In the latest issue of Studia Islamica, Asma Afsaruddin’s article on “Jihād, Gender, and Religious Minorities in the Siyar Literature: The Diachronic View” compares five medieval works to highlight changing attitudes towards the participation of non-Muslims and women in military jihād.
Meanwhile, Omar Farahat’s new book on The Foundation of Norms of Islamic Jurisprudence and Theology (Cambridge University Press) addresses the classical Ashʿarī-Muʿtazilī debates on whether divine revelation is necessary for knowledge of the norms and values of human actions, arguing that “the Ashʿarī attachment to revelation was not a purely traditionalist position. Rather, it was a rational philosophical commitment emerging from debates in epistemology and theology.” (Cross-posted from the Legal History Blog.)