In early 20th-century Yemen, a sizable Jewish population was subject to sumptuary laws and social restrictions. Jews regularly came into contact with Islamic courts and Muslim jurists, by choice and by necessity, became embroiled in the most intimate details of their Jewish neighbors lives. Mark S. Wagner draws on autobiographical writings to study the careers of three Jewish intermediaries who used their knowledge of Islamic law to manipulate the shari a for their own benefit and for the good of their community. The result is a fresh perspective on the place of religious minorities in Muslim societies."

The question of tolerance and Islam is not a new one. Polemicists are certain that Islam is not a tolerant religion. As evidence they point to the rules governing the treatment of non-Muslim permanent residents in Muslim lands, namely the dhimmi rules that are at the center of this study. These rules, when read in isolation, are certainly discriminatory in nature. They legitimate discriminatory treatment on grounds of what could be said to be religious faith and religious difference. The dhimmi rules are often invoked as proof-positive of the inherent intolerance of the Islamic faith (and thereby of any believing Muslim) toward the non-Muslim. This book addresses the problem of the concept of 'tolerance' for understanding the significance of the dhimmi rules that governed and regulated non-Muslim permanent residents in Islamic lands. In doing so, it suggests that the Islamic legal treatment of non-Muslims is symptomatic of the more general challenge of governing a diverse polity. Far from being constitutive of an Islamic ethos, the dhimmi rules raise important thematic questions about Rule of Law, governance, and how the pursuit of pluralism through the institutions of law and governance is a messy business. As argued throughout this book, an inescapable, and all-too-often painful, bottom line in the pursuit of pluralism is that it requires impositions and limitations on freedoms that are considered central and fundamental to an individual's well-being, but which must be limited for some people in some circumstances for reasons extending well beyond the claims of a given individual. A comparison to recent cases from the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Court of Human Rights reveals that however different and distant premodern Islamic and modern democratic societies may be in terms of time, space, and values, legal systems face similar challenges when governing a populace in which minority and majority groups diverge on the meaning and implication of values deemed fundamental to a particular polity.

In 2006 a dispute broke out regarding an initiative by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles (backed by Israeli authorities) to construct a Museum of Tolerance (MoT) in West Jerusalem. The museum was to be built on a plot of land that in the past had been part of the historic Muslim Mamilla Cemetery, which since the 1980s has served as a municipal parking lot. Debate centred on whether construction of a museum dedicated to human dignity on Muslim cemeterial land was justified. The Northern Islamic Movement and a group of 70 academics and eight Israeli civil society organizations (including rabbis) opposed the project, but their petition to Israel's High Court of Justice failed. Yitzhak Reiter presents the public and legal dilemmas at the individual level (an act of insensitivity to the Muslim minority in Jerusalem); at the political level (the right of equal treatment by the state and the right to administer holy properties [waqf] according to religious law and rulings of shari'a [Islamic law] courts); and at the universal level (can conflict over a holy place be addressed objectively from the ideological/political positions that the place symbolizes, and is a secular civil court competent/appropriate to adjudicate a religious conflict). Research for this book integrates a multi-disciplinary approach involving history, identity politics, and conflict resolution. Sources include documents obtained from the Shari'a Court of Jerusalem and Israel's High Court of Justice, as well as Islamic law and Israeli civil law literature, reports of experts submitted to the courts, and personal participation of the author, including discussions with key players and informants. The Mamilla dispute reflects a microcosm of conflicts over religious and national symbols of cultural heritage as well as Jewish majorityArab minority tensions within Israel.

