While the system of international law is improving enormously and certain legal provisions are becoming an integral part of jus cogens norms, this body of law must be studied together with other systems which have basically been effective in its development. The principles of the rule of law must be evaluated collectively rather than selectively. In fact, most Islamic nations have ratified the ICC Statute. They have thereby contributed to the establishment of the pillars of morality, equality, peace and justice. At the same time, those pillars may be strengthened by means of an accurate interpretation of the principles of international criminal laws by all parties. The objective of these comparative philosophies is to examine their core principles, similarities and differences. The intention is to indicate that the variation in theories may not obstruct the legal implementation of international criminal law if their dimensions are judged objectively and with the noblest of motives towards mankind.

Focusing on writings of legal theory by leading jurisprudents from al-Jassas (d. 370/980) to al-Shatibi (d. 790/1388), this study traces the Islamic discourse on legal change. It looks at the concept of maslaha (people's well-being) as a method of extending and adapting God's law, showing how it evolves from an obscure legal principle to being interpreted as the all-encompassing purpose of God's law. Discussions on maslaha's epistemology, its role in the law-finding process, the limits of human investigation into divinecommands, and the delineation of the sphere of religious law in Muslim society highlight the interplay between law, theology, logic, and politics that make maslaha a viable vehicle of legal change up to the present.

What should be the place of Shari a Islamic religious law in predominantly Muslim societies of the world? In this ambitious and topical book, a Muslim scholar and human rights activist envisions a positive and sustainable role for Shari a, based on a profound rethinking of the relationship between religion and the secular state in all societies.

An-Na im argues that the coercive enforcement of Shari a by the state betrays the Qur an s insistence on voluntary acceptance of Islam. Just as the state should be secure from the misuse of religious authority, Shari a should be freed from the control of the state. State policies or legislation must be based on civic reasons accessible to citizens of all religions. Showing that throughout the history of Islam, Islam and the state have normally been separate, An-Na im maintains that ideas of human rights and citizenship are more consistent with Islamic principles than with claims of a supposedly Islamic state to enforce Shari a. In fact, he suggests, the very idea of an Islamic state is based on European ideas of state and law, and not Shari a or the Islamic tradition.

Bold, pragmatic, and deeply rooted in Islamic history and theology, "Islam" and the Secular State offers a workable future for the place of Shari a in Muslim societies.

No legal system in the world has aroused as much public interest as Sharia. However, the discourse around Sharia law is largely focussed on its development and the theories, principles and rules that inform it. Less attention has been given to studying the consequences of its operation, particularly in the area of Islamic criminal law. Even fewer studies explore the actual practice of Islamic criminal law in contemporary societies. This book aims to fill these gaps in our understanding of Sharia law in practice. It deals specifically with the consequences of enforcing Islamic criminal law in Pakistan, providing an in-depth and critical analysis of the application of the Islamic law of Qisas and Diyat (retribution and blood money) in the Muslim world today. The empirical evidence adduced more broadly demonstrates the complications of applying traditional Sharia in a modern state.

This study addresses derivatives instruments in Islamic finance. It highlights the benefits of these instruments, their legal aspects and the appropriate alternatives. The forward, futures and options contracts in commodity markets are discussed and the arguments in favour of and against these instruments examined. The forward contracts issue includes the possibility of trading gold in forward basis, the forward market for currencies and the possible alternative to manage related risks. With the examination of futures contracts, the main arguments against such a contract are addressed, for example the sale prior to taking possession and the sale of debt hedging and speculation. The study proposes "khiyar al-shart" and "bay al-arbun" as tools of risk management and alternatives to options. The sale of pure rights is at the center of the admissibility of options in Islamic law and is investigated comprehensively.

