Explores the decision by the government of Egypt in the 1970s to constitutionalize Islamic Sharī a, and discusses its impact on Egypt's constitutional jurisprudence.
Explores the decision by the government of Egypt in the 1970s to constitutionalize Islamic Sharī a, and discusses its impact on Egypt's constitutional jurisprudence.
A dynamic account of the practice of Islamic law, this book focuses on the actions of a particular legal official, the muhtasib, whose vast jurisdiction included all public behavior. In the cities of Cairo and neighboring Fustat during the Mamluk period (1250-1517), the men who held the position of muhtasib acted as regulators of markets and public spaces generally. They traversed their jurisdictions carrying out the duty to command right and forbid wrong, and were as much a part of the legal landscape as the better-known figures of judge and mufti. Taking directions from the rulers, the sultan foremost among them, they were also guided by legal doctrine as formulated by the jurists, combining these two sources of law in one face of authority. The daily workings of the law are illuminated by the reports of the muhtasib in the vivid Mamluk-era chronicles, which often also captured the responses of the individuals who encountered the official. The book is organized around actions taken by the muhtasib in the areas of Muslim devotional and pious practices; crimes and offenses; the management of Christians and Jews; market regulation and consumer protection; the specific markets for essential bread; currency and taxes; and public order. The case studies presented show that while legal doctrine was clearly relevant to the muhtasib's actions, the policy demands of the sultan were also quite significant, and rules from both sources of authority intersected with social, political, economic, and personal factors to create full and vibrant scenarios that reveal the practice of Islamic law.
Dispensing Justice in Islam, 1–44; Hallaq, The Origins and Evolution of Islamic
Law, 57–101. For an introduction to the position of mufti, see Masud, Messick,
and Powers, “Muftis, Fatwas, and Islamic Legal Interpretation,” in idem (eds.),
Islamic ...
Richard A. Debs analyzes the classical Islamic law of property based on the Shari'ah, traces its historic development in Egypt, and describes its integration as a source of law within the modern format of a civil code. He focuses specifically on Egypt, a country in the Islamic world that drew upon its society's own vigorous legal system as it formed its modern laws. He also touches on issues that are common to all such societies that have adopted, either by choice or by necessity, Western legal systems. Egypt's unique synthesis of Western and traditional elements is the outcome of an effort to respond to national goals and requirements. Its traditional law, the Shari'ah, is the fundamental law of all Islamic societies, and Debs's analysis of Egypt's experience demonstrates how Islamic jurisprudence can be sophisticated, coherent, rational, and effective, developed over centuries to serve the needs of societies that flourished under the rule of law.
Coulson, N.J. “Doctrine and Practice in Islamic Law.” BSOAS 18 (1956): 211–26.
Dennett, Daniel C. Conversion and the Poll Tax in Early Islam. Cambridge, Mass.
, 1950. Description de l'Egypte: Etat moderne. 4 vols. Paris, 1809–1812.
