The Anthropology of Islamic Law: Education, Ethics, and Legal Interpretation at Egypt's Al-Azhar (Oxford Islamic Legal Studies)

This book shows how hermeneutic theory and practice theory can be brought together to analyze cultural, legal, and religious traditions. These ideas are developed through an analysis of the Islamic legal tradition, which examines both Islamic legal doctrine and religious education. In terms of disciplinary orientation, the book combines anthropology and Islamicist history, utilizing both ethnography and in-depth analysis of Arabic religious texts. The book focuses on higher religious learning in contemporary Egypt, examining its intellectual, ethical, and pedagogical dimensions. Data is drawn from over two years of fieldwork inside al-Azhar University, Cairo University’s Dār al-ʿUlūm, and the network of traditional study circles associated with the al-Azhar mosque. Together these sites constitute the most important venue for the transmission of religious learning in the contemporary Muslim world. Although the book gives special attention to contemporary Egypt, it provides a broader analysis relevant to Islamic legal doctrine and religious education throughout history. Cover 1 Series 3 The Anthropology of Islamic Law 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: Theoretical Orientation and Methodology 14 I. Theoretical Orientation 17 II. Hermeneutic Theory, Practice Theory, and Ethnography 20 III. Methodological Remarks 25 IV. The Overall Structure of the Book 29 SECTION I: THEORY, ETHNOGRAPHY, HISTORY 32 1. Hermeneutic Theory and Practice Theory in the Study of Cultural, Legal, and Religious Traditions 34 I. Signs and Hermeneutic Theory 34 II. Geertz, Signs, and the Anthropological Analysis of Religion 38 III. Breaking from Geertz’s Analysis of Signs in Culture and Religion 40 A. Mental Causation 40 B. Mental Causation, Rational Action, and Instrumental Rationality 41 C. Mental Causation and Chains of Effects 44 IV. Asad’s Critique of Geertz, and Its Implications for the Anthropology of Religion/​Islam 46 V. Knowledge of Sharīʿa Rules as Knowledge of Mental Attributes 48 VI. Hermeneutic Analysis and the Transmission of Knowledge of Sharīʿa Rules 51 A. The Qurʾan 51 B. The Reported Obedient Actions of the Prophet Muḥammad (Sunna) 52 C. The Reported Obedient Actions of Past Religious Scholars 56 D. The Observed Obedient Actions of Present-​Day Religious Scholars 58 VII. The Holistic Character of Hermeneutic Cultural Analysis 58 A. Interrelations among Desires, Beliefs, and Intentions 59 B. A Coherent Overall Picture of the Mind 59 VIII. Relativism in Hermeneutic Cultural Analysis 61 IX. Hermeneutic Theory versus Practice Theory on the Analysis of Rules 63 A. First Claim: Rules and Control 63 B. Second Claim: Rules as Guides for Human Behavior 64 C. Third Claim: Transmitting Knowledge of Rules through Practice 69 X. Acquiring Knowledge of Another Mind through Practice 71 XI. Acquiring Knowledge of Rules through Texts, Observation, and Practice 73 XII. Conclusion 75 2. Higher Religious Learning in Modern Egypt 78 I. Premodern Egyptian Religious Education 78 II. Modernizing Education 80 III. Government Fears of Islamism 88 IV. Al-​Azhar at Present 90 V. Al-​Azhar Mosque at Present 92 VI. The Dār al-​ʿUlūm at Present 94 VII. The Socioeconomic Lives of Religious Scholars 95 VIII. Status Differentials among Religious Scholars 100 SECTION II: TRADITIONAL ISLAMIC LEARNINGAND LEGAL DOCTRINE 102 3. Sharīʿa, Sunna, and Ethics 104 I. Islam, Ethics, and Practice Theory 104 II. Islamic Ethics 107 III. Practice, Sharīʿa, Sunna 111 IV. Sharīʿa and Sunna 116 V. The Two Aspects of the Concept of Sunna 119 VI. Sharīʿa and the Role of the Sufi Shaykh 120 VII. The Dispositions of God and the Prophet 121 VIII. Ethics and Sharīʿa Knowledge 124 IX. Theorizing Ethics and Legal Knowledge 127 X. Ethics and Legal Judgment 133 4. Acquiring Knowledge through Companionship (Ṣuḥba) 136 I. Knowledge as a Craft 138 II. Companionship 140 III. Companionship among Later Scholars 141 IV. Sons and Fathers 145 V. The Structure of Companionship 147 VI. Companionship and Learning through Observation 147 VII. Direct Witnessing and Baraka 150 VIII. Companionship and Learning through Practice 155 IX. Punishment in Companionship 157 X. Punishment at Later Ages 159 5. The Sanad 162 I. The Sanad and Companionship 163 II. The Sanad and the Limitations of Learning through Texts 166 III. Written Texts as a Medium for the Transmission of Knowledge 170 6. Taking from the Mouths of Shaykhs (Mushāfaha) 172 I. Mushāfaha and Orality 173 II. Texts Rather than Courses 174 III. Memorization 174 IV. The Sanad and the Ijāza 176 V. Three Modes of Transmission 177 VI. Matns and Commentary 180 VII. Taking from the Mouths of Shaykhs and Companionship 184 VIII. Independent Reading and Heresy 189 IX. Ijāzas Revisited 190 SECTION III: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON ISLAMIC LEGAL DOCTRINE 192 7. The Structure of Islamic Legal Thought 194 I. Planning Theory and Instrumental Rationality 195 II. Intentions/​Rules Are Partially Instrumentally Rational and Partially Arbitrary/​Non-​rational 196 A. Buridan problems, Instrumental Rationality, Non-​rationality 196 B. Sharīʿa Rules 201 III. New Circumstances Can Prompt the Abandonment and Reformation of Intentions/​Rules 211 A. Abandoning and Reforming Intentions 211 B. Abandoning and Reforming Rules 214 IV. Language and the Principles of Islamic Legal Interpretation: Ẓāhir al-​Naṣṣ, Qiyās, Istiṣlaḥ, Istiḥsān 218 A. Ẓāhir al-​Naṣṣ 219 B. Qiyās 219 C. Istiṣlāḥ 220 D. Istiḥsān 221 V. Literalism and Islamic Legal Interpretation 222 VI. The Rationale for Taqlīd 223 VII. The Epistemic Basis of Taqlīd 224 VIII. Taqlīd, Ijmāʿ, and the Legal Schools 227 IX. What Is Ijtihād? 