Islamic Law and Society

Throughout history, Islamic law--through its jurists, judges, and scholars--has addressed various social, economic, and cultural issues, and has often drawn upon custom and local practice in doing so. This book examines the dynamism of Islamic law, or sharia, across time and place, particularly in mediating relations between state and society. It also considers the ways in which Muslim intellectuals and scholars have debated the place of Islamic law in society, and illustrates the rich and diverse heritage of the Islamic legal tradition in the Muslim world and beyond. The authors bring together interdisciplinary research on Islamic law in the context of the United States, Europe, Southeast and Central Asia, and the Arab world from as early as the twelfth century up to the twenty-first century, exploring how it has molded and, in certain cases, continues to mold, social, economic, and cultural aspects of daily life.