In 2006 a dispute broke out regarding an initiative by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles (backed by Israeli authorities) to construct a Museum of Tolerance (MoT) in West Jerusalem. The museum was to be built on a plot of land that in the past had been part of the historic Muslim Mamilla Cemetery, which since the 1980s has served as a municipal parking lot. Debate centred on whether construction of a museum dedicated to human dignity on Muslim cemeterial land was justified. The Northern Islamic Movement and a group of 70 academics and eight Israeli civil society organizations (including rabbis) opposed the project, but their petition to Israel's High Court of Justice failed. Yitzhak Reiter presents the public and legal dilemmas at the individual level (an act of insensitivity to the Muslim minority in Jerusalem); at the political level (the right of equal treatment by the state and the right to administer holy properties [waqf] according to religious law and rulings of shari'a [Islamic law] courts); and at the universal level (can conflict over a holy place be addressed objectively from the ideological/political positions that the place symbolizes, and is a secular civil court competent/appropriate to adjudicate a religious conflict). Research for this book integrates a multi-disciplinary approach involving history, identity politics, and conflict resolution. Sources include documents obtained from the Shari'a Court of Jerusalem and Israel's High Court of Justice, as well as Islamic law and Israeli civil law literature, reports of experts submitted to the courts, and personal participation of the author, including discussions with key players and informants. The Mamilla dispute reflects a microcosm of conflicts over religious and national symbols of cultural heritage as well as Jewish majorityArab minority tensions within Israel.

Compiled by a world-renowned Islamic scholar and spiritual guide, "Principles of Islamic Spirituality, Part 1: Sufism" is the first of a multi-volume treatise written for western readers. It presents a brief background of the Sufi hierarchy, their diverse communities achieved through religious tolerance and goodwill, their social responsibility, and treatment of the perennial conflict of good vs. evil. While this historic work draws upon authentic legal precedents and religious explanations from various Islamic schools of thought that form the majority Muslim view, it is presented for laypersons in easily understood terms and is highly recommended for anyone interested in mainstream Islam and its moderate views of today's world.

Compiled by a world-renowned Islamic scholar and spiritual guide, "Principles of Islamic Spirituality, Part 2: Contemporary Sufism & Traditional Islamic Healing" is the second of a multi-volume treatise written for western readers. It defines the current negatively impacted state of the human psyche, the causes of mental and spiritual illnesses and their treatment with traditional Islamic healing. While this historic work draws upon authentic legal precedents and religious explanations from various Islamic schools of thought that form the majority Muslim view, it is presented for laypersons in easily understood terms and is highly recommended for any study of mainstream Islam and its moderate views of today's world.

The Prophet Muhammad s treaties with the Christians of his time, which John Andrew Morrow has rediscovered in obscure collections and often newly translated, uniformly state that Muslims are not to attack peaceful Christian communities, but defend them until the End of the World. Authored by the Prophet himself, they represent a third foundational pillar for Islam outside of Qur an and hadith. The Covenants Initiative within the book represents a movement by Muslims, both prominent and unknown, in support of Christians under attack. These treaties desperately need to be better known among Christians, Muslims, and the general public.

For scholars, this book provides much difficult-to-obtain material: facsimiles of primary sources in Arabic and Persian; corrected versions in modern Arabic typescript; and alternate translations. They now have all they need to study the covenants in depth.

"This narrative has the power to unite Muslim and Christian communities. A work of scholarship, its release is timely, and its content critical in fostering mutual respect and religious freedom."--IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, Chairman, Cordoba Initiative

"In his indispensable contribution to the study of the Abrahamic faiths, John Andrew Morrow tells the story of how the Prophet Muhammad used his desert experiences of hospitality and protection to bring Muslims and Christians together."--JOSEPH HOBBS, University of Missouri

"These letters from the Prophet Muhammad to Christian communities can serve to inspire both Muslims and Christians about our ability to live together as God's people, as friends, as neighbors, and as custodians of the same small planet."--OMID SAFI, University of North Carolina

"With painstaking effort and much dedication invested in this groundbreaking work, Professor Morrow will surely manage to attract the attention of Islamic studies students and specialists."--AMAR SELLAM, Mohamed I University

"This book documents what is possibly the third foundational source of Islam: the Prophet's treaties and covenants among people of the Abrahamic faiths. Dr. Morrow brings forth exceptionally important findings that dictate peaceful coexistence among Jews, Christians, and Muslims."--BRIDGET BLOMFIELD, University of Nebraska

Dr. Jamal Nasir advised the King of Jordan through most of the last fifty years of the twentieth century and shares a personal insight on the way events unfolded in Jordan and Palestine. This heartwarming narrative follows Nasir from a young Palestinian refugee, through to a career at the bar in London, and on to being legal advisor to King Hussein, amongst others. Intimately acquainted with the workings of government in the region, Nasir here reveals previously unpublished accounts of key moments behind the scenes in modern Middle East history.

