This is the first attempt to present a comprehensive comparative study of Jewish-Islamic law on a particular topic during the early Middle Ages. Libson's in-depth study of Islamic law, together with his expertise in the wide range of geonic and rabbinic literature, enable him to determine the influence of Muslim practice on geonic custom.

By pairing a scholar of Islamic law with a scholar of Jewish law, a unique dynamic is created, and new perspectives are made possible. These new perspectives not only enable an understanding of the other’s legal tradition, but most saliently, they offer new insights into one’s own legal tradition, shedding light on what had previously been assumed to be outside the scope of analytic vision. In the course of this volume, scholars come together to examine such issues as judicial authority, the legal policing of female sexuality, and the status of those who stand outside one’s own tradition. Whether for the pursuit of advanced scholarship, pedagogic innovation in the classroom, or simply a greater appreciation of how to live in a multi-faith, post-secular world, these encounters are richly-stimulating, demonstrating how legal tradition can be used as a common site for developing discussions and opening up diverse approaches to questions about law, politics, and community. Islamic and Jewish Legal Reasoning offers a truly incisive model for considering the good, the right and the legal in our societies today.

The papers presented in this volume were originally presented at a conference entitled "Religion and Law: Middle Eastern Influences on the West," sponsored by the Middle East Center of the University of Utah and the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young Univerisity. The conference's aim was to explore the connection between religion, especially biblical religion, and law in the Ancient Middle East and to trace its development into the present. The special status of Islamic law is treated in several articles.

In early 20th-century Yemen, a sizable Jewish population was subject to sumptuary laws and social restrictions. Jews regularly came into contact with Islamic courts and Muslim jurists, by choice and by necessity, became embroiled in the most intimate details of their Jewish neighbors’ lives. Mark S. Wagner draws on autobiographical writings to study the careers of three Jewish intermediaries who used their knowledge of Islamic law to manipulate the shari‘a for their own benefit and for the good of their community. The result is a fresh perspective on the place of religious minorities in Muslim societies.

Helping Jews understand Islam--a reasoned and candid view

The second volume of the series "Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses" points out the roots of the concept of ''human rights'' in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It shows how far the universal validity of ''human rights'' opposes in some crucial points with religious traditions. The volume demonstrates that new perspectives are introduced to the general discussion about human rights when related to religious traditions. Especially the interreligious viewpoint proves that a new kind of debate about human rights and its history is necessary.