Book: Intent in Islamic Law: Motive and Meaning in Medieval Sunnī Fiqh

This Book is a magnificent contribution to the study of Islamic law, recommended to anyone who wishes to understand some of the central concepts defining the field.

This book explores the nature and role of intent in pre-modern Islamic legal rule books, including ritual, commercial, family, and penal law. It argues that Muslim jurists treat intent as a definitive element of many actions regulated by the Shari a, and they employ a variety of means and terms to assess and categorize subjective states. Through detailed analyses of medieval Islamic texts, aided by Western philosophical examinations of intent, the author presents technically detailed yet lucid arguments about Islamic religious ritual and spirituality, the ethics of business transactions, the role of the inner self in crime and punishment, and Muslim understandings of agency and language. This is the first extensive exploration of the crucial legal issue of intent in all major areas of Islamic substantive law.”

About the Author:

Paul R. Powers, Ph.D. (2001) in History of Religions, University of Chicago, is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. This is his first book.

Table of contents

List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Intent in Islamic Ritual Law
Chapter Three: Ritual Spirit and Ritual Intent
Chapter Four: Intent in Islamic Contract Law
Chapter Five: Intent in Islamic Personal Status Law
Chapter Six: Intent in Islamic Penal Law
Chapter Seven: Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Bibliographic Information

Title: Intent in Islamic Law: Motive and Meaning in Medieval Sunnī Fiqh

Author: Paul R. Powers

Publisher: Brill Academic Pub

Language: English

Length: 236 pages

ISBN: 978-9004290457

Pub. Date: January 2015

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