Today's discussions on Islam and the place religion should have in society often lead to questions about the Shari'a - Islamic law. Those who work for a political role for Islam demand that the Shari'a must be applied in their country, while those critical of Islam use the law as proof of its 'medieval' character. Islam is sometimes, not quite justly, called a 'religion of rules', and the rules of Islam are the Shari'a. But it is often hard to establish the exact nature of this law in more practical terms. Asking those who favour it or those who oppose it may only lead to greater confusion. But a rule and its exact opposite can both be said to be 'what the Shari'a says' and what God demands of the believer. It may even be questioned if there is any Shari'a at all in the work-a-day world, or whether it is just an ethical ideal, or a body whose secrets are known only to God. At the same time people may be stoned or mutilated in the name of this law. The key to understanding Shari'a is the concept of 'religious law', a term which might seem contradictory. 'Religion' is faith in a non-material force of some kind, and something we consider internal to the human soul. 'Law', on the other hand, is external to us, established by society in order to regulate the material needs of the community. The contrast between 'religion' and 'law' has been continuous throughout Muslim history. Islamic law has always existed in a tension between these two forces: God, who gave the law, and the state - the 'sultan' - representing society and implementing the law. This tension and dynamic have created a very particular history for the law - in how it was formulated and by whom, in its theoretical basis and its actual rules, and in how it was practised in historical reality from the time of its formation till today. That is the main theme of the book. Knut S. Vikor aims in this book to introduce the development and practice of Islamic law to a wide readership: students, lawyers and the growing number of those interested in Islamic civilisation. He summarises the main concepts of Islamic jurisprudence, discusses debates concerning the historicity of Islamic sources of dogma and the dating of early Islamic law; describes the classic practice of the law, in the formulation of legal rules and practice in the courts; and sets out various substantive legal rules, on such vital matters as the family and economic activity.

This survey of Islamic Law combines Western and Islamic views and describes the relationship between the original theories of Islamic law and the views of contemporary Islamic writers. Covering the key topics in the area -- including the history, sources and formation of Islamic Law, the legal mechanisms, and the contemporary context -- it is strong in its coverage of the modern perspective, which particularly marks this book out from other texts in this field. The aim is to provide the student with a background understanding of Islamic Law and access to the complexity of the Islamic legal system. The language used is non-technical and understanding is aided with a supplementary detailed glossary and analytical indices. Selling Points *Author is a well-known scholar who is a lawyer by original profession and who has taught Islamic Law for 22 years: ideally placed to write an introductory survey of the field. *No prior knowledge assumed *Uses non-technical language *Includes a glossary of key terms

Beginning in the late eighteenth century, British rule transformed the relationship between law, society, and the state in South Asia. But qazis and muftis, alongside ordinary people without formal training in law, fought back as the colonial system in India sidelined Islamic legal experts. They petitioned the East India Company for employment, lobbied imperial legislators for recognition, and built robust institutions to serve their communities. By bringing legal debates into the public sphere, they resisted the colonial state's authority over personal law and rejected legal codification by embracing flexibility and possibility. With postcards, letters, and telegrams, they made everyday Islamic law vibrant and resilient and challenged the hegemony of the Anglo-Indian legal system. Following these developments from the beginning of the Raj through independence, Elizabeth Lhost rejects narratives of stagnation and decline to show how an unexpected coterie of scholars, practitioners, and ordinary individuals negotiated the contests and challenges of colonial legal change. The rich archive of unpublished fatwa files, qazi notebooks, and legal documents they left behind chronicles their efforts to make Islamic law relevant for everyday life, even beyond colonial courtrooms and the confines of family law. Lhost shows how ordinary Muslims shaped colonial legal life and how their diversity and difference have contributed to contemporary debates about religion, law, pluralism, and democracy in South Asia and beyond.

