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An Introduction to Islamic Law
This book presents a broad account of the present knowledge of the history and outlines the system of Islamic law. Showing that Islamic law is the key to understanding the essence of one of the great world religions, this book explores how it still influences the laws of contemporary Islamic states, and is in itself a remarkable manifestation of legal thought.
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 13, 2012
How I wish some of our own (Muslim) scholars would take matters into their own hands instead of leaving a huge gaping void in knowledge which is being slowly filled by Western and Secular academics. The way information is help back from us is very pretentious I find, what do they think we are little kids who need to be protected?
This book is a great example of a western scholar using analytical techniques to portray the history of the Sharia and the Sunna. Some of the points picked up by me in the book are......
The Arabs due to the quick nature of their initial conquests had to rely on heavily on tradition and precedent of their elders, as they found themselves masters of alien very well developed cultures in a decade. The Arabs regarded the Sunna as precedent laid down by a person only recently, but then this person was their Imam, their greatest spokesman and leader, so therefore the Sunna although a recent innovation in itself was used to discredit everything new or different. So initially the newly construed Sunna was used to bind the community together. Once the aim was achieved the Arabs resorted back to their traditionalism using the Sunna as precedent.
The author also maintains that the Sharia is not exactly divine but very much made by men and cites similar contemporary laws from the Romans, Jewish and Sassanid cultures, whom the Muslims had subdued in a matter of a decade. I find the argument pretty plausible as the link of Sharia to the Quran is pretty tenuous.
There are holes in the study as well, for instance when the author maintains that the Sharia was generally decided by the majority opinion of the scholars which generally went against the majority opinion of the masses. How he came about this conclusion is not exactly justified as this trend goes against the practice of making changes in the modern law.
Sharia is based on Umayyad system of governing provinces based from Kufa, very similar to the English Law based on the King James Bible from London in the 16th century. In the second century of Islam, the Iraqis converted the sunna from a political and theological into a legal context, which gave the impression that sunna was divine in nature and every act of the Prophet was meant to be followed and interpreted as a living tradition, which still exists to this day.
The various schools of sharia formulation are also contradictory, which also points to the men-devised-sharia argument. In short through the ages, the Sunna evolved from a political and theological study to a legal one, which transformed into a tradition verses 'ray' (opinions based on reason), ultimately culminating into Ibn-Taymayyah's famous decree in the wake of the tremendous Mongol defeat of the Baghdad Khilafat to sanctification of the traditions into a pure unbreakable idol. Since than, there has been no need to alter the Sharia as the lands and laws of Muslims were slowly encroached by Western powers with their own set of laws, basically marginalizing Sharia forever. Moreover, this traditionalist approach also helps foster the romantic notion of going back to the time-of-the-Prophet, an ideal epoch, a perfect time, a necessary must for every rightly believing Muslim to try and achieve.
This book is a great example of a western scholar using analytical techniques to portray the history of the Sharia and the Sunna. Some of the points picked up by me in the book are......
The Arabs due to the quick nature of their initial conquests had to rely on heavily on tradition and precedent of their elders, as they found themselves masters of alien very well developed cultures in a decade. The Arabs regarded the Sunna as precedent laid down by a person only recently, but then this person was their Imam, their greatest spokesman and leader, so therefore the Sunna although a recent innovation in itself was used to discredit everything new or different. So initially the newly construed Sunna was used to bind the community together. Once the aim was achieved the Arabs resorted back to their traditionalism using the Sunna as precedent.
The author also maintains that the Sharia is not exactly divine but very much made by men and cites similar contemporary laws from the Romans, Jewish and Sassanid cultures, whom the Muslims had subdued in a matter of a decade. I find the argument pretty plausible as the link of Sharia to the Quran is pretty tenuous.
There are holes in the study as well, for instance when the author maintains that the Sharia was generally decided by the majority opinion of the scholars which generally went against the majority opinion of the masses. How he came about this conclusion is not exactly justified as this trend goes against the practice of making changes in the modern law.
Sharia is based on Umayyad system of governing provinces based from Kufa, very similar to the English Law based on the King James Bible from London in the 16th century. In the second century of Islam, the Iraqis converted the sunna from a political and theological into a legal context, which gave the impression that sunna was divine in nature and every act of the Prophet was meant to be followed and interpreted as a living tradition, which still exists to this day.
The various schools of sharia formulation are also contradictory, which also points to the men-devised-sharia argument. In short through the ages, the Sunna evolved from a political and theological study to a legal one, which transformed into a tradition verses 'ray' (opinions based on reason), ultimately culminating into Ibn-Taymayyah's famous decree in the wake of the tremendous Mongol defeat of the Baghdad Khilafat to sanctification of the traditions into a pure unbreakable idol. Since than, there has been no need to alter the Sharia as the lands and laws of Muslims were slowly encroached by Western powers with their own set of laws, basically marginalizing Sharia forever. Moreover, this traditionalist approach also helps foster the romantic notion of going back to the time-of-the-Prophet, an ideal epoch, a perfect time, a necessary must for every rightly believing Muslim to try and achieve.
July 15, 2016
An introduction?? Or a nightmare that's impossible to wade through? For a readable, actual introduction that's informative and readable I'd recommend A History of Islamic Law instead. And what is with this "organization" or lack thereof??! Just dense numbered lists of ideas, rather than resembling an attempt at a coherent narrative structure on the historical development of legal theories. I've never felt so much rage and exasperation during this generals journey before coming by this.
That said, Schacht is a ground-breaking scholar of Islamic law and everyone should know what he thought. For those who aren't masochistic, I'd recommend reading a few dissertations that sum up his work, and just find some book reviews on this.
(PS: I'm currently reading a 1400+ page law school hornbook Understanding Islamic Law and having way more fun. Thank goodness for lucid writing and well organized, logical format!)
That said, Schacht is a ground-breaking scholar of Islamic law and everyone should know what he thought. For those who aren't masochistic, I'd recommend reading a few dissertations that sum up his work, and just find some book reviews on this.
(PS: I'm currently reading a 1400+ page law school hornbook Understanding Islamic Law and having way more fun. Thank goodness for lucid writing and well organized, logical format!)
January 4, 2009
Getting old, but still the best introduction to Islamic Law.
Want to read
May 3, 2019good
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews