The Search for God's Law: Islamic Jurisprudence in the Writings of Sayf al-Din al-Amidi (Utah Series in Turkish and Islamic Studies)

Scholars praised the 1992 edition of The Search for God's Law as a groundbreaking intellectual treatment of Islamic jurisprudence. Bernard Weiss's revised edition brings to life Sayf al-Din al Amidi's classic exposition of the methodologies through which Muslim scholars have constructed their understandings of the divine law. Weiss's new introduction provides an overview of Amidi's jurisprudence that facilitates deeper comprehension of the challenging dialectic of the text. This edition includes an in-depth analysis of the nature of language and the ways in which it mediates the law, while shaping it at the same time. An updated index has been added. In Islam, God is the sole, ultimate lawgiver. Given the absence of a living prophet, all law worthy of the name must therefore be derived from texts that contain divine revelation or possess authority grounded in that revelation. Classical Muslim jurisprudents regarded the effort to discover divine law through these texts exceedingly demanding, since it requires one to grapple with an enormous array of difficult text-critical and hermeneutic issues. Although the Qur'an itself was considered above challenge, other texts had to be subjected to rigorous tests of authenticity, while the meaning of the texts, Qur'anic and non-Qur'anic, became a topic of intense debate. Without an ecclesiastic institution vested with authority to proclaim "correct" interpretations, the development of law through interpretation became a largely individualistic enterprise, though imbued with a keen sense of communal responsibility Using Amidi's work, Bernard Weiss explicates and discusses the various issues that define Islamic jurisprudence as an integrated system during the time of this important mainstream scholar. The Search for God's Law presents a lucid exposition of the relationship between sacred text and mundane law. It is the most comprehensive treatment of Islamic jurisprudence yet to appear in a Western language. --Book Jacket Brings to life Sayf al-Din al Amidi's classic exposition of the methodologies through which Muslim scholars have constructed their understandings of the divine law. Revised with a new introduction and updated index.