonathan E. Brockopp, ‘Early Islamic Jurisprudence in Egypt: Two Scholars and their Mukhtasars’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1998, 30, 2, 167–82.
24. Robert Gleave, ‘Between Hadith and Fiqh: The "Canonical" Imami Collections of Akhbar’, Islamic Law and Society, 2001, 8, iii, 350–82.
25. Christopher Melchert, ‘Traditionist Jurisprudents and the Framing of Islamic Law’, Islamic Law and Society, 2001, 8, iii, 383–406.
26. Devin J. Stewart, ‘Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari’s al-Bayan an Usul Al-Fiqh in Ninth-Century Baghdad’, in James Montgomery (ed.), Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta (Peeters, 2004), pp. 321–49.
Evolution of the Schools
27. Christopher Melchert, ‘How Hanafism Came to Originate in Kufa and Traditionalism in Medina’, Islamic Law and Society, 1999, 6, 3, 318–47.
28. Nimrod Hurvitz, ‘Schools of Law and Historical Context: Re-examining the Formation of the Hanbali Madhhab’, Islamic Law and Society, 2000, 7, 1, 37–64.
29. Wael Hallaq, ‘From Regional Schools to Personal Schools of Law? A Reevaluation’, Islamic Law and Society, 2001, 8, 1, 1–26.
Volume III: Consolidation and ‘Stagnation’
Ijtihad and Taqlid
30. Wael Hallaq, ‘Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed?’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1984, 16, 1, 3–41.
31. Norman Calder, ‘Doubt and Prerogative: The Emergence of an Imami Shi’i Theory of Ijtihad’, Studia Islamica, 1989, 70, 57–78.
32. Mohammad Fadel, ‘The Social Logic of Taqlid and the Rise of the Mukhtasar’, Islamic Law and Society, 1996, 3, 2, 193–233.
Muftis and Qadis
33. Wael Hallaq, ‘Usul al-fiqh: Beyond Tradition’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 1992, 3, 2, 172–202.
34. Sherman Jackson, ‘From Prophetic Actions to Constitutional Theory: A Novel Chapter in Medieval Muslim Jurisprudence’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1993, 25, 1, 71–90.
35. Sherman Jackson, ‘The Primacy of Domestic Politics: Ibn bint al-A’azz and the Establishment of Four Chief Judgeships in Mamluk Egypt’, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1995, 115, 1, 52–65.
36. Wael Hallaq, ‘The Qadi’s Diwan (Sijill) Before the Ottomans’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1998, 61, 3, 415–36.
37. Wael Hallaq, ‘Qadis Communicating: Legal Change and the Law of Documentary Evidence’, Al-Qantara: Revista de Estudios Arabes, 1999, 20, ii, 437–66.
38. Yahya J. Michot, ‘Ibn Taymiyya on Astrology Annotated Translation of Three Fatwas’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 2000, 11, 2, 147–208.
39. Christian Müller, ‘Judging with God’s Law on Earth: Judicial Powers of the Qadi al-Jama’a of Cordoba in the Fifth/Eleventh Century’, Islamic Law and Society, 2000, 7, 2, 159–86.
40. Christian Lange, ‘Hisba and the Problem of Overlapping Jurisdictions: An Introduction to, and Translation of, Hisba diplomas in Qalqashandi’s Subh al-Asha’, Harvard Middle Eastern and Islamic Review, 2006, 7, 85–107.
Consolidation of the Schools
41. George Makdisi, ‘The Significance of the Sunni Schools of Law in Islamic Religious History’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1979, 10, 1, 1–8.
42. George Makdisi, ‘Tabaqat-Biography: Law and Orthodoxy in Classical Islam’, Islamic Studies, 1993, 32, 371–96.
43. Stefan Leder, ‘Charismatic Scripturalism: The Hanbali Maqdisis of Damascus’, Der Islam, 1997, 74, 279–304.
44. John A. Nawas, ‘The Emergence of Fiqh as a Distinct Discipline and the Ethnic Identity of the Fuqaha in Early and Classical Islam’, in S. Leder et al. (eds.), Studies in Arabic and Islam: Proceedings of the 19th Congress (Peeters, 2002), pp. 491–9.
Volume IV: Islamic Law in the Modern World
Islamic Law and the State
45. Norman Calder, ‘Accommodation and Revolution in Imami Shi’i Jurisprudence: Khumayni and the Classical Tradition’, Middle Eastern Studies, 1982, 18, 1, 3–20.
46. Nathan J. Brown, ‘Sharia and State in the Modern Muslim Middle East’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1997, 29, 3, 359–76.
47. Roxanne L. Euben, ‘Comparative Political Theory: An Islamic Fundamentalist Critique of Rationalism’, The Journal of Politics, 1997, 59, 1, 28–55.
48. Wael B. Hallaq, ‘Juristic Authority vs. State Power: The Legal Crisis of Modern Islam’, Journal of Law and Religion, 2003–4, 19, ii, 243–58.
The Reconstruction of Tradition
49. Oussama Arabi, ‘Al-Shanhuri’s Reconstruction of the Islamic Law of Contract Defects: Error and Real Intent’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 1995, 6, 2, 153–72.
50. Rudolph Peters, ‘Islamic and Secular Criminal Law in Nineteenth-Century Egypt: The Role and Function of the Qadi’, Islamic Law and Society, 1997, 4, 1, 70–90.
51. Oussama Arabi, ‘Contract Stipulations in Islamic Law: The Ottoman Majalla and Ibn Taymiyya’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1998, 30, 1, 29–50.
52. Oussama Arabi, ‘The Dawning of the Third Millennium on Shari’a: Egypt’s Law No. 1 of 2000, or Women May Divorce at Will’, Arab Law Quarterly, 1998, 16, 1, 2–21.
53. Ahmad Dallal, ‘Appropriating the Past: Twentieth-Century Reconstruction of Pre-Modern Islamic Thought’, Islamic Law and Society, 2000, 7, 3, 325–58.
54. Robert Gleave, ‘Modern Sii Discussions of Habar al-wahid: Sadr, Humayni and Hu’i’, Oriente Moderno, 2002, 82, i, 179–94.
55. Sherman Jackson, ‘Jihâd and the Modern World’, The Journal of Islamic Law and Culture, 2002, 7, 1, 1-26.
56. Emad H. Khalil and Abdulkader Thomas, ‘The Modern Debate Over Riba in Egypt’, in Abdulkader Thomas (ed.), Islamic Economics: Understanding Riba (Routledge, 2006), pp. 69–95.
57. Alexandre Caeiro, ‘The Shifting Moral Universes of the Islamic Tradition of Ifta: A Diachronic Study of Four Adab al-Fatwa Manuals’, Muslim World, 2006, 96, iv, 661–85.
58. David L. Johnston, ‘Maqasid al-sharia: Epistemology and Hermeneutics of Muslim Theologies of Human Rights’, Die Welt des Islams, 2007, 47, ii, 149–87.
The Study of Islamic Law in the West
59. Wael B. Hallaq, ‘The Quest for Origins or Doctrine? Islamic Legal Studies as Colonialist Discourse’, UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law, 2002–3, 2, i, 1–31.
60. Abdul Hakim I. Al-Matroudi, ‘The Hanbali School of Law in the Light of Contemporary Western Studies’, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 2006, 8, 2, 203–60.
'For an Islamic studies scholar... [the collection] offers a fascinating insight to the evolution of the law and some of the challenges it poses and in turn has faced.'
- Urfan Khaliq, Cardiff Law School, Cardiff University, UK
