ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on Sunni Islamic legal pluralism, a phenomenon that resulted at least partly from the history of Islam and the relationship between jurists and the state. The term used to describe legal pluralism in the primary sources of Islamic law is ikhtilaf, which means ‘disagreement’ and usually refers to disagreements among jurists over points of substantive law. Consensus was one way to create unity out of legal hermeneutic and historical circumstances so flexible and diffused as to allow for unlimited legal pluralism in theory. The unique politico-legal context gave rise to potentially unlimited legal pluralism and uncertainty. The earliest sources of Islamic law show a contested view toward juristic disagreement and its concomitant legal pluralism. Despite the acceptance of juristic disagreements among the earliest jurists as valid articulations of the law, this legal pluralism was sometimes a source of anxiety owing to its potential misuse.