The search for God's law : Islamic jurisprudence in the writings of Sayf al-Din al-Amidi / Bernard G. Weiss.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weiss, Bernard G.

Contributor:

International Institute of Islamic Thought.

Series:

Utah Series in Turkish and Islamic Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Islamic law--Interpretation and construction.

Islamic law.

Islam and state.

Amidi, Ali ibn Abi Ali, 1156 or 7-1233.

Amidi, Ali ibn Abi Ali.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (784 p.)

Edition:

Revised ed.

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City : University Of Utah Press ; Herndon, Va. : International Institute of Islamic Thought, c2010.

Summary:

In Islam, God is the sole, ultimate lawgiver. Given the absence of a living prophet, all law worthy of the name must therefore be derived from texts that contain divine revelation or possess authority grounded in that revelation. Classical Muslim jurisprudents regarded the effort to discover divine law through these texts exceedingly demanding, since it requires one to grapple with an enormous array of difficult text-critical and hermeneutic issues. Although the Qur'an itself was considered above challenge, other texts had to be subjected to rigorous tests of authenticity, while the meaning of the texts, Qur'anic and non-Qur'anic, became a topic of intense debate. Without an ecclesiastic institution vested with authority to proclaim "correct" interpretations, the development of law through interpretation became a largely individualistic enterprise, though imbued with a keen sense of communal responsibility.

Using Amidi's work, Bernard Weiss explicates and discusses the various issues that define Islamic jurisprudence as an integrated system during the time of this important mainstream scholar. The Search for God's Law presents a lucid exposition of the relationship between sacred text and mundane law. It is the most comprehensive treatment of Islamic jurisprudence yet to appear in a Western language. --Book Jacket.

Contents:

Contents; Preface to the revised edition

Preface to the first edition

Introduction

Part I. Postulates

Chapter one. The theological postulates

Chapter two. The Fiqh postulates

Chapter three. The Lugha-related postulates

Part II. The indicators of God's law

Chapter four. The Qur'ān and the Sunna

Chapter five. The Ijmāc

Chapter six. The transmission of texts

Chapter seven. Commands

Chapter eight. General and unqualified expressions

Chapter nine. Ambiguity, lucidity, and diversion to nonapparent meaning

Chapter ten. Implication

Chapter eleven. Abrogation

Chapter twelve. Analogy: definition and conditions of validity

Chapter thirteen. Analogy: Ascertaining the occasioning factor

Chapter fourteen. The defense of analogy

Chapter fifteen. Istidlāl and the invalid indicators

Part III. Mujtahids, Muftīs, and commoners

Chapter sixteen. Ijtihād and the mujtahid

Chapter seventeen. Consultation and advice: The Mujtahid as Muftī

Part IV. The weighing of conflicting indicators

Epilogue

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-60781-971-6

OCLC:

758391490