Dedication - Foreword - Preface- Abbreviations; Chapter 1: Concept of ownership Classification of ownership; The mode of acquiring ownership of property; The lawful ways of acquiring private ownership; Property and its classifications]; Chapter 2: Work The best and dignified work; The classification of work; The physical and manual work; The office work (salaried employment);The intellectual work; The qualities of a good worker; Rights and protection of worker; Unemployment]; Chapter 3: Sale Types of sale; Conditions of valid sale; Conduct of the parties in a sale transaction; The lawful and unlawful sale transactions]; Chapter 4: Gift Gift distinguished from other related concepts; Gift distinguished from sadaqah (alms, deed); Gift distinguished from ariya; Conditions for a valid gift; Structure of a gift; Donation subject-matter (Al-mawhub); Revocation of a gift]; Chapter 5: Testate succession Types of will; Void and voidable will; Object of making a will; Form of will; Revocation of a will; The lapse of a will]; Chapter 6: Intestate succession Definition; Pre-Islamic law relating to succession; Constituents of succession (Arkanul - Mirath); Grounds of inheritance; Liabilities of the deceased; Legal heirs; The fractions in succession]; Chapter 7: Legal impediments to acquisition of property; Introduction; Fraud (Gish/Ghabn); Hoarding (Ihtikar); Bribery (Rashwah); Death-sickness gift (Ahwal Mard-ul-Mawt); Theft (Sariqah); Impediments to inheritance (Mawani'al-Irth); Bibliography; Index Dr Yahaya Y. Bambale, former Head, Department of Islamic Law, and Assistant Dean for both undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, is a Reader. His currently on sabbatical leave at the IBB University, Lapai, Niger State of Nigeria where he is the Dean of Students. He is the author of Crimes and Punishment Under Islamic Law.

This book looks at Tabaqat al-fuqaha' al-shafi'iyah by Ibn Qadi Shuhbah (d. 851/1448) and how its author attempted to portray the development of the Shafi'i school of law up to his own times. The volume examines the impact of crises on the formation of the tabaqat genre. It demonstrates how tabaqat, dedicated to explicating religious authority, were used by authors to sort-out challenges to intellectual orthodoxies. It also examines in detail the Tabaqat directly, demonstrating Ibn Qadi Shuhbah's depiction of the development of Shafi'i law, the formation of intellectual sub-schools within the madhhab, the causes of legal decline, and curatives for the decline that are to be found in the great Shafi'i Ikhtilaf (divergent opinion) texts: the 'Aziz sharh al-wajiz by al-Rafi'i and the Rawdat al-talibin by al-Nawawi.

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 practiced in historical reality from the time of its formation until today. That is the main theme of this book.
Knut S. Vikor introduces the development and practice of Islamic law to a wide readership: students, lawyers, and the growing number of those interested in Islamic civilization. He summarizes 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 and elaboration 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.

Used widely by Shi'ite seminaries, and valued by Sunni scholars for its intellectual rigor, Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr's Lessons is a key study of Islamic jurisprudence. It covers topics from the general characterization of jurisprudence to such specialized issues as the assessment of the verbal divine-law argument, study of procedural principles, and reflections on the resolution of conflicting arguments. The new translation by Roy Mottahedeh from the original Arabic employs a carefully designed and appropriate English terminology, and features a significant amount of supporting material including a glossary of legal and theological concepts , and a full index of Arabic terms.

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 distinguishes this book from other texts in the field. The aim is to provide the student with a basic 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.

This work was written 1989 and published for the first time in 2002. The author's intention is to inform even-handedly, national and international debates about the misunderstandings surrounding the Sharia and common legal systems in Nigeria. Balewa broadly discusses Western and Islamic philosophical backgrounds of law, relationships between law, politics and religion in society, and concepts of secularism and secularity. He traces the history and schools of Sharia law, and the sources of common law in Nigeria, and its comparative religious and colonial foundations. He further appraises two views of the controversy: namely, whether Sharia law, as a fully-fledged legal system, should be reflected in the Nigerian constitution - or not, given its contentious religious content; and he states the case against Sharia. His conclusion is that in view of the status quo, and the multi-ethnic, mulit-religious nature of Nigerian society, there is a need for understanding of the truths of both systems; and to find appropriate means of ensuring their equality and peaceful co-existence.

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.

In "The Islamic Conception of Justice," Majid Khadduri, one of the world's preeminent authorities on Islamic justice and jurisprudence, presents his extensive study and reflection on Islamic political, legal, ethical, and social philosophy. This book is both a magisterial historical synthesis and an illumination of the beliefs and practices of modern Islam. Throughout, Khadduri discusses not only the meaning of justice in general but also how justice has undergone significant changes in the modern age. The final chapter deals with the impact of Western notions of justice, with especial emphasis on the recurrence of fundamentalist movements such as the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Pakistan, and other Islamic lands.

