A study of Islamic law and political power in the Ottoman Empire's richest provincial cityWhat did Islamic law mean in the early modern period, a world of great Muslim empires? Often portrayed as the quintessential jurists' law, to a large extent it was developed by scholars outside the purview of the state. However, for the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, justice was the ultimate duty of the monarch, and Islamic law was a tool of legitimation and governance. James E. Baldwin examines how the interplay of these two conceptions of Islamic law religious scholarship and royal justice undergirded legal practice in Cairo, the largest and richest city in the Ottoman provinces. Through detailed studies of the various formal and informal dispute resolution institutions and practices that formed the fabric of law in Ottoman Cairo, his book contributes to key questions concerning the relationship between the shari'a and political power, the plurality of Islamic legal practice, and the nature of centre-periphery relations in the Ottoman Empire.Key featuresOffers a new interpretation of the relationship between Islamic law and political powerPresents law as the key nexus connecting Egypt with the imperial capital Istanbul during the period of Ottoman decentralizationStudies judicial institutions such as the governor's Diwan and the imperial council that have received little attention in previous scholarshipIntegrates the study of legal records with an analysis of how legal practice was represented in contemporary chroniclesProvides transcriptions and translations of a range of Ottoman legal documents

Taking the Arab Spring as its case study, this book explores the role of law and constitutions during societal upheavals, and critically evaluates the different trajectories they could follow in a revolutionary setting. It urges a rethinking of major categories in political, legal, and constitutional theory in light of the Arab Spring. The book is a novel and comprehensive examination of the constitutional order that preceded and followed the Arab Spring in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Jordan, Algeria, Oman, and Bahrain. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, including an in-depth analysis of recent court rulings in several Arab countries, the book illustrates the contradictory roles of law and constitutions. The book also contrasts the Arab Spring with other revolutionary situations and demonstrates how the Arab Spring provides a laboratory for examining scholarly ideas about revolutions, legitimacy, legality, continuity, popular sovereignty, and constituent power. With a new preface from the author addressing developments in the Arab Spring.

In this work, Justyna Nedza presents the first comprehensive analysis of the theologically charged legal practice of takfir in Egyptian and Saudi militant Salafist thought, with a focus on how this practice is employed to justify militant opposition to the state. Justyna Nedza prasentiert hier die erste umfassende Analyse der theologisch aufgeladenen Rechtspraxis des takfir im militanten Salafismus, insbesondere in AEgypten und Saudi Arabien. Dabei liegt das Hauptaugenmerk darauf, wie takfir zur Rechtfertigung eines gewaltsamen Vorgehens gegen den Staat eingesetzt wird.

Triple talaq, or talaq-e-bidat, is one of the most debated issues not only in India but also in other countries having a sizeable Muslim population. Muslim men have regularly misused this provision to divorce their wives instantly by simply uttering 'talaq' thrice. The Supreme Court of India, in the landmark judgement Shayara Bano v. Union of India, finally declared the practice unconstitutional. Salman Khurshid, who assisted in the case as amicus curiae, dives deep into the topic but presents it simply, without much jargon. Explaining the reasons behind the court's decision, he goes on to discuss other aspects of this practice, such as why it is wrong; why this practice has thrived; what the previous judicial pronouncements on it were; what the Quran and Muslim religious leaders say about it; and what the comparative practices in other countries are.

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Islamic law is one of the major legal systems in the world today, yet it is often misunderstood, particularly in the West. It is applicable in different forms as part of state law in countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, and also has a strong influence on Muslim communities throughout the Western world. This Very Short Introduction provides an authoritative perspective on the evolution and nature of Islamic law. Mashood A. Baderin considers its theory, covering the history and nature of Islamic jurisprudence; its scope, covering Family Law, Inheritance Law, Financial Law, Penal Law, and International Law; and, finally, its practice. He takes into account both classical and modern scholarly perspectives in examining the various facets of Islamic law, to provide an overview of this key legal system. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Allan Christelow examines the Muslim courts of Algeria from 1854, when the French first intervened in Islamic legal matters, through the gradual subordination of the courts and judges that went on until World War I.

Originally published in 1985.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Shariah law is a subject that is misunderstood and misrepresented by many in the West. More than simply a system of law, it is concerned with a set of values and rules that are essential to the understanding and practice of Islam. In this volume, Mohammad Hashim Kamali, a world-renowned expert on Shariah, adopts a question-and-answer format to provide a clear introduction to its most salient aspects. Extending from the sources of Shariah in the Qur'an, hadith and the legal maxims of Islamic law to the discussion of issues such as freedom of religion, gender equality and human rights, Shariah Law: Questions and Answers connects the theoretical aspects of the law with how it is applied in the world today. At once scholarly and accessible, it is sure to be a vital resource for students, teachers and general readers, addressing as it does a range of contemporary concerns, including jihad, democracy, the environment, genetic engineering, human cloning, euthanasia and abortion.

