By Muhammad al-Marakeby This essay aims to explore the concepts of taqlīd (following the legal opinions of earlier jurists) and ijtihād (independent legal reasoning) during the Ottoman period. Although numerous … Continue reading Is Independent Legal Reasoning Incompatible with Following Earlier Jurists? Rethinking the Claim of Jurists’ Disloyalty to Taqlīd
By Muhammad al-Marakeby The use and validity of family endowments (waqf ahlī) have been a contentious issue since the nineteenth century. Many argue that family endowment was often used as … Continue reading Men Can Be Excluded, Women Cannot: Family Endowments and the Preferential Treatment of Women in Khalīl’s Mukhtaṣar
By Muhammad al-Marakeby The literature on the history of Islamic political theory generally supports a narrative of submission and allegiance to rulers, even if they have seized power by force. … Continue reading “Egypt is Empty of Rulers”: The Development of Jamāʿat al-Muslimīn Theory Among Later Mālikīs
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In "Glimpses of Islamic manuscript culture in Palestine" (UCLA Library, November 7, 2024), Sohaib Baig (UCLA) describes "manuscripts [housed in the UCLA Library that] illustrate … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law Professor Radwan El Sayed (Mohamed Bin Zayed University for Humanities) reviews Intisar A. Rabb (Harvard Law School) and Abigail Krasner Balbale's (New York University) edited … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
By Matthew L. Keegan When I first came across a chapter on legal riddles in the Kitāb al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir of Ibn Nujaym (d. 970/1563) in graduate school, I was immediately … Continue reading Why Study Islamic Legal Riddles?
By Omar Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar This is a summary of the lecture by Prof. Mohammad Fadel entitled "Form, Function and Historical Development of Mukthasars in Post-Mamluk Islamic Law," delivered on February … Continue reading Monthly Lectures on Islamic Legal Genres: “Genre as a Tool for Understanding Islamic Law” by Prof. Mohammad Fadel
