The elusive ‘islamic law': rethinking the focus of modern scholarship

Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations

Volumn 12, Issue 2, 2001, Pages 143-152

  Khalafallah, Haifaa ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 33747172996     PISSN: 09596410     EISSN: 14699311     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09596410120051746     Document Type: Article

References (20)

1. 1969. Noel Coulson in Conflicts and Tensions in Islamic Jurisprudence, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Lord Justice Goddard in Metropolitan Properties Co. Ltd v. Prudy, 1940. Quoted
2. Weber, Max. 1954. On Law in Economy and Society, 2nd edn, Edited by: Rheinstein, Max. New York: Simon and Schuster. For discussions that use the concept of 'gati justice' see, for example; or Noel Coulson's depiction of a 'totalitarian and comprehensive code of conduct', in Conflicts and Tensions in Islamic Jurisprudence, 81
3. Said, Edward. 1978. Orientalism, New York: Pantheon Books. For a full discussion of the endeavor of European orientalists, see
4. al-Yassin, Jassim Muhalal. 1997. 'Al-afa al-diniyya'. Al-Waan, 31 January: 13 The above accounts form part of the tradition of ikhtilaf, the etiquette of disagreement in Sunni thought. I quote it here from a modern newspaper article to demonstrate the continued belief among modern Muslims that these constitute norms of the Islamic legal traditions
5. Coulson, Noel. 1984. Commercial Law in the Gulf States: the Islamic legal tradition, London: Graham and Trotman. Looking at commercial and contract law Coulson, from a different angle, came to a similar conclusion; see
6. al-Alwani, Taha J., 1981. Adab al-ikhtilaf, 7Herndon, VA: International Institute of Islamic Thought. Ibn azm, Al-akam fi uul al-akam, 6/76, quoted in
7. 1989. 'Abd al-amid U+1E62ali amdan, 'Ulama' al-tajdid fi al-Islam, Cairo: al-Dar al-Miriyya al-Lubnaniyya. Muslims differ on who were actually mujaddidun and who were not. For an example of such a list of mujaddidun see
8. 1991. Muhammad al-Ghazali in Turathuna al-fikri mizan al-shari 'a wa-al-aql, 2nd edn, 160Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq. For an example of sixteenth-century biographical information on women scholars see Mamud Ibrahim al-Dik, Al-sunna al-nabaviiyya fi al-qarn al-sadis 'ashaf, PhD dissertation, Al-Azhar University, quoted by
9. Khalid, Khalid Muhammad. 1969. Min huna nabda', Cairo: Maktabat al-Anglo al-Miriyya. This book caused a stir when it was first published in the early 1950s, and as a result, al-Azhar moved to withdraw Khalid's scholarly accreditation. Khalid also faced court hearings in the 1950s as a result of the publication of this book, and in the present article, discussion concerning Khalid's ideas in the 1950s refers to various arguments put forward in it
10. Muhammad al-Ghazali, Mm huna na'lam (Cairo, Dar al-Kutub al-aditha, n.d.).
11. Maitland, Frederic, and Montague, F., 1915. A Sketch of English Legal History, New York: G. P. Putnam. Like all other long-lasting legal systems, many legends enveloped the Islamic legal world. While legends have their own life and history, they do not provide a basis for examination of the origins and actual operation of a legal system. English common law is one example. The common view is that this law originated in English customs opposed to Norman tyranny, which belies the nature and origin of this legal system. One of the outstanding scholars to discuss both the fact and fiction in English common law was a historian and solicitor, Frederic Maitland. Examples of these discussions regarding the origins of English common law can be found in
12. Sayles, George. 1974. The King's Parliament, New York: Norton.
13. Bousquet, G.-H., and Schacht, J., eds. 1957. Hurgronje Snouck, Selected Works, Leiden: Brill. For examples of such works, see
14. Khadduri, Majid, and Liebensy, J., eds. 1955. Law in the Middle East, Washington, DC: Middle East Institute. Hamilton Gibb's article
15. Juynboll, G. H. A., 1996. Studies on the Origins and Uses of adith, Vol. 29, 276Brookfield, VT: Ashgate. Sai Muslim is the second of the most authoritative of adith collections. This translation is by
16. Found in almost every Islamic work on legal scholarship. The above is my own translation of the adith as reported in Abu al-asan al-Mawardi (d. 450 AH), Al-akam al-sultaniyya (Beirut, Dar al-Fikr al-'Arabi, n.d.), 66-7.
17. 1989. Al-sunna al-nabawiyya bayn ahl al-fiqh taa-ahl al-adith, no place: Sara". For example, M. al-Ghazali, Turathuna al-fikri (pp. cit.)
18. 1996. Bidayat al-mujtahid wa-mhayat al-muqtaid, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya. Cf. Ibn Rushd (d. 595/1198)
19. 1982. Abu amid al-Ghazali's Iya' 'ulum al-din, New Delhi: Nusrat AU Nasri/Kitab Bhavan.
20. 1997. Tahafut cd-falasifa, Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press.