ABSTRACT
SomuchhasbeenwrittenontheproblemofforeignelementsinancientMuhammadanlaw,andwithsolittleresult,thattodiscussthesubjectafreshcanbe justifiedonlyiftheauthoradducesnewrelevantfactsorbringsnewlighttobear
on the elements of the case.2 At first sight it might seem surprising that one should look for foreign influences in a legal system that unmistakably bears the stamp of uniqueness.3 But the fact that many prominent features of Islamic civilization, notwithstanding a deceptive Arab appearance, turn out to be borrowings from the Hellenistic and the Iranian world, to mention only these two, poses the question, though without prejudice as to its answer, of similar conditions in the field oflaw.4 Furthermore, the riddle of the origins of Muhammadan jurisprudence, once the obviously artificial theory of the Muhammadan lawyers was disregarded, seemed to postulate the unknown quantity of foreign influences as the easiest explanation. The difficulties inherent in both problems, the problem of origins and the problem of foreign elements, have lately been reviewed by Professor Bousquet in a paper which he aptly speaks of the mystery surrounding the genesis of Muhammadan legal science.5 A solution of this mystery, such as I have attempted in my forthcoming book on The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence,6 will, I hope, enable us to approach the problem of foreign elements in ancient Islamic law from a new angle.
