The Islamic School of Law: Evolution, Devolution, and Progress (Harvard Series in Islamic Law) [Hardcover]

Peri Bearman (Editor), Rudolph Peters (Editor), Frank E. Vogel (Editor), Camilla Adang (Contributor), Alfonso Carmona (Contributor), Maribel Fierro (Contributor), Robert Gleave (Contributor), Steven C. Judd (Contributor), Eyyup Said Kaya (Contributor), Daniella Talmon-Heller (Contributor), Bernard G. Weiss (Contributor), Ihsan Yilmaz (Contributor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674017846 | ISBN-13: 978-0674017849 | Publication Date: February 25, 2006

The Islamic school of law, or madhhab, is a concept on which a substantial amount has been written but of which there is still little understanding, and even less consensus. This collection of selected papers from the III International Conference on Islamic Legal Studies, held in May 2000 at the Harvard Law School, offers building blocks toward the entire edifice of understanding the complex development of the madhhab, a development that even in the contemporary dissolution of madhhab lines and grouping continues to fascinate. As scholars look to the construction of a new Islamic legal history, these essays inform on the background to madhhab formation, on inter-madhhab polemics and the drive toward legal authority, on madhhab perpetuation and anti-madhhab tendencies, on the constitutional role of the madhhab, on the madhhab's legislative and adjudicative mechanisms, and on the significance of the madhhab in comparative terms. This volume is of value to anyone interested in the nature of Islamic law.

(20070101)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The bulk of this valuable book on the dynamic history of the interpretative communities known as madhāhib is by modern scholars who explore the origins and unique natures of the better known madhāhib, as well as their interrelationships and their relationship with political rulers. (Robert Dickson Crane Muslim World Book Review )

Those who follow contemporary scholarship in Islamic history and law will immediately recognize the debates to which these articles are contributing--often in important ways. As a series of thought-provoking, if sometimes abstruse, articles on the subject of the madhhab, it is hard to fault this book. The essays speak to issues of great concern to contemporary Islamicists. They are substantive and meticulously edited. The index and bibliography are excellent. The authors have included a very helpful glossary that will be appreciated by non-Arabic speakers. (Clark Lombardi Journal of Law and Religion )

About the Author

Peri Bearman is Associate Director, Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School.

Rudolph Peters is Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam.

Frank E. Vogel is The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Adjunct Professor of Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School (February 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674017846
• ISBN-13: 978-0674017849
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,755,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

IHSAN YILMAZ: Associate Professor of Political Science at Fatih University, Istanbul as well as the Director of the PhD Program in Political Science and International Relations at the Institute of Social Sciences of Fatih University. He received his BA in Political Science and International Relations from the Bosporus University in 1994 and completed his PhD at the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, SOAS, University of London in 1999. He then worked at the University of Oxford as a fellow between 1999 and 2001 and taught Turkish government and politics, legal sociology, comparative law and Islamic law at SOAS, University of London between 2001 and 2008. He was also the Deputy Chair of the Centre for Ethnic Minority Studies at SOAS (2003-2008) and the director of the London Centre for Social Studies (2003-2008). He is the author of Muslim Laws, Politics and Society in Modern Nation States: Dynamic Legal Pluralisms in England, Turkey and Pakistan (2005), co-editor (with John L. Esposito) of Islam and Peacebuilding: Gülen Movement Initiatives (2010) and co-editor (with Paul Weller) of European Muslims, Civility and Public Life: Perspectives On and From the Gülen Movement (2012). He is the editor-in-chief- of the European Journal of Economic and Political Studies (EJEPS) and the editor of Turkish Journal of Politics (TJP). He has published his work in international scholarly journals such as British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East Journal, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Muslim World, International Journal of Turkish Studies, Journal for Islamic Studies, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Journal of Caucasian and Central Asian Studies, Journal of Economic and Social Research, International Law and Politics Journal, EJEPS, TJP, and Insight Turkey. Dr. Yilmaz is also a regular columnist of Today's Zaman, an English language daily published in Turkey. His current research interests are Turkish government and politics; political parties; media and politics; Islamism in Turkey, Central Asia, and the Middle East; faith-based movements; and society-law-politics relations. E-mail: [e-mail] , [e-mail]