Food trucks announcing "halal" proliferate in many urban areas but how many non-Muslims know what this means, other than cheap lunch? Here Middle Eastern historians Febe Armanios and Bogac Ergene provide an accessible introduction to halal (permissible) food in the Islamic tradition, exploring what halal food means to Muslims and how its legal and cultural interpretations have changed in different geographies up to the present day. Historically, Muslims used food to define their identities in relation to co-believers and non-Muslims. Food taboos are rooted in the Quran and prophetic customs, as well as writings from various periods and geographical settings. As in Judaism and among certain Christian sects, Islamic food traditions make distinctions between clean and impure, and dietary choices and food preparation reflect how believers think about broader issues. Traditionally, most halal interpretations focused on animal slaughter and the consumption of intoxicants. Muslims today, however, must also contend with an array of manufactured food products-yogurts, chocolates, cheeses, candies, and sodas-filled with unknown additives and fillers. To help consumers navigate the new halal marketplace, certifying agencies, government and non-government bodies, and global businesses vie to meet increased demands for food piety. At the same time, blogs, cookbooks, restaurants, and social media apps have proliferated, while animal rights and eco-conscious activists seek to recover halal's more wholesome and ethical inclinations. Covering practices from the Middle East and North Africa to South Asia, Europe, and North America, this timely book is for anyone curious about the history of halal food and its place in the modern world.

Dieses Buch beschaftigt sich auf der hermeneutisch-interpretativen Ebene mit dem Verhaltnis zwischen dem Text und dem Kontext. Die Grundlage dazu bilden die Debatten, die infolge der gesellschaftlichen Umbruche in der bosnisch-herzegowinischen Gesellschaft im Laufe des 20. Jahrhunderts. zur Frage der Deutung und Anwendung der Scharia gefuhrt wurden. Der Autor identifiziert und untersucht dabei alle wesentlichen Elemente und Charakteristika, Reichweiten und Einschrankungen der gesellschaftlichen, politischen, rechtlichen und theologischen Verortung der Scharia im gesamtgesellschaftlichen Kontext eines europaischen Landes. Vor dem Hintergrund der gegenwartigen Diskussionen uber die Integration der Muslime in die europaischen Gesellschaften ist diese Frage im hiesigen Kontext von grosser Relevanz.

This volume provides an overview of the nature and scope of the concept of Sunna both in pre-modern and modern Islamic discussions. The main focus is on shedding more light on the context in which the term Sunna in the major works of Islamic law and legal theory across all of the major madhahib was employed during the first six centuries Hijri.

In recent years, Islamic law, or Shari'a, has been appropriated as a tool of modernity in the Muslim world and in the West and has become highly politicised in consequence. Wael Hallaq's magisterial overview of Shari'a sets the record straight by examining the doctrines and practices of Islamic law within the context of its history, and by showing how it functioned within pre-modern Islamic societies as a moral imperative. In so doing, Hallaq takes the reader on an epic journey tracing the history of Islamic law from its beginnings in seventh-century Arabia, through its development and transformation under the Ottomans, and across lands as diverse as India, Africa and South-East Asia, to the present. In a remarkably fluent narrative, the author unravels the complexities of his subject to reveal a love and deep knowledge of the law which will inform, engage and challenge the reader.

In Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: A Fresh Interpretation, Mohammad Kamali considers problems associated with and proposals for reform of the hudud punishments prescribed by Islamic criminal law, and other topics related to crime and punishment in Shariah. He examines what the Qur'an and hadith say about hudud punishments, as well as just retaliation (qisas), and discretionary punishments (ta'zir), and looks at modern-day applications of Islamic criminal law in 15 Muslim countries. Particular attention is given to developments in Malaysia, a multi-religious society, federal state, and self-described democracy, where a lively debate about hudud has been on-going for the last three decades. Malaysia presents a particularly interesting case study of how a reasonably successful country with a market economy, high levels of exposure to the outside world, and a credible claim to inclusivity, deals with Islamic and Shariah-related issues. Kamali concludes that there is a significant gap between the theory and practice of hudud in the scriptural sources of Shariah and the scholastic articulations of jurisprudence of the various schools of Islamic law, arguing that literalism has led to such rigidity as to make Islamic criminal law effectively a dead letter. His goal is to provide a fresh reading of the sources of Shariah and demonstrate how the Qur'an and Sunnah can show the way forward to needed reforms of Islamic criminal law.

