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Overview
In recent years, Islamic law, or Shar&ibar;'a, has increasingly occupied center stage in the languages and practices of politics in the Muslim world as well as in the West. Popular narratives and quasi-scholarly accounts have distorted Shar&ibar;'a's principles and practices of the past, conflating them with distinctly modern, negative and highly politicized reincarnations. Wael B. Hallaq's magisterial overview sets the record straight by examining the doctrines and practices of the Shar&ibar;'a within the context of its history, and by showing how it functioned within pre-modern Islamic societies as a moral imperative. In so doing, Hallaq takes the reader on an epic journey, tracing the history of Islamic law from its beginnings in seventh-century Arabia through its development and transformation in the following centuries under the Ottomans, and across lands as diverse as India, Africa, and South-East Asia, to the present. In a remarkably fluent narrative, the author unravels the complexities of his subject to reveal a love and deep knowledge of the law which will engage and challenge the reader.
Synopsis
Wael Hallaq's magisterial overview of Shari'a examines the doctrines and practices of Islamic law from the seventh century to the present.
Editorials
From the Publisher
“This masterpiece, to which Wael Hallaq brings the full force of his unparalleled knowledge of the Sharìa...supplies a riveting account of the history of Islamic legal institutions and doctrines, as well as the lived experience of the law. His discussions... mark the coming to full fruition of a new and compelling paradigm in Islamic legal studies. This book promises to be the seminal work in the field for many years to come.” - Judith E. Tucker, Professor of History and Director, Academic Programs in Arab Studies, Georgetown University“A work of deep learning and great theoretical sophistication, yet highly accessible, this book offers an unrivaled introduction to the Islamic legal tradition. The moral underpinnings of the law have never before been highlighted more clearly or in such varied social and political contexts. Hallaq’s portrayal of how the Sharìa has come to be imagined in the modern world and the transformative impact of the nation-state on all facets of Islamic law brings new perspectives to the study of colonial and post-colonial societies, Muslim politics, and modern Islamic thought.” - Muhammad Qasim Zaman, author of The Ulama in Contemporary Islam
"Hallaq has built a new contribution upon [earlier] foundations, however, the most important of which is the charting of a new trajectory for Islamic legal studies that is both deeply engaged with social science theoretical projects and sharply aware of the implications of the academic study of Islamic law for contemporary politics."
Canadian Journal of History, Iza Hussin, University of Massachusetts-Amherst