ABSTRACT
In studying the origins and the development oflslamic law in the first and second Islamic century, the question arises whether there iRa genetic link between Islamic law and previous, non-Arabic legal systems or not. The answers given to this question have always been and still are very divergent. 2 y·
Now, it is well known that the Arab conquerors of Byzantine and Sassanian provinces retained a substantial part ofthe administrative customs of these former empires together with the Greek and the Persian languages and indigenous administrators and secretaries. That is mainly why it seems quite inevitable to many Western orientalists that Islamic law must have been influenced to a great degree by the legal systems of the conquered countries - especially when they take into account the quick development of Islamic law. 3 ) As a matter of fact, a great number ofparallels between Islamic law and other legal systems have been issued forth to lend support to the theory of adoptions from previous legal systems. But it is not sufficient to point out such similarities. There are good reasons, as will be seen, to assume that some of the Islamic institutions which allegedly are borrowings from foreign legal systems had actually
2 ) One just has to have a look at the discussion in Der Islam (number 77/1) between HARALD MoTZKI and IRENE SCHNEIDER to get an impression of the different opinions. See also the next paragraph on the role of foreign elements.
