Shari’a
In his “Introduction,” Hallaq states that this work approaches the field of Islamic law in a way that few other scholars have attempted. “To write the history of Shari’a is to represent the Other,” he argues; “history, both Islamic and European, is the modern’s Other, and ... in the case of Islam th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Institute of Islamic Thought
2010-04-01
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| Series: | American Journal of Islam and Society |
| Online Access: | https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1328 |
| Summary: | In his “Introduction,” Hallaq states that this work approaches the field of
Islamic law in a way that few other scholars have attempted. “To write the
history of Shari’a is to represent the Other,” he argues; “history, both Islamic
and European, is the modern’s Other, and ... in the case of Islam this history
is preceded by another Other – namely contemporary Islam” (p. 1). This approach, which treats the Shari`ah as an aggregate of its history – its theory,
institutional and societal applications, and implications in projects of power
– also draws the discipline of Islamic legal studies into its analysis. For
Hallaq, the “extraordinary innocence” of modern scholarship concerning
Islamic law and society “proceeds ... unaware of (its) culpable dependency
... on the ideology of the state” (p. 5). His approach brings together two intellectual
aims: (a) to illumine the conditions of production and power relations
within which Islamic legal knowledge, as an academic discipline, was built
and (b) to further elaborate upon the Shari`ah’s development as a system of
thought, practice, and institutions throughout its history. My review will
focus upon how these two major strands interweave and the new contributions
the author makes to the study of Islamic law and society ... |
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| ISSN: | 2690-3733 2690-3741 |