The Mejelle was the civil code of the Ottoman Caliphate, and is considered to be the first attempt to codify Islamic law. In recent decades many research works have been undertaken to examine the provisions contained in Mejelle and the extent of compatibility to the current civil codes of many Muslim countries. Today the Mejelle is used as one of the main sources of the study of Islamic law in institutions of higher learning. This new reprint appeals not only to academics but also practitioners.

English translations of modern legal documents from the Judean Desert cast light on the Islamization of the tribal customary law in the tribal judge s precinct. This book is intended for students of Islamic law, of customary law and comparative law, legal, social and economic historians, and Arabists.

This huge piece of legislation promulgated in September 1993 represents the culmination of a major project aimed at producing comprehensive unified regulation of all areas of commercial activity. In the introductory chapter to the law, which concerns its application, it is stipulated that commercial matters with regard to which specific federal laws are promulgated shall be subject to the provisions of these laws & to such provisions of the present law as do not conflict with them (Article 3). The main body of the law commences with definitions of what constitutes commercial activity: these persons who shall be deemed to be traders, & the conditions of eligibility to engage in trade. It sets out the requirements of accounting & record keeping which are obligatory for all traders. There is comprehensive legislation of a range of general commercial matters such as commercial houses, trade names, commercial data, commercial obligations & contracts, sale on deferred terms, sale at action, international sales, commercial pledges & deposits in public depositories. Following this there is detailed regulation of several of the most important specific areas of commercial activity including the different forms of commercial agency, commercial representation, brokerage & carriage of goods & persons. The large section of banking operations is systematic & exhaustive, as is the regulation of actions & transactions involving commercial & financial documents. The last section deals with bankruptcy, composition to avert bankruptcy, the procedures & administration of bankruptcy & its consequences. Article 196 states that the establishment of a Stock Exchange will be subject to the agreement of the Council of Ministers & promulgation of a Federal Law regulating the activity of the Exchange. The Law is presented in a comprehensive & consistent manner & is clear & accessible. An invaluable reference to all those who have business interests in or with the United Arab Emirates.

Examining the legal history of the order to pay money initiating a funds transfer, the author tracks basic principles of modern law to those that governed the payment order of Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Exploring the legal nature of the payment order and its underpinning in light of contemporary institutions and payment mechanisms, the book traces the evolution of money, payment mechanisms and the law that governs them, from developments in Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, Rome, and Greco-Roman Egypt, through medieval Europe and post-medieval England. Doctrine is examined in Jewish, Islamic, Roman, common and civil laws. Investigating such diverse legal systems and doctrines at the intersection of laws governing bank deposits, obligations, the assignment of debts, and negotiable instruments, the author identifies the common denominator for the evolving legal principles and speculates on possible reciprocity. At the same time he challenges the idea of 'law merchant' as a mercantile creation. The book provides an account of the evolution of payment law as a distinct cohesive body of legal doctrine applicable to funds transfers. It shows how principles of law developed in tandem with the evolution of banking and in response to changing circumstances and proposes a redefinition of 'law merchant'. The author points to deposit banking and emerging technologies as embodying a great potential for future non-cash payment system growth. However, he recommends caution in predicting both the future of deposit banking and the overall impact of technology. At the same time he expresses confidence in the durability of legal doctrine to continue to evolve and accommodate future payment system developments.

This book examines the Santillana Codes, legal instruments which form a distinct class of uniquely African civil code and are still in force today in a legal arc that extends from the Maghreb to the Sahel. Stigall presents the history of Santillana’s seminal legislative effort and provides a comparative analysis of the substance of those codes, illuminating commonalities between Islamic law and European legal systems.

This book is methodologically unique in scholarly literature on Muslim society. Its originality lies in the fact that the rich material offered by the shari'a courts is given a thorough analysis with a view to drawing conclusions about the present-day phenomena in Arab society and processes that the society has been undergoing in modern times.Aharon Layish examines every aspect of the social status of Muslim women that finds expression in the shari'a courts: the age of marriage, stipulations inserted in the marriage contract, dower, polygamy, maintenance and obedience, divorce, custody of the children, guardianship, and succession. Each chapter opens with a short legal introduction based on all the sources of law applying in shari'a courts, followed by social analyses and a study of the attitudes and approaches of the qadis, or Muslim religious judges. Layish examines the relationship between shari'a and Israeli legislation: Do shari'a courts have regard to the provisions of Israeli law? What is the relationship between shari'a and social custom, and which is decisive in regard to Israeli Muslim women? To what extent does Israeli law actually affect Israeli Muslim women? What is the attitude of the qadis, toward Israeli legislation?Women and Islamic Law in a Non-Muslim State is an important and original study that will be of interest to students and scholars of Islamic law, comparative law, sociology, and modernization.

This book explains the growth of secular law in a Middle East nation, revealing it to be the product of elite competition over control of the state, a competition the secular elites won in Turkey when Ataturk set up the new Republic. The author demonstrates the great extent to which secularism dominates the discourse of Turkish conflict resolution by the mid-1960s. Her work exemplifies the uses of empirical field research set within a historical context.