Islamic Law in Modern Courts provides an easily accessible introduction to Islamic law written specifically for law students and legal professionals, and designed to be taught not only by Islamic law specialists, but also by those working in related fields such as law and religion or comparative legal systems. Framed as a casebook, the text uses translations of judicial decisions involving real-world legal disputes to present a picture of Islamic law as it is actually applied in the contemporary world. The casebook draws on material from a variety of countries but focuses primarily on two jurisdictions. Cases from Indonesia exemplify the law of the majority Sunni branch of Islam, while cases from Iraq reflect the influence of both Sunni and Shi’a law. The casebook begins with a brief introduction to the religion of Islam and the sources, methods, and historical development of Islamic law. Four substantive law chapters cover the main subjects over which Islamic law continues to exert significant influence. These include inheritance law, the law of marriage and divorce, Islamic finance and charitable foundations, and Islamic criminal law. A final chapter examines constitutional adjudication of issues related to Islamic law. Key Features: Examines Islamic law as state law that is enforced by national courts but with roots in and ongoing connections with the rich classical tradition. Designed for use by both experts in Islamic law as well as faculty who have an interest in Islamic law but lack extensive background in the subject. Cases are accompanied by commentary that explains and situates the doctrine applied in the decision and suggests questions for classroom discussion. The five substantive law chapters are self-contained units that permit instructors to design a course that focuses on subject areas of particular interest.

Islamic substantive law, otherwise called branches of the law (furu? al-fiqh), covers the textual provisions and jurisprudential rulings relating to specific transactions under Islamic law. It is to Islamic substantive law that the rules of Islamic legal theory are applied. The relationship between Islamic legal theory and Islamic substantive law is metaphorically described by Islamic jurists as a process of ?cultivation? (istithmar), whereby the qualified jurist (mujtahid), as the ?cultivator?, uses relevant rules of legal theory to harvest the substantive law on specific issues in form of ?fruits? (thamarat) from the sources. The articles in this volume engage critically with selected substantive issues in Islamic law, including family law; law of inheritance; law of financial transactions; criminal law; judicial procedure; and international law (al-siyar). These areas of substantive law have been selected due to their contemporary relevance and application in different parts of the Muslim world today. The volume features an introductory overview of the subject as well as a comprehensive bibliography to aid further research.

This book offers unique insights into Islamic law, considering its theoretical perspectives alongside its practical application in daily Muslim life.

The Islamic Shari'a as a phrase has two scope of meanings. Generally and widely construed it denotes everything that has been written by Moslem jurists throughout the centuries, whether it dealt with contemporaneous issues of the time or in anticipation of future ones. The jurist derived their principles from the Qur'an and the Sunna (way of action and the opinions of the Prophet), and from the other sources of Shari'a such as Ijma', (the consensus of the community represented by its scholars and learned men), and public interest considerations. The Shari'a looked upon in this wide scope constitute a huge Juristic tradition the value of which depends on the individual jurist himself, his era, or even the particular problem confronting him. As such the system has a tremendous scholastic value to the Moslem, however, it has no binding authority; since within it one might find different, and sometimes contradictory principles resolving the same issues, depending on the Juristic school that propagated the principle. Furthermore, it cannot have a binding authority since circumstances that brought about a certain principle might not be in existence any more, and surely we cannot maintain that previous Moslem Jurists have anticipated all our existing contemporary problems. Yet, as I said before in this wide sense, one cannot deny the Shari'a scholastic value as an elaborate system of deduction which should be relied upon for future derivations of principles. Construed narrowly, the Shari'a is confined to the undoubted principles of the Qur'an, to what is true and valid of the Sunna, and the consensus of the community represented by its scholars and learned men during a certain period andregarding a particular problem, provided such consensus was possible. Viewed as such, the Shari'a has a binding authority on every Moslem, and he is obligated to follow and employ it to resolve his affairs, deriving what is not explicit of its principles by the methods and means. The statement that it is too late for Shari'a to face contemporary issues is an exaggerated prejudiced statement, made possible because of the closing of the doors of investigation many centuries ago. The spirit and general principles of Shari'a are as valid today as they were yesterday many centuries ago and as they will be tomorrow many centuries to come. They are like a green oasis in the desolate desert of our lives which is over crowded with problems and conflicting ideologies. At the time of the original publication Ahmed Zaki Yamani was Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. AUTHOR COMMENTS The Islamic world, relying on the principles of Shari'a, can achieve its own entity, independent of East and West, and by which it can defend and protect itself from the torrent of communism and certain inequities of capitalism. The ability of Shari'a, to developed and evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of society, by relying on the concept of public interest as a source of legislation. The collective notion in Islam should be emphasized, outstanding quality in Shari'a which establishes a profound equilibrium between the individual and the community, should be put in perspective in relation to our own age. When our political leaders begin to think seriously about the happiness and welfare of their people, they shall find in Shari'a a guiding proven system to achieve and fulfill theiraims. The immortal principles of Shari'a can be used to correct and cure our social diseases in the Islamic world. Perhaps even the West might find it, again, a ray of light and knowledge to achieve still a more advanced civilization, or at least to preserve its existing one.