Der Band ist dem Initiator und Ideengeber der Gesellschaft fur Arabisches und Islamisches Recht, Professor Dr. Hilmar Kruger, gewidmet. Er enthalt Aufsatze, die auf der Jahrestagung des Vereins am 17. und 18. Oktober 2014 in Leipzig gehalten wurden. Zum einen werden Themen, die sich mit der Rolle des Islamischen Rechts in den Rechtsordnungen der modernen arabischen Welt befassen, behandelt. Zum anderen beschaftigen sich die Autoren dieses Buches mit den spezifischen rechtlichen Verhaltnissen, so in AEgypten und in den arabischen Golflandern. Der Band wendet sich sowohl an Juristen, die sich mit der arabischen Welt praktisch oder theoretisch befassen, als auch an Orientalisten und Islamwissenschaftler, die an rechtlichen Entwicklungen und moeglichen rechtlichen Perspektiven der arabischen Lander interessiert sind. Es werden daruber hinaus Fragen der rechtlichen Beziehungen zwischen arabischen Landern und Europa eroertert.

From its origins Islam has been an expansionist religion, understanding itself as a matter of faith to be in a permanent state of war with the non-Muslim world. After the initial consolidation of the Islamic caliphate, however, it soon became apparent that constant military hostilities could not be sustained and that other forms of relationship with non-Muslim nations would be necessary. To reconcile the imperatives of faith with the limits of military power, Islamic scholars developed elaborate legal doctrines. In the second century of the Muslim era (eighth century C.E.), hundreds of years before the codification of international law in Europe by Grotius and others, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, an eminent jurist of the Hanafite school in present-day Iraq, wrote the first major Islamic treatise on the law of nations, "Kitab al-Siyar al-Kabir." Translated with an extensive commentary by Majid Khadduri, Shaybani's Siyar describes in detail conditions for war (jihad) and for peace, principles for the conduct of military action and of diplomacy, and rules for the treatment of non-Muslims in Muslim lands. A foundational text of the leading school of law in Sunni Islam, it provides essential insights into relations between Islamic nations and the larger world from their earliest days up to the present.

For over a thousand years, Muslim scholars worked to ensure that Islamic law was always fresh and vibrant, that it responded to the needs of an evolving Muslim community and served as a moral and spiritual compass. They did this by "hacking" Islamic law in accordance with changing times and contexts, diving into the interconnected Islamic legal tradition to recalibrate what was outdated, making some laws work better and more efficiently while leaving others undisturbed. These hacking skills made Islamic law both flexible and relevant so that it could meet the needs of a community with changing values while remaining true to its ancient roots. Today, the hacking process has stalled in the face of unprecedented structural challenges, and Islamic law has stagnated. This book is designed to revitalize the hacking tradition by getting readers involved in the process. It walks them through the ins and outs of Islamic legal change, vividly describing how Muslim scholars have met new and evolving challenges on topics as diverse as abolition, democracy, finance, gender, human rights, sexuality, and more. And it provides step-by-step instructions for readers to hack laws for themselves, so that through their engagement and creativity, they can help Islamic law regain its intrinsic vitality and resume its role as a forward-looking source for good in the world.

Triple talaq, or talaq-e-bidat, is one of the most debated issues not only in India but also in other countries having a sizeable Muslim population. Muslim men have regularly misused this provision to divorce their wives instantly by simply uttering 'talaq' thrice. The Supreme Court of India, in the landmark judgement Shayara Bano v. Union of India, finally declared the practice unconstitutional. Salman Khurshid, who assisted in the case as amicus curiae, dives deep into the topic but presents it simply, without much jargon. Explaining the reasons behind the court's decision, he goes on to discuss other aspects of this practice, such as why it is wrong; why this practice has thrived; what the previous judicial pronouncements on it were; what the Quran and Muslim religious leaders say about it; and what the comparative practices in other countries are. This is the Hindi translation of the English edition.

Since the Second World War, there has been a significant migration of Muslims to countries in the Western world. Muslims in Non-Muslim Land traces the process by which these migrants arrived in Western Europe - in particular Britain - and explains how the community developed its faith identity through three particular stances: assimilation, isolation and integration. The findings argue that the assumption that Islam causes Muslims to isolate from the indigenous population and form a 'state within a state' is false and that Islamic Law actually gives Muslims confidence and the ability to integrate within the wider society. The theological view that all non-Muslim lands are dar al-arb (domain of war) is challenged, and the study shows that the traditional interpretive model of Islamic Law inherently possesses the flexibility and applicability to take into consideration minority-status of Muslims in Britain. Muslims in Non-Muslim Land focuses on Islamic Law as interpreted by the anafi Law school and highlights in detail the multi-pronged and robust nature of its legal theory and subsequent application. What is ground-breaking about Muslims in Non-Muslim Lands is that it illustrates the ability of &anafi Law to deal with contemporary issues in a wide range of subjects. It also provides Muslims with ways of Islamically resolving medical, financial and political concerns. The study concludes that Islamic Law can facilitate the integration of Muslim minorities within secular societies while allowing them to still remain true to their faith.

