Community and Consensus in Islam, first published in 1989, represented a bold attempt to introduce the role of ideas in the interpretation of Indo-Muslim politics between 1860 and the Partition of India in 1947. It questioned the widely held view at the time that Indian Muslim politics of the period could be explained by reference to pragmatic interests alone. Instead, Farzana Shaikh argued that the influence of ideas rooted in Islamic tradition must form a crucial dimension of any wellgrounded explanation of the determinants of Indo-Muslim political practice. In this masterful study the configurations of colonial politics in India are set against the backdrop of tensions between two contrasting intellectual traditions - the Islamic and the liberal-democratic - to show how their different assumptions about the proper ends of political action sharpened the opposition between diverse constitutional positions that led to Partition. Today it stands as a vital contribution to the debate about this momentous event.
Some argue that Muslims have no tradition of separation of church and state and therefore can't participate in secular, pluralist society. At the other extreme, some Muslims argue that it is the duty of all believers to resist Western forms of government and to impose Islamic law. In Islam and Liberal Citizenship, Andrew F. March is seeking to find a middle way between these poles.
This book discusses the common principles of morality and ethics derived from divinely endowed intuitive reason through the creation of al-fitr' a (nature) and human intellect (al-‘aql). Biomedical topics are presented and ethical issues related to topics such as genetic testing, assisted reproduction and organ transplantation are discussed. Whereas these natural sources are God’s special gifts to human beings, God’s revelation as given to the prophets is the supernatural source of divine guidance through which human communities have been guided at all times through history. The second part of the book concentrates on the objectives of Islamic religious practice – the maqa' sid – which include: Preservation of Faith, Preservation of Life, Preservation of Mind (intellect and reason), Preservation of Progeny (al-nasl) and Preservation of Property. Lastly, the third part of the book discusses selected topical issues, including abortion, assisted reproduction devices, genetics, organ transplantation, brain death and end-of-life aspects. For each topic, the current medical evidence is followed by a detailed discussion of the ethical issues involved.
In the early centuries of Islam the response of Muslims to problem-solving the various issues and challenges that faced their rapidly expanding community was to use intelligence and independent reasoning based on the Qur’an and Sunnah to address them. This practice is known as ijtihad. As the centuries wore on however the gates of ijtihad were generally closed in favor of following existing rulings developed by scholars by way of analogy. And as reason and intellect, now held captive to madhhabs (schools of thought) and earlier scholarly opinion stagnated, so did the Muslim world. Ijtihad and Renewal is an analysis of ijtihad and the role it can play for a positive Muslim revival in the modern world, a revival based on society-wide economic and educational reform and development. It makes the case that the grafting of solutions rooted in the past onto the complex and unique realities of our own age, in a one-size-fits-all perspective, has paralysed the vitality of Muslim thought, and confused its sense of direction, and that to revive the Muslim world from its centuries of decline and slumber we need to revive the practice of ijtihad. Focusing attention on thinking through solutions for ourselves based on our own times and context, using the Qur’an and Sunnah, as well as the wisdom and experience of the past distilled from these, as tools in this endeavor whilst not the only solution, is certainly a viable and powerful one.
This volume represents a rich multi-disciplinary contribution to an expanding literature on citizenship, identity, and education in a variety of majority and minority Muslim communities. Among its aims is to establish the theoretical possibility of a philosophically and doctrinally plausible overlapping consensus between Islam and democracy, to identify respect for difference as one critical component of that overlapping consensus, and to examine a range of Islamic educational practices in various socio-historical contexts. Accordingly, each of these essays offers important insights into the various ways one may identify with, and participate in, different democratic and democratizing societies to which Muslims belong.
