ABSTRACT

This handbook is a detailed reference source comprising original articles covering the origins, history, theory and practice of Islamic law. The handbook starts out by dealing with the question of what type of law is Islamic law and includes a critical analysis of the pedagogical approaches to studying and analysing Islamic law as a discipline. The handbook covers a broad range of issues, including the role of ethics in Islamic jurisprudence, the mechanics and processes of interpretation, the purposes and objectives of Islamic law, constitutional law and secularism, gender, bioethics, Muslim minorities in the West, jihad and terrorism.

Previous publications on this topic have approached Islamic law from a variety of disciplinary and pedagogical perspectives. One of the original features of this handbook is that it treats Islamic law as a legal discipline by taking into account the historical functions and processes of legal cultures and the patterns of legal thought.

With contributions from a selection of highly regarded and leading scholars in this field, the Routledge Handbook of Islamic Law is an essential resource for students and scholars who are interested in the field of Islamic Law.

part I|84 pages

Jurisprudence and ethics

chapter 2|15 pages

‘God cannot be harmed’

On H·uqu‐q Allah/H·uqu‐q al-ʿIba‐d continuum

chapter 3|16 pages

Balancing this world and the next

Obligation in Islamic law and jurisprudence

chapter 5|13 pages

Islamic law and bioethics *

part II|148 pages

History and interpretation

chapter 8|15 pages

Qadis and muftis

Judicial authority and the social practice of Islamic law

chapter 9|12 pages

Ijmāʿ, consensus

chapter 10|12 pages

Superior argument

chapter 11|13 pages

Maqa‐ṣid al-Shariʿah

chapter 12|13 pages

Legal pluralism in Sunni Islamic law

The causes and functions of juristic disagreement

chapter 14|18 pages

Ijtihād and taqlīd

Between the Islamic legal tradition and autonomous western reason

part III|82 pages

History and interpretation

chapter 15|13 pages

Legal traditions of the ‘Near East’

The pre-Islamic context

chapter 16|15 pages

The place of custom in Islamic law

Past and present

chapter 17|12 pages

Jihad, sovereignty and jurisdiction

The issue of the abode of Islam

chapter 19|16 pages

Family law and succession