Lex Petrolea and International Investment Law: Law and Practice in the Persian Gulf offers readers a detailed analysis of jurisprudence on the settlement of upstream petroleum disputes between host states in the Persian Gulf and foreign investors. Dr Nima Mersadi Tabari considers the historical, political, and socio-economic roots of the existing frameworks and levels of protection offered to foreign investors. With particular focus on petroleum-related disputes, he initially delivers a comprehensive survey of the jurisprudence of international investment law and investment treaty arbitration. Following on from this, in three dedicated chapters, the author provides in-depth analysis of the legal regimes governing the matter in the major producers of the region: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran. A key resource for all professionals working on legal issues arising from foreign direct investments in natural resources, this book draws a detailed picture of the legal regime governing the upstream sector in the most important geographical region for the international oil and gas sector.

'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Amr al-Awza'i (c.707-774) was Umayyad Syria's most influential jurist, part of a generation of scholars who began establishing the first formal structures for the preservation and dissemination of religious knowledge. Following the Abbasid revolution, they provided a point of stability in otherwise unstable times. Despite his close ties to the old regime, al-Awza'i continued to participate in legal and theological matters in the Abbasid era. Although his immediate impact would prove short-lived, his influence on aspects of Islamic law, particularly the laws of war, endures to this day.

In this book, Omar Farahat presents a new way of understanding the work of classical Islamic theologians and legal theorists who maintained that divine revelation is necessary for the knowledge of the norms and values of human actions. Through a reconstruction of classical Ash'ari-Mu'tazili debates on the nature and implications of divine speech, Farahat argues that the Ash'ari attachment to revelation was not a purely traditionalist position. Rather, it was a rational philosophical commitment emerging from debates in epistemology and theology. He further argues that the particularity of this model makes its distinctive features helpful for contemporary scholars who defend a form of divine command theory. Farahat's volume thus constitutes a new reading of the issue of reason and revelation in Islam and breaks new ground in Islamic theology, law and ethics.

Islamic law influences the lives of Muslims today as aspects of the law are applied as part of State law in different forms in many areas of the world. This volume provides a much needed collection of articles that explore the complexities involved in the application of Islamic law within the contemporary legal systems of different countries today, with particular reference to Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan. The articles identify the relevant areas of difficulties and also propose possible ways of realising a more effective and equitable application of Islamic law in the contemporary world. The volume features an introductory overview of the subject as well as a comprehensive bibliography to aid further research.

Islamic legal theory (usA"l al-fiqh) is literally regarded as 'the roots of the law' whilst Islamic jurists consider it to be the basis of Islamic jurisprudence and thus an essential aspect of Islamic law. This volume addresses the sources, methods and principles of Islamic law leading to an appreciation of the skills of independent juristic and legal reasoning necessary for deriving specific rulings from the established sources of the law. The articles engage critically with relevant traditional views to enable a diagnostic understanding of the different issues, covering both SunnAE" and ShAE"'AE" perspectives on some of the issues for comparison. The volume features an introductory overview of the subject as well as a comprehensive bibliography to aid further research. Islamic legal theory is a complex subject which challenges the ingenuity of any expert and therefore special care has been taken to select articles for their clarity as well as their quality, variety and critique to ensure an in-depth, engaging and easy understanding of what is normally a highly theoretical subject.

This title examines the usefulness, challenges and limits of ijtihad for Muslims today. The resurgence of Islam, geopolitical crises involving Muslim nations, violence associated with Islam and the immigration of millions of Muslims to Western countries have generated a strong interest in understanding Islamic law. The challenges of these new realities have impressed upon Muslims the need to rethink classical jurisprudence and a powerful contemporary ijtihad - the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources. This book explores the limits and controversies of this development in the context of the diverse needs of Muslim cultures and communities living in Muslim and non-Muslim nations and continents including Europe and North America. This title explains diverse bodies of Islamic law including fiqh, qanun and siyar. It supplements Arabic terms from the Basic Code with English substitutes. It analyses the forces shaping contemporary ijtihadPresents a jurisprudential guide suitable for jurists, judges, national legislatures, and teachers and students and law and Islamic studies.