Ramadan brings together essays to explain the history of Islamic law and its role in the contemporary world.

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

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.

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 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.

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 ofcultivation (istithmar), whereby the qualified jurist (mujtahid), as thecultivator uses relevant rules of legal theory to harvest the substantive law on specific issues in form offruits (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.

Toward an Islamic Reformation is an ambitious attempt to modernize Islamic law, calling for reform of the historical formulations of Islamic law, commonly known as Shari'a that is perceived by many Muslims to be part of the Islamic faith. As a Muslim, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im is sensitive to and appreciative of the delicate relationship between Islam as a religion and Islamic law. Nevertheless, he considers that the questions raised here must be resolved if the public law of Islam is to be implemented today. An-Na'im draws upon the teachings and writings of Sudanese reformer Mahmoud Mohamed Taha to provide what some have called the intellectual foundations for a total reinterpretation of the nature and meaning of Islamic public law.