The contributions of Bernard Weiss to the study of the principles of jurisprudence (uṣūl al-fiqh) are recognized in a series of contributions on Islamic legal theory. These thirteen chapters study a range of Islamic texts and employ contemporary legal, religious, and hermeneutical theory to study the methodology of Islamic law.
Contributors include: Peter Sluglett, Ahmed El Shamsy, Ãric Chaumont, A. Kevin Reinhart, Mohammad Fadel, Jonathan Brockopp, Christian Lange, Raquel M. Ukeles, Paul Powers, Robert Gleave, Wolfhart Heinrichs, Joseph Lowry, Rudolph Peters, Frank E. Vogel
A. Kevin Reinhart is an Associate Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College specializing in Islamic religion. His research has focused on Islamic law and theology, as well as ritual and ritual theory. He is the author of Before Revelation: The Boundaries of Muslim Moral Knowledge (SUNY,1995), and edited (with Dennis Washburn) Converting Cultures: Religion, Ideology and Transformations of Modernity (Brill, 2007) and (with Hasan Kayalı) Archivum Ottomanicum special issue on âLate Ottoman Religionâ (Vol. 19: Harrassowitz, 2002). His Lived Islam: Colloquial Religion in a Cosmopolitan Tradition, is forthcoming.
Robert Gleave is Professor of Arabic Studies at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK. His research focuses on the history of Islamic legal theory, particularly in the Shīʿī school. He is author of Inevitable Doubt: Two Theories of Shīʿī Jurisprudence (Brill, 2000), Scripturalist Islam: The History and Doctrines of the AkhbÄrÄ« Shīʿī School of Thought (Brill, 2007) and Islam and Literalism: Literal Meaning and Interpretation in Islamic Legal Theory (EUP, 2012).
Introductory Sections
Peter Sluglett, University of Utah, Department of History: Memories of Bernard Weiss & Bibliography of the Writings of Bernard Weiss
Robert Gleave and A. Kevin Reinhart: The Spirit of Islamic Law. Introduction
Law and Reason
Chapter 1
Ahmed El Shamsy, University of Chicago, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations: The Wisdom of Godâs Law: Two Theories
Chapter 2
Ãric Chaumont, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: La notion de wajh al-ḥikmah dans les uṣūl al-fiqh dâAbÅ« IsḥÄq al-ShÄ«rÄzÄ« (m. 476/1083)
Chapter 3
A. Kevin Reinhart, Dartmouth College, Department of Religion: Ritual Action and Practical Action: The Incomprehensibility of Muslim Devotional Action
Chapter 4
Mohammad Fadel, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law: Istafti qalbaka wa in aftÄka al-nasu wa aftÅ«ka: The Ethical Obligations of the Muqallid Between Autonomy and Trust
Law and Religion
Chapter 5
Jonathan Brockopp, Pennsylvania State University, Department of History: SaḥnÅ«nâs Mudawwanah and the Piety of the âSharīʿah-mindedâ
Chapter 6
Christian Lange, University of Utrecht, Department of Religious Studies and Theology: Sins, Expiation and Non-rationality in ḤanafÄ« and ShÄfiʿī fiqh
Chapter 7
Raquel M. Ukeles, National Library of Israel, Curator, Islam and Middle East Collection: Juristsâ Responses to Popular Devotional Practices in Medieval Islam
Law and Language
Chapter 8
Paul Powers, Lewis & Clark College, Department of Religion: Finding God and Humanity in Language: Islamic Legal Assessments as the Meeting Point of the Divine and Human
Chapter 9
Robert Gleave, University of Exeter, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies: Literal Meaning and Interpretation in Early ImÄmÄ« Law
Chapter 10
Wolfhart Heinrichs, Harvard University, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations: âGenresâ in the KitÄb al-Luqá¹ah of Ibn Rushdâs BidÄyat al-mujtahid wa-nihÄyat al-muqtaá¹£id
Diversity and Authority
Chapter 11
Joseph Lowry, The University of Pennsylvania, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations: Is There Something Postmodern About Uṣūl Al-Fiqh? IjmÄÊ¿, Constraint, and Interpretive Communities
Chapter 12
Rudolph Peters, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Department of Arabic & Islamic Studies: Body and Spirit of Islamic Law: Madhhab Diversity in Ottoman Documents from the Dakhla Oasis, Egypt
Chapter 13
Frank E. Vogel, Harvard University, Islamic Legal Studies Program: Tracing Nuance in MÄwardÄ«âs al-AḥkÄm al-Sulá¹Äniyyah: Implicit Framing of Constitutional Authority
Index
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Those interested in Islamic law, ritual, and legal theory, and legal theory more generally.