Early Islamic Legal Theory

The Risāla of Muḥammad Ibn Idrīs Al-Shāfiʾī
Erscheinungsjahr 2007
ISBN: 978-90-04-16360-7
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 30, 444 Seiten, Format (B × H): 167 mm x 243 mm, Gewicht: 885 g

Reihe: Studies in Islamic Law and Society

The Risala of al-Shafi'i (d. 204/820), the earliest preserved work of Islamic legal theory, has been understood in previous scholarship as either the elaboration of a hierarchy of sources of law (Qur'an, Sunna, consensus, and analogical reasoning) or an extended defense of the Sunna. Through a careful rereading of this celebrated text, this book offers a comprehensive reinterpretation of the Risala, in which Shafi'i formulated an all-encompassing hermeneutic that portrays the law as a tightly interlocking structure organized around defined interactions of the Qur'an and the Sunna. Topics covered include Shafi'i’s creative account of the law’s architectonics, hermeneutical techniques, legal epistemology, relationship to kalam, and the role of consensus (ijma').

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lowry, Joseph

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islamisches Recht
• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Islamisches Recht

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction

Chapter 1: Shafi'i’s Concept of the Bayan
I. Introduction II. The Idea at the Heart of the Risala: Shafi'i’s Concept of the Bayan
III. The Bayan and the Structure of the Risala
IV. Previous Scholarly Accounts of Shafi'i’s Notion of the Bayan
V. The Reception of Shafi'i’s Concept of the Bayan
VI. Conclusion
Chapter 2: Hermeneutical Techniques
I. Introduction
II. General Hermeneutical Terms and Principles
III. Hermeneutical Rubrics Describing Source Interaction
IV. Hermeneutical Rubrics Specific to the Hadith
V. Ijtihad and Qiyas
VI. Conclusion
Chapter 3: Prophetic Sunna and Hadith in the Risala
I. Introduction
II. The Authority of the Sunna
III. The Khabar al-Wahid and its Wider Implications
IV. Conclusion
Chapter 4: The Qur'an in Shafi'i’s Risala
I. Introduction
II. Shafi'i’s Discussion of the Qur'an
III. Shafi'i’s Use of the Qur'an
IV. Conclusion
Chapter 5: Shafi'i’s Epistemology
I. Introduction
II. Shafi'i’s Concept of Knowledge ('Ilm)
III. Objectively Correct Answers
IV. Shafi'i’s Epistemological Dualism
V. Conclusion
Chapter 6: Internal Evidence for the Risala’s Polemical Context
I. Introduction
II. Dramatis Personae
III. The Risala as Theological Polemic
IV. Conclusion
Chapter 7: Ijma' in the Risala
I. Introduction
II. Previous Conceptions of Ijma'
III. The Authority of Ijma' and its Relationship to the Sunna
IV. Ijma' as a Tool of Legal Reasoning
V. Example Problems in which Shafi'i Appeals to ijma'
VI. Schacht and Calder on Ijma' in Shafi'i’s Legal Thought
VII. Conclusion
Conclusion: The Risala and its Relationship to Mature Usul al-Fiqh

Appendix
Bibliography
Indices

Über Autor(innen)

Joseph E. Lowry, Ph.D. (1999) in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Pennsylvania, is Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. He has published on Islamic law and Arabic literature.