"The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam" is a mandatory reference tool that will prove to be indispensable for students of all subjects which concern, or touch on, the religion and law of Islam. It includes all the articles contained in the first edition and supplement of the "Encyclopedia of Islam" which are particularly related to the religion and law of Islam. This volume has a vast geographical and historical scope which includes the old Arabo-Islamic Empire, the Islamic states of Iran, Central Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Indonesia, the Ottoman Empire and the various Muslim states and communities in Africa, Europe, and the former U.S.S.R. "The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam" contains an extensive index and bibliography. This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.

Legal issues of personal status including those implicating women's rights continue to be a focal area of shari'a judicial practice in the Muslim world. Changing ideas of marriage, relations between the spouses, divorce, and the rights of divorcees and widows challenge the courts around the Arab world. In this context, the areas that came under the Palestinian Authority in 1994 command particular attention: the particular political and socio-economic circumstances that surround Palestine's progress toward full statehood have created a remarkable crucible for the synthesis of a new family law in the Arab world.
This rigorous study of the interpretation and application of personal status law in the Palestinian West Bank (and to a lesser extent in the Gaza Strip) is the most extensive yet attempted. It presents a systematic analysis of the application of Islamic family law in nearly 10,000 marriage contracts, 1000 deeds of talaq (unilateral divorce) or khul' (divorce with renunciation), and 2000 judicial rulings over a time span that includes Jordanian rule and Israeli military occupation, updating this with material from the beginning of the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. Taken into account are the sources of law used in the shari'a courts of the West Bank: the successive codes of family law (the Jordanian Law of Personal Status 1976 and its predecessor the Jordanian Law of Family Rights 1951), and traditional Hanafi rules and texts, along with commentaries by prominent contemporary shari'a scholars and Appeal Court decisions as well as the amendments and modifications being sought by civil society actors (notably women's groups) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well asin Jordan.

The title of Susan Hirsch's study of disputes involving Swahili Muslims in coastal Kenya reflects the image of gender relations most commonly associated with Islamic law. Men need only "pronounce" divorce to resolve marital conflicts, while embattled and embittered wives must persevere by silently enduring marital hardships. But Hirsch's observations of Islamic courts uncover how Muslim women actively use legal processes to transform their domestic lives, achieving victories on some fronts but reinforcing their image as subordinate to men through the speech they produce in court.
"Pronouncing and Persevering" focuses closely on the language used in disputes, particularly how men and women narrate their claims and how their speech shapes and is shaped by gender hierarchy in postcolonial Swahili society. Based on field research and court testimony, Hirsch's book debunks the conventional view that women are powerless under Islamic law and challenges the dichotomies through which Islam and gender relations are currently understood.

This book traces the history of the D?r al-Ift?, the Egyptian State Mufti's administration, from its inception in the 1890s to the present. Often uncomfortably positioned between a state bureaucracy and an emerging Muslim public concerned with the transmission of Islamic values, the various State Muftis have been striving to reinterpret Islamic law and demonstrate its relevance in the modern age.
The history of the D?r al-Ift? thus provides a rare insight into major themes of 20th-century Islamic thinking. Four case studies demonstrate how fatwas can be used as sources for legal, social, intellectual and mentality history.
"Defining Islam for the Egyptian State will be of great interest to students of Islamic law and social and intellectual history of the modern Middle East.

Whilst other works exist which examine the Islamic law of personal status, this is the first to set out in a single volume the laws relating to marriage and divorce in the Arab states, both codified and uncodified, in a manner which will enable the reader to look up the provisions of the law in specific areas and, where required, to compare the positions of the laws of different countries.

Although often neglected in the literature on Islamic law, contemporary Indonesia is an especially rich source of insight into the diverse understandings and uses of the Islamic legal tradition in the modern world. Indonesian Muslims are engaged in vibrant and far-reaching debates over the terms, relevance, and developmental limits of Islamic law, and Indonesia is home to a variety of dynamic state and non-state institutional structures for the generation and application of Islamic doctrine. The essays in this volume provide focused examinations of the internal dynamics of intellectual and institutional elements of Islamic law in modern Indonesia in its recent formations. The first five chapters address issues relating to Islamic legal theory, both its historical development over the past century and analysis of the work of specific groups of contemporary scholars, jurists, and activists. The final seven chapters contain studies of more concrete manifestations of Islamic law in modern Indonesia, including court systems, positive law, the drafting of new "Islamic" legislation, and contemporary debates over the implementation of the Shari'a. Taken together these essays offer a series of substantive introductions to important developments in both the theory and practice of law in the world's most populous Muslim society.