Skip to Main Content

Narratives of Islamic Legal Theory

Online ISBN:
9780191738074
Print ISBN:
9780199640171
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Narratives of Islamic Legal Theory

Rumee Ahmed
Rumee Ahmed
Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, University of British Columbia
Find on
Published online:
24 May 2012
Published in print:
1 March 2012
Online ISBN:
9780191738074
Print ISBN:
9780199640171
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

In the critical period when Islamic law first developed, a new breed of jurists developed a genre of legal theory treatises to explore how the fundamental moral teachings of Islam might operate as a legal system. Seemingly rhetorical and formulaic, these manuals have long been overlooked despite the insights they offer into the early formation of Islamic conceptions of law and its role in social life. This book responds to the prevailing misconceptions about the purpose and form of the Islamic legal treatise by describing how Muslim jurists used the genre of legal theory to argue for individualized, highly creative narratives about the application of Islamic law while demonstrating loyalty to inherited principles and general prohibitions. These narratives are revealed through careful attention to the nuanced way in which legal theorists defined terms and concepts particular to the legal theory genre, and disclose multiple worlds in which Islamic law should ideally function. The text takes the reader into the logic of Islamic legal theory to uncover diverse conceptions of law and legal application in the Islamic tradition, clarifying and making accessible the sometimes obscure legal theories of central figures in the history of Islamic law. The book offers important insights about the ways in which legal philosophy and theology mutually influenced premodern jurists as they formulated their respective visions of law, ethics, and theology.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close