Moral Registers in Islamic Law, Adab, and Ethics

By Matthew L. Keegan Islamic law is one among several Islamic discourses and normative discourses that intermingled with Islamic epistemes and ecumenes in the pre-modern world. In Marion Holmes Katz's recent monograph, readers encounter a sophisticated reading of the intersecting and divergent approaches of law, asceticism, and Islamic philosophical ethics. As she demonstrates in one … Continue reading Moral Registers in Islamic Law, Adab, and Ethics

Riddles, Influence, and Borrowing from Rival Legal Schools

By Matthew L. Keegan How did scholars from different Sunnī legal schools respond to and interact with the scholarship of other schools? The answer to this question, of course, depends upon the particular historical context, the institutional strength of one school or another, the social context of education, and other factors. In some places and … Continue reading Riddles, Influence, and Borrowing from Rival Legal Schools

Monthly Lectures on Islamic Legal Genres: “Form, Function, and Historical Development of Uṣūl al-Fiqh as a Genre” by Prof. Murteza Bedir

By Omar Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar This is a summary of the lecture by Prof. Murteza Bedir entitled “Form, Function, and Historical Development of Uṣūl al-Fiqh as a Genre” delivered on January 27, 2021 at 12 noon (EST), 6 pm (Münster) 7 pm (Istanbul) via Zoom.  The video recording of the lecture can be accessed here. Professor … Continue reading Monthly Lectures on Islamic Legal Genres: “Form, Function, and Historical Development of Uṣūl al-Fiqh as a Genre” by Prof. Murteza Bedir

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

In "Innovation, Influence, and Borrowing in Mamluk-Era Legal Maxim Collections: The Case of Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām and al-Qarāfī" (Journal of the American Oriental Society 140, no. 4 (October-December 2020)), Mariam Sheibani (University of Toronto Scarborough; Lead Blog Editor) shows that the renowned Mālikī jurist al-Qarāfī's contribution to Islamic legal thought was, in part, based on … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup

Al-Qarāfī on the Importance of Legal Maxims and Distinctions in Jurisprudence

By Mariam Sheibani Source: Al-Qarāfī, Shihāb al-Dīn. Kitāb al-furūq aw Anwār al-burūq fī anwāʾ al-furūq. 3rd ed. Edited by Muḥammad Sarrāj and ʿAlī Jumuʿa. 2 vols. Cairo: Dār al-Salām, 2010. General Description: This analysis discusses Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī’s theory of the purpose of legal maxims and distinctions (qawāʿid and furūq) as presented in his collection of … Continue reading Al-Qarāfī on the Importance of Legal Maxims and Distinctions in Jurisprudence

Hashīsh – Intoxicating or Just Corruptive? A 13th Century Jurist’s Distinctions

By Sheza Alqera Atiq Qarāfī et al. Al-Furūq : Aw Anwār Al-Burūq fī Anwāʼ Al-Furūq. al-Ṭabʻah 1. ed., pp 215-216, Dār Al-Kutub Al-ʻIlmīYah, 1998. Summary: The text in question is an excerpt from Al-Furūq : aw Anwār al-burūq fī anwāʼ al-furūq or ‘The Differences’ written by Malikī jurist Imam Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī (684/1285) who was … Continue reading Hashīsh – Intoxicating or Just Corruptive? A 13th Century Jurist’s Distinctions

Al-Qarāfī’s collection of legal distinctions

By Mariam Sheibani Source: Al-Qarāfī, Shihāb al-Dīn. Kitāb al-furūq aw Anwār al-burūq fī anwāʿ al-furūq. 3rd ed. Edited by Muḥammad Sarrāj and ʿAlī Jumuʿa. 2 vols. Cairo: Dār al-Salām, 2010. General Description: This excerpt comprises the seventy eighth ‘legal distinction’ in Qarāfī’s collection of legal distinctions (furūq). Legal distinctions are a subset of legal maxims, … Continue reading Al-Qarāfī’s collection of legal distinctions

Scholarship in “Plain English”: Sherman Jackson on Taqlīd and the Evolution of Islamic Legal Reasoning

By Alicia Daniel Citation: Alicia Daniel, Review of Sherman A. Jackson, Taqlīd, Legal Scaffolding and the Scope of Legal Injunctions in Post-Formative Theory Muṭlaq and ʿĀmm in the Jurisprudence of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī, [Islamic Law and Society 3, no. 2 (1996): 165–92], Islamic Law Blog (Mar. 2017) Summary Scholars currently disagree about the origins and … Continue reading Scholarship in “Plain English”: Sherman Jackson on Taqlīd and the Evolution of Islamic Legal Reasoning

Scholarship in “Plain English”: Sherman Jackson on Interpretation and Legal Change in one Islamic Society on a Contentious Case of Family Law

By Alicia Daniel Citation: Alicia Daniel, Review of Sherman A. Jackson, Kramer versus Kramer in a Tenth/Sixteenth Century Egyptian Court: Post-Formative Jurisprudence between Exigency and Law [Islamic Law and Society 8, no. 1 (2001): 27-51], Islamic Law Blog (Mar. 2017) Narrative Abstract In the sixteenth century, Egyptian jurists struggled with an issue not unlike that … Continue reading Scholarship in “Plain English”: Sherman Jackson on Interpretation and Legal Change in one Islamic Society on a Contentious Case of Family Law

ELECTION DAY 2016 :: Civil Rights Sharīʿa and the Elections as a Part of the American Political Process

On election day 2016, Professor Intisar Rabb, SHARIAsource founding editor-in-chief, reflects on the notion of “civil rights sharīʿa”: the role that Islamic law has historically played in honoring and pressing for shared commitments to justice and equality under the law. Modern American history already exemplifies this notion in the legacy of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who died as … Continue reading ELECTION DAY 2016 :: Civil Rights Sharīʿa and the Elections as a Part of the American Political Process