The anthropology of Islamic law : education, ethics, and legal interpretation at Egypt's al-Azhar / Aria Nakissa.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nakissa, Aria, author.

Series:

Oxford Islamic legal studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jāmiʻat al-Azhar.

Islamic law--Study and teaching.

Islamic law.

Islamic law--Egypt.

Egypt.

Physical Description:

ix, 312 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2019]

Contents:

I Theoretical Orientation p. 4

II Hermeneutic Theory, Practice Theory, and Ethnography p. 7

III Methodological Remarks p. 12

IV The Overall Structure of the Book p. 16

Section I Theory, Ethnography, History

1 Hermeneutic Theory and Practice Theory in the Study of Cultural, Legal, and Religious Traditions p. 21

I Signs and Hermeneutic Theory p. 21

II Geertz, Signs, and the Anthropological Analysis of Religion p. 25

III Breaking from Geertz's Analysis of Signs in Culture and Religion p. 27

A Mental Causation p. 27

B Mental Causation, Rational Action, and Instrumental Rationality p. 28

C Mental Causation and Chains of Effects p. 31

IV Asad's Critique of Geertz, and Its Implications for the Anthropology of Religion/Islam p. 33

V Knowledge of Sharic'a Rules as Knowledge of Mental Attributes p. 35

VI Hermeneutic Analysis and the Transmission of Knowledge of Sharic'a Rules p. 38

A The Qur'an p. 38

B The Reported Obedient Actions of the Prophet Muhammad (Sunna) p. 39

C The Reported Obedient Actions of Past Religious Scholars p. 43

D The Observed Obedient Actions of Present-Day Religious Scholars p. 45

VII The Holistic Character of Hermeneutic Cultural Analysis p. 45

A Interrelations among Desires, Beliefs, and Intentions p. 46

B A Coherent Overall Picture of the Mind p. 46

VIII Relativism in Hermeneutic Cultural Analysis p. 48

IX Hermeneutic Theory versus Practice Theory on the Analysis of Rules p. 50

A First Claim: Rules and Control p. 50

B Second Claim: Rules as Guides for Human Behavior p. 51

C Third Claim; Transmitting Knowledge of Rules through Practice p. 56

X Acquiring Knowledge of Another Mind through Practice p. 58

XI Acquiring Knowledge of Rules through Texts, Observation, and Practice p. 60

2 Higher Religious Learning in Modern Egypt p. 65

I Premodern Egyptian Religious Education p. 65

II Modernizing Education p. 67

III Government Fears of Islamism p. 75

IV Al-Azhar at Present p. 77

V Al-Azhar Mosque at Present p. 79

VI The Dar al-'Ulum at Present p. 81

VII The Socioeconomic Lives of Religious Scholars p. 82

VIII Status Differentials among Religious Scholars p. 87

Section II Traditional Islamic Learning and Legal Doctrine

3 Shari'a, Sunna, and Ethics p. 91

I Islam, Ethics, and Practice Theory p. 91

II Islamic Ethics p. 94

III Practice, Shari'a, Sunna p. 98

IV Shar'a and Sunna p. 103

V The Two Aspects of the Concept of Sunna p. 106

VI Sharr'a and the Role of the Stiff Shaykh p. 107

VII The Dispositions of God and the Prophet p. 108

VIII Ethics and Shari'a Knowledge p. 111

IX Theorizing Ethics and Legal Knowledge p. 114

X Ethics and Legal Judgment p. 120

4 Acquiring Knowledge through Companionship (Suhba) p. 123

I Knowledge as a Craft p. 125

II Companionship p. 127

III Companionship among Later Scholars p. 128

IV Sons and Fathers p. 132

V The Structure of Companionship p. 134

VI Companionship and Learning through Observation p. 134

VII Direct Witnessing and Baraka p. 137

VIII Companionship and Learning through Practice p. 142

IX Punishment In Companionship p. 144

X Punishment at Later Ages p. 146

5 The Sanad p. 149

I The Sanad and Companionship p. 150

II The Sanad and the Limitations of Learning through Texts p. 153

III Written Texts as a Medium for the Transmission of Knowledge p. 157

6 Taking from the Mouths of Shaykhs (Mushafaha) p. 159

I Mushafaha and Orality p. 160

II Texts Rather than Courses p. 161

III Memorization p. 161

IV The Sanad and the Ijaza p. 163

V Three Modes of Transmission p. 164

VI Mains and Commentary p. 167

VII Taking from the Mouths of Shaykhs and Companionship p. 171

VIII Independent Reading and Heresy p. 176

IX Ijazas Revisited p. 177

Section III A New Perspective on Islamic Legal Doctrine

7 The Structure of Islamic Legal Thought p. 181

I Planning Theory and Instrumental Rationality p. 182

II Intentions/Rules Are Partially Instrumentally Rational and Partially Arbitrary/Non-rational p. 183

A Buridan problems, Instrumental Rationality, Non-rationality p. 183

B Sharr'a Rules p. 188

III New Circumstances Can Prompt the Abandonment and Reformation of Intentions/Rules p. 198

A Abandoning and Reforming Intentions p. 198

B Abandoning and Reforming Rules p. 201

IV Language and the Principles of Islamic Legal Interpretation: Zahir al-'Nass, Qiyas, Istislah, Istihsan p. 205

A Zahir al-Nass p. 206

B Qiyas p. 206

C Istislah p. 207

D Istihsan p. 208

V Literalism and Islamic Legal Interpretation p. 209

VI The Rationale for Taqlid p. 210

VII The Epistemic Basis of Taqlid p. 211

VIII Taqlid, Ijma', and the Legal Schools p. 214

IX What Is Ijtihad? p. 218

Section IV Modern Reform

8 Reorganizing Time and Space p. 227

I Student Freedom and the Study-Circle p. 228

II Maximizing "Efficiency" and Eliminating "Disorder" p. 230

III Al-Azhar's Faculty of Sharra p. 236

IV The Dar al-'Ulum p. 239

V Reordering Space and Time p. 241

VI Teachers as Ethical Exemplars p. 243

9 Transforming the Act of Reading p. 247

I Premodern Muslim Attitudes towards Print p. 247

II Text-Based Study versus Topic-Based Study p. 249

III Writing Clearly p. 250

IV Learning with Clear Texts p. 255

10 Salafism and Wasatism p. 257

I Salafism p. 258

II Wasatism p. 267

III The Ongoing Development of Wasatism p. 269.

Notes:

Based on author's thesis in cultural anthropology (doctoral - Harvard University, 2012) issued under title: Islamic law and legal education in modern Egypt.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780190932886

0190932880

OCLC:

1057241602