Fatwa and the Making and Renewal of Islamic Law : From the Classical Period to the Present

Examines different persons, periods, places, and principles to weave a narrative about a practice that spawned a legal tradition. In this book, Omer Awass examines the formation, history, and transformation of the Islamic legal discourse and institutions through the lens of a particular legal practice: the issuance of fatwas (legal opinions). Tracing the growth of Islamic law over a vast geographical expanse -from Andalusia to India - and a long temporal span - from the 7th to the 21st century, he conceptualizes fatwas as the'atomic units'of Islamic law. Awass argues that they have been a crucial element in the establishment of an Islamic legal tradition. He also provides numerous case studies that touch on economic, social, political, and religious topics. Written in an accessible style, this volume is the first to offer a comprehensive investigation of fatwas within such a broad spatio-temporal scope. It demonstrates how instrumental fatwas have been to the formation of Islamic legal traditions and institutions, as well as their unique forms of reasoning. 00. 9781009260909 01.0_pp_i_ii_Fatwa_and_the_Making_and_Renewal_of_Islamic_Law 02.0_pp_iii_iii_Fatwa_and_the_Making_and_Renewal_of_Islamic_Law 03.0_pp_iv_iv_Copyright_page 04.0_pp_v_vi_Dedication 05.0_pp_vii_viii_Contents 06.0_pp_ix_x_Figures 07.0_pp_xi_xii_Acknowledgments 08.0_pp_1_13_Introduction 09.0_pp_14_37_Fatwa_in_the_Prophetic_and_Post-Prophetic_Period 10.0_pp_38_76_Fatwa_in_the_Classical_Age 11.0_pp_77_113_Fatwa_and_the_Formation_of_Islamic_Legal_Discourses_Institutions_and_Society 12.0_pp_114_145_The_Formation_of_the_Islamic_Legal_Tradition_and_the_Formalization_of_Ift_within_the_Legal_Schools 13.0_pp_146_197_Fatwa_in_the_Age_of_the_Preponderance_of_Legal_Schools 14.0_pp_198_252_Colonialism_Islamic_Law_and_the_Post-Colonial_Fatwa 15.0_pp_253_256_Conclusion 16.0_pp_257_262_Glossary 17.0_pp_263_272_Bibliography 18.0_pp_273_294_Index "Examines the formation, history, and transformation of the Islamic legal discourse and institutions through the lens of a particular legal practice: the issuance of fatwas (legal opinions). Informed lay readers and scholars alike will gain from it an appreciation about the development of the Islamic legal system and its particular legal practices"-- Provided by publisher