This book explores the nature and role of intent in pre-modern Islamic legal rule books, including ritual, commercial, family, and penal law. It argues that Muslim jurists treat intent as a definitive element of many actions regulated by the Shari'a, and they employ a variety of means and terms to assess and categorize subjective states. Through detailed analyses of medieval Islamic texts, aided by Western philosophical examinations of intent, the author presents technically detailed yet lucid arguments about Islamic religious ritual and spirituality, the ethics of business transactions, the role of the inner self in crime and punishment, and Muslim understandings of agency and language. This is the first extensive exploration of the crucial legal issue of intent in all major areas of Islamic substantive law.

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.

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

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.

This book is about how Islamic finance is conducted in contemporary times. It is also about change and how change occurs in two areas. The first area is change in a body of law, both generally and specifically with respect to Islamic Shariah in the areas of commerce and finance. The second area is Islamic finance. Change in the Shariah and in Islamic finance are intimately and inextricably related: the Shariah defines and constrains change in Islamic finance. Legal change necessarily involves consideration of the interpretive modalities that are employed in effecting that legal change, and interpretive modalities in Islamic finance are also considered. The book is divided into four parts. Part I outlines the context and provides background for later discussions. Part II introduces the Shariah and its interpretation. Part III discusses a specific fatwa issued to Dow Jones in 1998 in respect of equity investing and equity indices (the Dow Jones Fatwa), its sequelae, and murabaha transactions. And Part IV addresses issues pertaining to and criticisms of Islamic finance. Part I describes the objectives and organization of the book, provides a short history of modern Islamic finance, and sets forth a categorized summary of the issues and criticisms raised by various critics. The discussion of Shariah matters in Part II begins with a summary of the nature of the Shariah (Islamic law) as applied in Islamic finance. This is followed by a detailed description of the Shariah scholars and Shariah boards that interpret and apply Islamic law in the field of Islamic finance. Topics considered include the qualifications of scholars, the nature and structure of Shariah boards and how they are comprised and operate, and the roles and functions of Shariah boards. The final chapter in this Part discusses the fatwa (legal opinion) that implements Islamic law in the transactional, operational entity and standard-setting context. Part III provides detailed discussions of the Dow Jones Fatwa, its equity investment tests, permissible and impermissible equity instruments, permissible and impermissible business activities, financial screens for impermissible interest income, and other important principles. In particular, the discussion focuses on the principles of "permissible variance" (or "permissible impurity") and "purification" that have been instrumental in the development and growth of Islamic finance. Succeeding chapters in this Part trace how the permissible variance principles have evolved and expanded in areas such as equity, private equity and real estate investing, and the financing of those activities, and in project and infrastructure finance. Six areas of evolution and expansion are considered. These include (1) modification of the initial tests, (2) new equity investing tests, (3) permissible and impermissible business activities in different areas of practice and the variations in impurity that are permitted in those areas, (4) the most commonly used structures in modern Islamic finance (the lease or ijara and the murabaha or cost-plus sale), and) (5) when and how purification (largely by donation to charity) are effected. The final group of chapters, in Part IV, discuss the various issues and criticisms in detail. Topics include (i) the amount of discretion afforded Shariah scholars, (ii) the intentions of different transactional parties in Islamic finance transactions, (iii) the degree of formalism in application of interpretive modalities, (iv) complexities and transaction costs (both absolutely and relative to corresponding conventional transactions), (v) social justice and policy issues, and (vi) the application of interpretative modalities and their relationship to different jurisprudential theories of legal change. The book includes an extensive bibliography and index. For further information, please see http: //www.islamicfinanceinpractice.com

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.

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.

A concise study of the practices in Islamic commercial law

Filling a gap in the current literature, "Islamic Commercial Law" is the only book available that combines the theory and practice of Islamic commercial law in an English-language text. From the experts at the International Islamic University Malaysia, the book examines the source materials in the Qur'an and Hadith, and highlights the views and positions of leading schools of Islamic law, without burying the reader in juristic minutia. It combines theory with practice to address the needs of students while providing a pragmatic treatment of Islamic contracts. It provides diagrams for individual contracts to reveal the type and nature of the contractual relationships between parties and discusses all types of fundamental transactions, including sales, loans, debt transfers, partnerships, and more.Written by experts from the International Islamic University Malaysia, the leading organisation in research in Islamic financeCloses a vital gap in the English-language literature on Islamic commercial lawFeatures end-of-chapter questions to enable self-testing and provoke critical thinking

An ideal guide for current students, researchers, and practitioners, "Islamic Commercial Law" offers a concise yet comprehensive coverage of the subject.