Al-Murshid al-Mu'een is a widely recognised primary text for learning Islam in North Africa. In it the author, Abd al-Wahid ibn 'Ashir, summarises in verse the three sciences of Islam, Iman and Ihsan: Maliki fiqh, Ash'ari 'aqida and Junaidi tasawwuf. This is its first complete translation into English. Dr. Asadullah Yate is also the translator of Shaykh Ahmad bin al-Bashir al-Qalawi ash-Shinqiti's (1216 AH/1802 CE- 1276 AH/1853 CE) Mufid al-'Ibad, a very full commentary on al-Murshid al-Mu'een, which is published by Diwan Press in English as "Islam in the School of Madina."

A translation of Abu Shuja' al-Asfahani's introduction to classical Islamic law, Matn al-Ghayat wa al-Taqrib. This enduring classic covers the full range of basic topics within the Shafi'i school of law. It includes the full Arabic text and notes to point out where later Shafi'i jurists have differed from the author, Imam al-Nawawi's preferences, and minor clarifications and explanations.

Researchers have shed light on the literary production of the Ismailis since the early 1930s. The cataloguing of these work has been carried out by Ivanow, Fyzee, Goriawala, Poonawala, Gacek, Cortese and de Bloise. Many works attributable to Ismaili scholars, however, are still unavailable either because they remain hidden in private collections or because they have not survived. Ismaili law, in particular, is still a largely unexplored field of study. Al-Qadi Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man is generally considered the founder and greatest exponent of Ismaili jurisprudence, Many of his works have been lost, and information on some others is scattered; yet other works remain in manuscript form, and only a few have been published. The present book is a critical edition and translation of al-Nu'man's Minhaj al-fara'id, based on its three known copies. It deals with the law of inheritance, one of the most complex in Islamic law. In comparing the Minhaj with two published works (the Da'a'im al-Islam and Kitab al-iqtisar) as well as a manuscript (Mukhtasar al-athar) of al-Nu'man, a significant doctrinal evolution clearly emerges, reflecting his early Maliki training and then his work under four Fatimid imams. Ismaili law is also compared with the doctrines of the Imami school as well as the legal system of the four Sunni schools. This book thus allows us to determine the time of the composition of the Minhaj al-fara id, the development and the originality of Ismaili jurisprudence, and its relation to other schools of law.

This collection tackles the four madhhabs of Islam in a thought-provoking way. Together, the four contributions show that recovery of transmitted practice backed by scholarship is a dynamic and liberating way that can lead to a new flowering of the deen in every age.

Malaysia and Brunei both apply a complex hybrid body of positive law to their Malay Muslim majorities. This volume traces the development of a unique "Anglo-Malay madhhab" in these states, initially by colonial and latterly by successor states. In Malaysia and Brunei, shari'ah has been filtered through Anglo-common law state institutions, creating a hybrid "Anglo-Muslim" mixture of legal doctrines. This system of jurisprudence makes only very limited reference to the classical shari'ah but draws heavily on the secular English common law and its legal traditions, procedures, and principles. In post-colonial times, this system has not been accepted without resistance and this volume considers the impact of colonial and successor states on the development of legal institutions and systems of Malaysia and Brunei.

This "fatwa," religious edict, is issued by two renowned Islamic scholars and is founded on traditional Islamic texts which clearly state domestic violence is forbidden. It presents shining social examples set forth by the revered prophet of Islam, Muhammad, and examines crucial Arabic terminology relative to domestic violence that has been broadly misinterpreted. This booklet is an authentic refutation of domestic abuse perpetrated by Muslims and is a resource for social scientists, religious scholars, policymakers, lawmakers, law enforcement, educators, and advocates for victims of domestic violence.

