Body of Text: The Emergence of the Sunni Law of Ritual Purity (Suny Series in Medieval Middle East History) (Suny Medieval Middle East History)

__Reconstructs the formative debates concerning ritual purity in Islamic law and practice.__ Reconstructs the formative debates concerning ritual purity in Islamic law and practice. Ritual purity is one of the least understood aspects of Islamic law and practice, yet it enjoys a prominent place in traditional legal texts and permeates the daily life of ordinary believers. Body of Text examines the emergence and crystallization of the law of ritual purity, using early sources to reconstruct the formative debates among Muslim scholars. The lively interaction among legal theorizing, caliphal politics, and popular practice illustrates the formation of the law, because as scholars strove for synthesis, they advanced competing understandings of the underlying structure and meaning of ritual purity. Katz demonstrates that no single theory can adequately interpret the diversity of opinion within the tradition. recommend[ed] for those who are looking for a path into the sources of and the debates about formative Islam and law. Journal of the American Oriental Society For too long Islamic law has been seen by academics as a body of esoteric lore discernible only to the initiated. Katz masterfully positions a detailed and technical subjectearly Islamic ritual lawwithin the broader context of comparative religions. This book will be the starting point for any future work on the subject. Paul M. Cobb, University of Notre Dame, author of White Contention in 'Abbasid Syria, 750880 Katz breaks new ground in the field of Islamic law. This is the first book to thoroughly examine the classical Islamic-law works as well as the works of Western anthropologists on matters of ritual purity. Farhat J. Ziadeh, author of Property Law in the Arab World Body of Text: The Emergence of the Sunni Law of Ritual Purity 5 Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction 11 The Comprehensiveness of the Law 11 The Historical Background 13 Methodological Developments 23 The Case of Islamic Law 28 Approach to the Sources 34 1. Quranic Rules of Purity and the Covenantal Community 39 The Biblical Example 39 The Quranic Material: Surat al-Maida 42 Patterns within the Quran 56 Conclusions 67 2. Interpreting the Quranic Text 69 The Problem 69 “When You Rise to Pray” 70 “Wipe Your Heads and Your Feet . . . ” 85 “If You Have Touched Women . . . ” 96 Conclusion: Revealed Text and Personal Examplein the Law of Purity 106 3. “Cancelers of Wudu” and the Boundaries of the Body 111 Wudu from Cooked Food 111 Wudu from Touching the Genitals 133 Blood and Other Bodily Issues 145 Conclusions 150 4. Substantive Impurity and the Boundaries of Society 155 The Fluidity of the Law 155 Women, Nonbelievers, and the Dead 159 Children of Adam 174 Purity and Gender 197 Conclusions 213 Conclusion 217 Notes 221 Bibliography 273 Index 281 A 281 B 282 C 282 D 282 E 282 F 282 G 282 H 282 I 283 J 283 K 283 L 283 M 283 N 283 O 283 P 284 Q 284 R 284 S 284 T 284 U 284 V 285 W 285 Y 285 Z 285 Ritual purity is one of the least understood aspects of Islamic law and practice, yet it enjoys a prominent place in traditional legal texts and permeates the daily life of ordinary believers. Body of Text examines the emergence and crystallization of the law of ritual purity, using early sources to reconstruct the formative debates among Muslim scholars. The lively interaction among legal theorizing, caliphal politics, and popular practice illustrates the formation of the law, because as scholars strove for synthesis, they advanced competing understandings of the underlying structure and meaning of ritual purity. Katz demonstrates that no single theory can adequately interpret the diversity of opinion within the tradition.

Author Biography: Marion Holmes Katz is Assistant Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College.

reconstructs The Formative Debates Concerning Ritual Purity In Islmaic Law And Practice.

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rather Than Treating The Ritual Purity Required By Islamic Law As Derivative Of Earlier Religions, Katz (religion, Mount Holyoke College) Interprets Taboos Regarding Blood, Menstruating Women, Sexual Intercourse, And Such As Due To The Qur'an's Relevance To Everyday Life. She Discusses The Early Evolution Of Rules Regarding Impurity, In Contrast To Revisionist Readings That Later Generations Projected Their Views Onto Sources. Based On The Author's U. Of Chicago Doctoral Thesis. Annotation C. Book News, Inc., Portland, Or (booknews.com)

Rather than treating the ritual purity required by Islamic law as derivative of earlier religions, Katz (religion, Mount Holyoke College) interprets taboos regarding blood, menstruating women, sexual intercourse, and such as due to the Qur'an's relevance to everyday life. She discusses the early evolution of rules regarding impurity, in contrast to revisionist readings that later generations projected their views onto sources. Based on the author's U. of Chicago doctoral thesis. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR