By Marion Katz (New York University) This essay is part of the Islamic Law Blog’s Roundtable on Islamic Legal History & Historiography, edited by Intisar Rabb (Editor-in-Chief) and Mariam Sheibani … Continue reading The Neglected History of Furūʿ and the Premodern/Modern Binary
Law in Action, in the Peripheral Vision of the Sources
In my last post I referenced Jack Tannous’s metaphor of “dark matter,” which draws our attention to the scattered traces of the vast majority of premodern Muslims who have left … Continue reading Law in Action, in the Peripheral Vision of the Sources
Folk Interpretation and the “Dark Matter” of Pre-Modern Islamic Law
In his recent book The Making of the Medieval Middle East (Princeton University Press, 2018), Jack Tannous draws attention to the overwhelming majority of “simple” Christians and Muslims with minimal … Continue reading Folk Interpretation and the “Dark Matter” of Pre-Modern Islamic Law
:: Muwaṭṭaʾ Roundtable :: Who Are We Writing for When We Translate Classical Texts?
By Marion Katz (New York University) Perhaps more than any other genre of academic writing, translations of primary sources raise questions about audience and purpose. In a Venn diagram of … Continue reading :: Muwaṭṭaʾ Roundtable :: Who Are We Writing for When We Translate Classical Texts?
Law, Narrative, and the Case of Fāṭima’s Chores
Wives’ exemption from domestic labor is among the recuperable elements of classical fiqh most widely cited in modern literature on gender and Islamic law. Indeed, as I’ve found while researching … Continue reading Law, Narrative, and the Case of Fāṭima’s Chores