Islamic codes on polity cover all its aspects, including governance, diplomacy and policy-making etc. This book will be highly useful for scholars, researchers, students and all those who are interested to know about Islam. In the long run it will help its readers to see Islam in a new light with well referenced reliable information.

Have you ever wondered: What do the eminent scholars of Isl m have to say about the commemoration of the Prophet's birthday (Mawlid), may blessings and peace be upon him? Is the modern controversy regarding this subject really authentic? The Elite Stand in Honour of the Chosen One by Im m Ahmad Rid Kh n is a treatise that emphatically answers these questions by elaborating on the favourable dispensation accorded to this practice by over a thousand years of Isl mic scholarship. The celebrated author provides detailed evidence on the permissibility and benefit of Mawlid and standing in honour of the Prophet (Qiy m) from authentic books of Isl mic jurisprudence (Fiqh). Multiple legal edicts (Fat w ) of mainstream im ms and scholars are also used in support of this stance. In recent times, some have censured these meritorious acts simply because the Companions and their Successors (Tabi' n) never celebrated the Prophet's birthday, may blessings and peace be upon him. In a masterful demonstration of scholarship, the author refutes this position of the critics using their own evidence and logic.

Debates over family law are a sensitive subject in the Muslim world, revealing something of the struggle between forces of traditionalism and modernism. The highly disparate tendencies within Islamic "fundamentalism" share a desire to re-institute Shar'ia law, regarded as the last bastion of the Islamic ideal of social relations. This book probes the theory and practice of Islamic family law in the contemporary Muslim world, focusing on the dynamics of marriage and the consequences of its breakdown, and the ways in which litigants manipulate the law to resolve marital and child custody disputes.

One of the most important developments in Muslim politics in recent years has been the spread of movements calling for the implementation of sharia or Islamic law. Shari a Politics maps the ideals and organization of these movements and examines their implications for the future of democracy, citizen rights, and gender relations in the Muslim world. These studies of eight Muslim-majority societies, and state-of-the-field reflections by leading experts, provide the first comparative investigation of movements for and against implementation of sharia. These essays reveal that the Muslim public's interest in sharia does not spring from an unchanging devotion to received religious tradition, but from an effort to respond to the central political and ethical questions of the day."

Jihad is a term that has become universally known today. What is meant by this word, which invokes frightening images of men in masks, wearing suicide vests, brandishing automatic weapons in one hand while holding the Holy Quran in the other. Is Jihad an ongoing war directed at converting non-Muslims to Islam at the edge of the sword? Or is it an ideological movement to establish an Islamic empire stretching from the Far East to the Far West? From what we see in the nightly news, it appears humanity is headed for the sort of clash of civilizations that Samuel Huntington feared. In reality, this is no clash between Islam and the West, or between Islam and Christianity. Were it the case, Muslims would be attacking the Christian communities in their own nations. While isolated conflicts along these lines occur, they have never been the prime focus of the Jihadist movement. What we are witnessing instead is a clash between people with power and those without. It is a conflict rooted in the history of colonialism and perceptions of present-day imperialism. It is a conflict in which religion is simply a means to an end. We must recognize this if we are to understand the true nature of the so-called "Jihad" the militant Islamists invoke and its increasingly global character. In this book we would like to shed light on the meaning of Jihad in the traditional understanding of Islam. The concept of "holy war" does not occur in the term Jihad. Rather the meaning of combative Jihad expressed in Qur'an or hadith is simply war. That said, we will show in this presentation, that Jihad in the classical sense does not simply mean war. In fact Jihad is a comprehensive term which traditionally has been defined as composed of fourteen different aspects, only one of which involves warfare. We will also show that the best thing Muslim moderates could do today to counter the Jihadist global strategy would be a "Jihad" of charity and good works designed for the rich Muslim nations to raise the standard of living of the poor ones.