This volume presents ten leading scholars' writings on contemporary Islamic law and Muslim thought. The essays examine a range of issues, from modern Muslim discourses on justice, natural law, and the common good, to democracy, the social contract, and "the authority of the preeminent jurist." Changes in how Shari'a has been understood over the centuries are explored, as well as how it has been applied in both Sunni and Shi'i Islam. Debates on the nature, interpretation, reform, and application of Shari'a lie at the core of all Islamist revivalist ideologies and movements of the past two centuries. The demand for the implementation of Shari'a is one of the hallmarks of Islamic fundamentalism, and Shari'a has become one of the most controversial and politicized concepts in Muslim-majority countries today. This is one of the first books to examine how Muslims understand and apply Shari'a in contemporary societies.

This book considers the rarely studied but pervasive concepts of doubt that medieval Muslim jurists used to resolve problematic criminal cases.

The Research Handbook on Islamic Law and Society provides an examination of the role of Islamic law as it applies in Muslim and non-Muslim societies through legislation, fatwa, court cases, sermons, media, or scholarly debate. It illuminates the intersection of social, political, economic and cultural factors that inform Islamic Law across a number of jurisdictions. Chapters evaluate when and how actors and institutions have turned to Islamic law to address problems faced by societies in Muslim and, in some cases, Western states.

Since Europeans first colonized Arab lands in the 19th century, they have been pressing to have the area's indigenous laws and legal systems accord with Western models. Although most Arab states now have national codes of law that reflect Western influence, fierce internal struggles continue over how to interpret Islamic law, particularly in the areas of gender and family. From different geographical and ideological points across the contemporary Arab world, Haddad and Stowasser demonstrate the range of views on just what Islam's legal heritage in the region should be. For either law or religion classes, Islamic Law and the Challenges of Modernity provides the broad historical overview and particular cases needed to understand this contentious issue. Visit our website for sample chapters!

This book covers the ins and outs of Islamic legal change and provides readers with step-by-step instructions for shaping the future of Islamic law.

Does Islamic law define Islamic ethics? Or is the law a branch of a broader ethical system? Or is it but one of several independent moral discourses, Islamic and otherwise, competing for Muslims’ allegiance? The essays in this book present a range of answers: some take fiqh as the defining framework for ethics, others insert the law into a broader ethical system, and others present it as just one among several parallel Islamic ethical discourses, or show how Islamic ethics might coexist with non-Muslim normative systems. Their answers have far reaching implications for epistemology, for the authority of jurists and lay Muslims, for the practical moral challenges of daily life, and for relationships with non-Muslims. The book presents Muslim ethicists with a strategic contemporary choice: should they pursue a single overarching methodology for judging all ethical questions, or should they relish the rhetorical and political competition of alternative but not necessarily incompatible moral discourses?