Islamic Law in the News Roundup

UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES PIL & Harvard Calendar: Student work opportunity: Research assistant, Widener Library, Harvard University. Call for Papers: The 22nd Vagantes Conference on Medieval Studies, Harvard University, November … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup

The Forms of Commentaries

By Felicitas Opwis As my previous posts illustrated, commentaries take different forms in length and scope. The commentator selects which topics and points found in the underlying matn he wants … Continue reading The Forms of Commentaries

The Commentary as Platform for Debate, Change, and Authority Construction

By Felicitas Opwis As presented in the previous post, the discursive tradition of commentaries involves extensive intertextuality. This intertextuality is not only a dialogue between matn and sharḥ, but a … Continue reading The Commentary as Platform for Debate, Change, and Authority Construction

The Content of Commentaries

By Felicitas Opwis In the previous post I mentioned the vibrant commentary tradition on Abū Shujāʿ’s compendium of Shāfiʿī law, which indicates that Muslim scholars deemed it necessary to comment … Continue reading The Content of Commentaries

The Discursive Tradition of Commentaries (shurūḥ) – Lessons from Matn Abī Shujāʿ

By Felicitas Opwis The study of commentaries (shurūḥ) and glosses (ḥawāshī) has rightly received attention and appreciation in recent years. The scholarship of Asad, El Shamsy, Saleh, Wisnovsky as well … Continue reading The Discursive Tradition of Commentaries (shurūḥ) – Lessons from Matn Abī Shujāʿ

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In Islamic Law in Circulation: Shafi'i Texts across the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean (Cambridge University Press, 2022), Mahmood Kooria (Universiteit Leiden and Ashoka University, … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In "Judicial Crisis in Damascus on the Eve of Baybars’s Reform: The Case of the Minor Orphan Girl (651–55/1253–57)" (Islamic Law and Society (March 23, … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup

A Prayer-Based Civilizational Order: The Social Dimension of the Rules of Ritual Prayer

By Sohail Hanif Ritual prayer (ṣalāh) is a pillar of Islam. It functions as a pillar that upholds the daily routine and spiritual journey of a believer. However, the spiritual … Continue reading A Prayer-Based Civilizational Order: The Social Dimension of the Rules of Ritual Prayer

Social Dependencies of Islamic Law: A View Through the Legal Commentary

By Sohail Hanif My research has centred on unpacking layers of argumentation in works of Islamic law, particularly legal commentaries. As one unpacks these layers, one comes to learn that … Continue reading Social Dependencies of Islamic Law: A View Through the Legal Commentary

Adjudication as Official Duty: Regular Activities in a Bureaucratically Governed Structure

By Nahed Samour Bureaucratization demands regular activities and official duties. These duties are a central aspect of a bureaucratically governed structure. Regularity is important particularly in the application and adjudication … Continue reading Adjudication as Official Duty: Regular Activities in a Bureaucratically Governed Structure