Khadduri presents a lucid analysis of classical Islamic doctrine concerning war and peace and its adaptation to modern conditions. Working primarily with original Muslim sources, he examines the nature of the Islamic state, Islamic law and the influence of Western law.Other chapters consider classical Muslim attitudes toward foreign policy, international trade, warfare, treaties and how these have developed during the twentieth century. Majid Khadduri [1909-2007] was a Professor of Middle East Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University and Director of Research and Education at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D. C. He was the author of several books in English and Arabic on Middle Eastern affairs. Contents: Fundamental Concepts of Muslim Law I Theory of the State II Nature and Sources of Law III The Muslim Law of Nations The Law of War IV Introduction V The Doctrine of the Jihad VI Types of Jihad VII Military Methods VIII The Initiation of War IX Land Warfare X Maritime Warfare XI Spoils of War XII Termination of Fighting The Law of Peace XIII Introduction XIV Jurisdiction XV Foreigners in Muslim Territory: Harbis and Musta'mins XVI Muslims in Non-Muslim Territory XVII Status of the Dhimmis XVIII Treaties XIX Commercial Relations XX Arbitration XXI Diplomacy XXII Neutrality XXIII Epilogue Glossary of Terms Bibliography Index
The study of Islamic law can be a forbidding prospect for those entering the field for the first time. Wael Hallaq, a leading scholar and practitioner of Islamic law, guides students through the intricacies of the subject in this absorbing introduction. The first half of the book is devoted to a discussion of Islamic law in its pre-modern natural habitat. The second part explains how the law was transformed and ultimately dismantled during the colonial period. In the final chapters, the author charts recent developments and the struggles of the Islamists to negotiate changes which have seen the law emerge as a primarily textual entity focused on fixed punishments and ritual requirements. The book, which includes a chronology, a glossary of key terms, and lists of further reading, will be the first stop for those who wish to understand the fundamentals of Islamic law, its practices and history.
The Islamic Shari'a as a phrase has two scope of meanings. Generally and widely construed it denotes everything that has been written by Moslem jurists throughout the centuries, whether it dealt with contemporaneous issues of the time or in anticipation of future ones. The jurist derived their principles from the Qur'an and the Sunna (way of action and the opinions of the Prophet), and from the other sources of Shari'a such as Ijma', (the consensus of the community represented by its scholars and learned men), and public interest considerations. The Shari'a looked upon in this wide scope constitute a huge Juristic tradition the value of which depends on the individual jurist himself, his era, or even the particular problem confronting him. As such the system has a tremendous scholastic value to the Moslem, however, it has no binding authority; since within it one might find different, and sometimes contradictory principles resolving the same issues, depending on the Juristic school that propagated the principle. Furthermore, it cannot have a binding authority since circumstances that brought about a certain principle might not be in existence any more, and surely we cannot maintain that previous Moslem Jurists have anticipated all our existing contemporary problems. Yet, as I said before in this wide sense, one cannot deny the Shari'a scholastic value as an elaborate system of deduction which should be relied upon for future derivations of principles. Construed narrowly, the Shari'a is confined to the undoubted principles of the Qur'an, to what is true and valid of the Sunna, and the consensus of the community represented by its scholars and learned men during a certain period andregarding a particular problem, provided such consensus was possible. Viewed as such, the Shari'a has a binding authority on every Moslem, and he is obligated to follow and employ it to resolve his affairs, deriving what is not explicit of its principles by the methods and means. The statement that it is too late for Shari'a to face contemporary issues is an exaggerated prejudiced statement, made possible because of the closing of the doors of investigation many centuries ago. The spirit and general principles of Shari'a are as valid today as they were yesterday many centuries ago and as they will be tomorrow many centuries to come. They are like a green oasis in the desolate desert of our lives which is over crowded with problems and conflicting ideologies. At the time of the original publication Ahmed Zaki Yamani was Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. AUTHOR COMMENTS The Islamic world, relying on the principles of Shari'a, can achieve its own entity, independent of East and West, and by which it can defend and protect itself from the torrent of communism and certain inequities of capitalism. The ability of Shari'a, to developed and evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of society, by relying on the concept of public interest as a source of legislation. The collective notion in Islam should be emphasized, outstanding quality in Shari'a which establishes a profound equilibrium between the individual and the community, should be put in perspective in relation to our own age. When our political leaders begin to think seriously about the happiness and welfare of their people, they shall find in Shari'a a guiding proven system to achieve and fulfill theiraims. The immortal principles of Shari'a can be used to correct and cure our social diseases in the Islamic world. Perhaps even the West might find it, again, a ray of light and knowledge to achieve still a more advanced civilization, or at least to preserve its existing one.