Beginning in the late eighteenth century, British rule transformed the relationship between law, society, and the state in South Asia. But qazis and muftis, alongside ordinary people without formal training in law, fought back as the colonial system in India sidelined Islamic legal experts. They petitioned the East India Company for employment, lobbied imperial legislators for recognition, and built robust institutions to serve their communities. By bringing legal debates into the public sphere, they resisted the colonial state's authority over personal law and rejected legal codification by embracing flexibility and possibility. With postcards, letters, and telegrams, they made everyday Islamic law vibrant and resilient and challenged the hegemony of the Anglo-Indian legal system. Following these developments from the beginning of the Raj through independence, Elizabeth Lhost rejects narratives of stagnation and decline to show how an unexpected coterie of scholars, practitioners, and ordinary individuals negotiated the contests and challenges of colonial legal change. The rich archive of unpublished fatwa files, qazi notebooks, and legal documents they left behind chronicles their efforts to make Islamic law relevant for everyday life, even beyond colonial courtrooms and the confines of family law. Lhost shows how ordinary Muslims shaped colonial legal life and how their diversity and difference have contributed to contemporary debates about religion, law, pluralism, and democracy in South Asia and beyond.

In this landmark publication, the world's leading expert in the legal system of Saudi Arabia explains and documents the uncodified principles of contract, tort, and property that frame the business laws of the Kingdom. Drawing on 8,500 newly published court decisions, as well as on statutory law, interviews and a wide range of other material, the book sets out to determine the actual practice of Saudi courts in these spheres, both substantively and as to reasoning and procedure. With unique insights into and understanding of this fascinating jurisdiction, this book simply must be read by all engaged with law or business in the region. Also, given its focus on how certain Islamic legal rules and principles are applied in practice, the book will prove an invaluable resource for scholars of Islamic law past and present.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com Sharia family law processes have attracted increasing debate and controversy in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia in recent years. While the reasons for opposition to sharia processes are complex, they often feature the concern that sharia processes disadvantage Muslim women. However, to date there has been inadequate attention to the experiences of participants in sharia processes. This book studies women's experiences with these processes in Australia, with attention to the question of how religious communities and liberal legal systems can best respond to the needs of Muslim women who use these processes. In doing so, the book offers unique evidence to inform future policy developments in Australia that will also have implications for other liberal jurisdictions. In this way, the book makes a significant contribution to the international discussion and response to sharia processes.

In Palestine, family law is a controversial topic publicly debated by representatives of the state, Sharia establishment, and civil society. Yet to date no such law exists. This book endeavors to determine why by focusing on the conceptualization of gender and analyzing "law in the making" and the shifts in debates (2012-2018). In 2012, a ruling on khul'-divorce was issued by the Sharia Court and was well received by civil society, but when the debate shifted in 2018 to how to "harmonize" international law with Islamic standards, the process came to a standstill. These developments and the various power relations cannot be properly understood without taking into consideration the terminology used and redefined in these debates.

This wide-ranging, geographically ambitious book tells the story of the Arab diaspora within the context of British and Dutch colonialism, unpacking the community's ambiguous embrace of European colonial authority in Southeast Asia. In Fluid Jurisdictions, Nurfadzilah Yahaya looks at colonial legal infrastructure and discusses how it impacted, and was impacted by, Islam and ethnicity. But more important, she follows the actors who used this framework to advance their particular interests. Yahaya explains why Arab minorities in the region helped to fuel the entrenchment of European colonial legalities: their itinerant lives made institutional records necessary. Securely stored in centralized repositories, such records could be presented as evidence in legal disputes. To ensure accountability down the line, Arab merchants valued notarial attestation land deeds, inheritance papers, and marriage certificates by recognized state officials. Colonial subjects continually played one jurisdiction against another, sometimes preferring that colonial legal authorities administer Islamic law-even against fellow Muslims. Fluid Jurisdictions draws on lively material from multiple international archives to demonstrate the interplay between colonial projections of order and their realities, Arab navigation of legally plural systems in Southeast Asia and beyond, and the fraught and deeply human struggles that played out between family, religious, contract, and commercial legal orders.