Part of the publisher's "Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies" series, this reference comprises four volumes, each focusing on a broad theme, as follows: origins and sources (v.1); the genesis of legal theory and the schools of law (v.2); consolidation and "stagnation" (v.3); and Islamic law in the modern world (v.4). Editor Picken (Islamic studies and Arabic, U. of Edinburgh) explains in his general introduction some of the complexities of this "legal tradition entrenched and submerged within a religious context..." including how it has evolved over time and the many currents of controversy and resolution. He also discusses how the subject has attracted attention from western scholars for well over a century (he is himself one such scholar), and this selection of 60 previously published articles and chapters represents this academic research. Presenting a variety of perspectives and organized thoughtfully for context, the articles are presented chronologically within each volume's subthemes. For example the fourth volume on Islamic law in the modern world contains three main parts: on Islamic law and the state (four articles); on reconstruction of tradition (10 articles); and on the study of Islamic law in the West--two articles addressing Islamic legal studies as colonialist discourse, and the Hanbali School of Law in the light of contemporary Western studies (this last article is in Arabic). A chronological table in the front matter shows the earliest included study to have been published in 1970, and the most recent, in 2008. Sources include Studia Islamica, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Journal of the American Oriental Society, and Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (U. of London), among others. Indexing is in the fourth volume. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Islamic law is a legal tradition entrenched within a religious context; it is one of the most intriguing and fascinating areas of Islamic Studies. Many practitioners of Islam believe that their lives should be governed by a divinely revealed and sanctioned form of law that affects every aspect of their daily routines. Thus, whether it be a conventional religious act such as prayer, a customary practice such as marriage, or commercial activities such as trade, all these activities are determined by their legal validity within the Islamic law.
Islamic law has developed over many centuries of juristic effort into a subtle, complex, and highly developed reality. Thus, Islamic law, like any other, has its 'sources' (al-masadir); it also has its 'guiding principles' (al-usul) that dictate the nature of its 'evidence' (al-adilla); it equally employs the use of 'legal maxims' (al-qawaid) and utilizes a number of underlying 'objectives' (al-maqasid) to underpin the structure of its legal theory.
Volume I of this new Routledge collection brings together the best scholarship to detail the origins and sources of Islamic law. The materials in Volume II, meanwhile, examine the genesis of schools of law, their utilization of specific juristic methodologies, and their development of legal theory. Volume III focuses on the consolidation and stagnation of Islamic law in the medieval period, since although the development of the schools and a number of competing legal theories played a huge role in the codification of Islamic law, at the same time the competitive nature of such methodologies led to divisiveness because of strict adherence to a specific school. The final volume in the collection examines Islamic law today, and the challenges of living in a modern, technologically advanced world.
Supplemented with a full index, Islamic Law includes a comprehensive introduction newly written by the editor which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context. It is certain to be valued as a vital research resource.