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.

The central question of the Arab Spring - what democracies should look like in the deeply religious countries of the Middle East - has developed into a vigorous debate over these nations' secular identities. But what, exactly, is secularism? What has the West's long familiarity with it inevitably obscured? In "Questioning Secularism", Hussein Ali Agrama tackles these questions. Focusing on the fatwa councils and family law courts of Egypt just prior to the revolution, he delves deeply into the meaning of secularism itself and the ambiguities that lie at its heart. Drawing on a precedent-setting case arising from the family law courts - the last courts in Egypt to use Shari'a law - Agrama shows that secularism is a historical phenomenon that works through a series of paradoxes that it creates. Digging beneath the perceived differences between the West and Middle East, he highlights secularism's dependence on the law and the problems that arise from it: the necessary involvement of state sovereign power in managing the private spiritual lives of citizens and the irreducible set of legal ambiguities such a relationship creates. Navigating a complex landscape between private and public domains, "Questioning Secularism" lays important groundwork for understanding the real meaning of secularism as it affects the real freedoms of a citizenry, an understanding of the utmost importance for so many countries that are now urgently facing new political possibilities.

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.

Drawing on Hanafi fatawa and legal commentaries from Ottoman Syria between the 17th and early 19th centuries, this book examines the legal status of tenants and sharecroppers on arable lands, most of which were state or waqf properties. Challenging existing scholarship which argues that the status of cultivators gradually eroded after the 16th century, this study explores how jurists balanced the rights and obligations of tenants and landlords, thereby ensuring the adaptability of the Ottoman land system. The work addresses the differences between sharecropping and tenancy arrangements, the limitations that governed state and waqf officials, and the interplay between shari a and qanun in shaping land laws. The book also illustrates the doctrinal development of the law and sheds light on notions of 'ownership, ideas of private vs. public good, and prevailing conceptions of social and economic justice.

"Dispensing Justice" is designed to serve as a sourcebook of Islamic legal practice and qadi court records from the rise of Islam to modern times, drawing upon court records and qadi judgments, in addition to literary sources. In the first chapter, we survey the state of the field, sketching the history, structure, and modern transformation of the qadiship. The twenty chapters that follow are grouped thematically in four sections: (1) the nature and functions of the judgeship and its development over time; (2) the structure of the judicial apparatus; (3) the application of juristic thought and reasoning to specific cases in selected areas of the law; and (4) judicial procedure and the different forms of evidence. The volume fills a large gap in Islamic legal history. Originally published in hardcover.

In Quest of Justice provides the first full account of the establishment and workings of a new kind of state in Egypt in the modern period. Drawing on groundbreaking research in the Egyptian archives, this highly original book shows how the state affected those subject to it and their response. Illustrating how shari'a was actually implemented, how criminal justice functioned, and how scientific-medical knowledges and practices were introduced, Khaled Fahmy offers exciting new interpretations that are neither colonial nor nationalist. Moreover he shows how lower-class Egyptians did not see modern practices that fused medical and legal purposes in new ways as contrary to Islam. This is a major contribution to our understanding of Islam and modernity.

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.

Drawing on legal and hadith texts from the formative and classical periods of Islamic legal history, this book offers an overview of the development of the questions prominent jurists asked and answered about women's issues. All assumed a woman would marry and thus the book concentrates on women's family life. The introduction establishes the historical framework within which the jurists worked. A chapter on Qur'an verses devoted to women's lives is followed by chapters on marriage and divorce which compare the views of jurists during the formative period. The fourth chapter describes the evolution from the formative to the classical periods. The fifth uses material from both periods to describe the array of legal opinion about other aspects of women's lives in and outside their homes. Throughout, jurists' opinions are juxtaposed with relevant quotations from contemporaneous hadith collections.