Book: Law and Legal Theory in Classical and Medieval Islam

These studies by Wael Hallaq represent an important contribution to our understanding of the neglected field of medieval Islamic law and legal thought.

These studies by Wael Hallaq represent an important contribution to our understanding of the neglected field of medieval Islamic law and legal thought. Spanning the period from the 8th to the 16th centuries, they draw upon a wide range of original sources to offer both fresh interpretations of those sources and a careful evaluation of contemporary scholarship. The first articles expound the interrelated issues of legal reasoning, legal logic and the epistemology of the law. There follows a set of primarily historical studies, which question a series of widely held assumptions, while the last items explore issues of legal theory and methodology. One particular topic concerns the role of Shafi’i as the ‘master architect’ of Islamic legal theory, and Professor Hallaq would finally argue that this image is in fact false and a creation of later centuries.

About the Author

Wael B. Hallaq (1955- Nazareth, Palestine) is a scholar of Islamic law and Islamic intellectual history. He is currently the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University at the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies. After a Ph.D.

Table of Contents

The Logic of Legal Reasoning in Religious and Non-Religious Cultures: The Case of Islamic Law and the Common Law Cleveland State Law Review 34. New York, 1985-86

Non-Analogical Arguments in Sunni Juridical Qiyas Arabica 36. Leiden, 1989

Logic, Formal Arguments and Formalization of Arguments in Sunn! Jurisprudence Arabica 37. Leiden, 1990

On Inductive Corroboration, Probability and Certainty in Sunni Legal Thought Islamic Law and Jurisprudence, ed. N.L. Heer. Seattle & London, 1990

Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed? International Journal of Middle East Studies 16. New York, 1984

On the Origins of the Controversy about the Existence of Mujtahids and the Gate of Ijtihad Studia Islamica 63. Paris 1986

Was al-Shafi’i the Master Architect of Islamic Jurisprudence? International Journal of Middle East Studies 25. New York, 1993

On the Authoritativeness of Sunni Consensus International Journal of Middle East Studies 18. New York, 1986

The Use and Abuse of Evidence: The Question of Provincial and Roman Influences on Early Islamic Law, Journal of the American Oriental Society 110: 79-91. New York, 1989

Notes on the Term Qarina in Islamic Legal Discourse, Journal of the American Oriental Society 108: 475-80. New York, 1988

The Primacy of the Qur’an in Shatibl’s Legal Theory, Islamic Studies Presented to Charles J. Adams, eds W.B. Hallaq and D.P. Little. Leiden,1991

Usul al-Fiqh: Beyond Tradition, Journal of Islamic Studies 3. Oxford,1992

Bibliographic Information

Title: Law and Legal Theory in Classical and Medieval Islam

Author: Wael b. Hallaq

Publisher:  Routledge

 Language: English

Length: 344

ISBN:  978-0860784562

Pub. Date: January 28, 1995