The Legal Thought of Jalāl Al-Dīn Al-Suyūṭī

Authority and Legacy
Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-0-19-880593-9
Verlag: Oxford University Press, USA

Buch, Englisch, 250 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 499 g

Reihe: Oxford Islamic Legal Studies

This book offers a new theoretical perspective on the thought of the great fifteenth-century Egyptian polymath, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505). In spite of the enormous popularity that al-Suyuti's works continue to enjoy amongst scholars and students in the Muslim world, he remains underappreciated by western academia.

This project contributes to the fields of Mamluk Studies, Islamic Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies not only an interdisciplinary analysis of al-Suyuti's legal writing within its historical context, but also a reflection on the legacy of the medieval jurist to modern debates. The study highlights the discursive strategies that the jurist uses to construct his own authority and frame his identity as a superior legal scholar during a key transitional moment in Islamic history. The approach
aims for a balance between detailed textual analysis and 'big picture' questions of how legal identity and religious authority are constructed, negotiated and maintained.

Al-Suyuti's struggle for authority as one of a select group of trained experts vested with the moral responsibility of interpreting God's law in society finds echoes in contemporary debates, particularly in his native land of Egypt. At a time when increasing numbers of people in the Arab world have raised their voices to demand democratic forms of government that nevertheless stay true to the principles of Shari'a, the issue of who has the ultimate authority to interpret the sources of law, to
set legal norms, and to represent the 'voice' of Shari'a principles in society is still in dispute.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hernandez, Rebecca

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Nicht-Westliche Philosophie Islamische & Arabische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Historiographie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam: Philosophie & Wissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islamisches Recht
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtssoziologie, Rechtspsychologie, Rechtslinguistik
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam: Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Islamisches Recht
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie

Über Autor(innen)

Rebecca Skreslet Hernandez received her Ph.D. from Georgetown University's Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and taught previously at Georgetown University and at the College of William and Mary. Her primary research interests include Islamic law and society, religious authority, and medieval and modern Egypt.