231 SECTION IV: MODERN REFORM 238 8. Reorganizing Time and Space 240 I. Student Freedom and the Study-​Circle 241 II. Maximizing “Efficiency” and Eliminating “Disorder” 243 III. Al-​Azhar’s Faculty of Sharīʿa 249 IV. The Dār al-​ʿUlūm 252 V. Reordering Space and Time 254 VI. Teachers as Ethical Exemplars 256 9. Transforming the Act of Reading 260 I. Premodern Muslim Attitudes towards Print 260 II. Text-​Based Study versus Topic-​Based Study 262 III. Writing Clearly 263 IV. Learning with Clear Texts 268 10. Salafism and Wasaṭism 270 I. Salafism 271 II. Wasaṭism 280 III. The Ongoing Development of Wasaṭism 282 Conclusion: Rethinking the Islamic Legal Tradition 288 Bibliography 292 Index 312 "The Anthropology of Islamic Law shows how hermeneutic theory and practice theory can be brought together to analyze cultural, legal, and religious traditions. These ideas are developed through an analysis of the Islamic legal tradition, which examines both Islamic legal doctrine and religious education. In terms of disciplinary orientation, the book combines anthropology and Islamicist history, utilizing both ethnography and in-depth analysis of Arabic religious texts. The book focuses on higher religious learning in contemporary Egypt, examining its intellectural, ethical, and pedagogical dimensions. Data is drawn from over two years of fieldwork inside al-Azhar University, Cairo University's Dār al-ʿUlūm, and the network of traditional study circles associated with the al-Azhar mosque. Together these sites constitute the most important venue for the transmission of religious learning in the contemporary Muslim world. Although the book gives special attention to contemporary Egypt, it provides a broader analysis relevant to Islamic legal doctrine and relgious education throughout history. Thus, it offers a new perspective on an entire range of Islamic legal concepts."--Jacket This book shows how hermeneutic theory and practice theory can be brought together to analyze cultural, legal, and religious traditions. These ideas are developed through an analysis of the Islamic legal tradition, which examines both Islamic legal doctrine and religious education. In terms of disciplinary orientation, the book combines anthropology and Islamicist history, utilizing both ethnography and in-depth analysis of Arabic religious texts. The book focuses on higher religious learning in contemporary Egypt, examining its intellectual, ethical, and pedagogical dimensions. Data is drawn from over two years of fieldwork inside al-Azhar University, Cairo University's Dar al-'Ulum, and the network of traditional study circles associated with the al-Azhar mosque. Together these sites constitute the most important venue for the transmission of religious learning in the contemporary Muslim world. Although the book gives special attention to contemporary Egypt, it provides a broader analysis relevant to Islamic legal doctrine and religious education throughout history Présentation sur le site de l'éditeur : "The Anthropology of Islamic Law shows how hermeneutic theory and practice theory can be brought together to analyze cultural, legal, and religious traditions. These ideas are developed through an analysis of the Islamic legal tradition, which examines both Islamic legal doctrine and religious education. The book combines anthropology and Islamicist history, using ethnography and in-depth analysis of Arabic religious texts. The book focuses on higher religious learning in contemporary Egypt, examining its intellectual, ethical, and pedagogical dimensions. Data is drawn from fieldwork inside al-Azhar University, Cairo University's Dar al-Ulum, and the network of traditional study circles associated with the al-Azhar mosque. Together these sites constitute the most important venue for the transmission of religious learning in the contemporary Muslim world. The book gives special attention to contemporary Egypt, and also provides a broader analysis relevant to Islamic legal doctrine and religious education throughout history." The Anthropology of Islamic Law shows how hermeneutic theory and practice theory can be brought together to analyze cultural, legal, and religious traditions. These ideas are developed through an analysis of the Islamic legal tradition, which examines both Islamic legal doctrine and religious education. The book combines anthropology and Islamicist history, using ethnography and in-depth analysis of Arabic religious texts. The book focuses on higher religious learning in contemporary Egypt, examining its intellectual, ethical, and pedagogical dimensions. Data is drawn from fieldwork inside al-Azhar University, Cairo University's Dar al-Ulum, and the network of traditional study circles associated with the al-Azhar mosque. Together these sites constitute the most important venue for the transmission of religious learning in the contemporary Muslim world. The book gives special attention to contemporary Egypt, and also provides a broader analysis relevant to Islamic legal doctrine and religious education throughout history. Aria Nakissa shows how hermeneutic theory and practice theory can be brought together to analyze cultural, legal and religious traditions. These ideas are developed through an analysis of the Islamic legal tradition, which examines both Islamic legal doctrine and religious education. In terms of disciplinary orientation, the book combines anthropology and Islamicist history, utilizing both ethnography and in-depth analysis of Arabic religious texts