"* Preface *:
What makes laws endure or change? When a law changes, how does a tradition of le... more "* Preface *:
What makes laws endure or change? When a law changes, how does a tradition of legal interpretation justify the innovation in light of its legal precedents and foundational texts? What is the function of the reasons given for laws? What relationship does law bear to social values? These interrelated questions fall under the heading of philosophy of law, yet it is mainly through the study of history that they can be probed. Answering these questions in different cultural and historical settings is a prerequisite for developing a general theory of law, for it makes distinguishing universal elements from culturally-specific parameters possible. In particular, a culturally specific feature of Islamic law is its religious character. One may ask, therefore, whether the fact that Muslim legal traditions invoke sacred authority makes an essential difference to the way the questions posed above are answered. In other words, does sacred law operate in a fundamentally different way from secular law? This book explores these questions through a study of the largest legal tradition in Islam, namely the Hanafi school of law.
The book begins by creating a general model of juristic decision making that describes any legal tradition, Islamic or not, in terms of a number of parameters. It does not presuppose that all legal traditions are identical, for the parameters in the model may vary from one tradition to another. [continued]"""""""
"""The āthār are our main source for the study of the first 150 years of Islam. They constitute a... more """The āthār are our main source for the study of the first 150 years of Islam. They constitute a voluminous literature with layers of early and late traditions from different cities, tribes, and sects. Determining the date and provenance of a report is a complex task that calls for the development of a variety of methods. This study presents a technique that should be added to the scholars' toolbox. It uses correlations between the contents of traditions and the cities represented in their isnāds to put a bound on the date of a tradition.
The essay presents three case-studies about women's participation in group prayers."""
CLICK ON "more" ABOVE FOR THE ABSTRACT, and on the link below for the article itself in the journal's website.
The lower text of Ṣan‘ā’ 1 is at present the most important document for the history of the Qur’ā... more The lower text of Ṣan‘ā’ 1 is at present the most important document for the history of the Qur’ān. As the only known extant copy from a textual tradition beside the standard ‘Uthmānic one, it has the greatest potential of any known manuscript to shed light on the early history of the scripture. Comparing it with parallel textual traditions provides a unique window onto the initial state of the text from which the different traditions emerged. The comparison settles a perennial controversy about the date at which existing passages were joined together to form the sūras (chapters). Some ancient reports and modern scholars assign this event to the reign of the third caliph and link it with his standardizing the text of the Qur’ān around AD 650. However, the analysis shows that the sūras were formed earlier. Furthermore, the manuscript sheds light on the manner in which the text was transmitted. The inception of at least some Qur’ānic textual traditions must have involved semi-oral transmission, most likely via hearers who wrote down a text that was recited by the Prophet. This essay argues for these conclusions by considering the broad features of the text. The essay also presents the edited text of the folios in the Dār al-Makhṭūṭāt, Ṣan‘ā’, Yemen, in addition to four folios that were auctioned abroad. A systematic analysis of all the variants is postponed to future publications.
1 We would like to thank the owner of the Stanford '07 folio for making it available and for... more 1 We would like to thank the owner of the Stanford '07 folio for making it available and for submitting a sample for radiocarbon dating, Bryce Cronkite-Ratcliff for help with image tracing, Ceci Evangelista of the Office of Development at Stanford University for logistical and other help, and the ...
... al-āthār to al-Shaybānī's Kūfan master, Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767-8... more ... al-āthār to al-Shaybānī's Kūfan master, Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767-8) and to the late first/seventh century Kūfan jurist, Ibrāhīm b. Yazīd al-Nakhaʿī (d. 96/714-5), as well the material ascribed in the Muwaṭṭaʾ to Mālik b. Anas (d. 179/795-6). ...
"* Preface *:
What makes laws endure or change? When a law changes, how does a tradition of le... more "* Preface *:
What makes laws endure or change? When a law changes, how does a tradition of legal interpretation justify the innovation in light of its legal precedents and foundational texts? What is the function of the reasons given for laws? What relationship does law bear to social values? These interrelated questions fall under the heading of philosophy of law, yet it is mainly through the study of history that they can be probed. Answering these questions in different cultural and historical settings is a prerequisite for developing a general theory of law, for it makes distinguishing universal elements from culturally-specific parameters possible. In particular, a culturally specific feature of Islamic law is its religious character. One may ask, therefore, whether the fact that Muslim legal traditions invoke sacred authority makes an essential difference to the way the questions posed above are answered. In other words, does sacred law operate in a fundamentally different way from secular law? This book explores these questions through a study of the largest legal tradition in Islam, namely the Hanafi school of law.
The book begins by creating a general model of juristic decision making that describes any legal tradition, Islamic or not, in terms of a number of parameters. It does not presuppose that all legal traditions are identical, for the parameters in the model may vary from one tradition to another. [continued]"""""""
"""The āthār are our main source for the study of the first 150 years of Islam. They constitute a... more """The āthār are our main source for the study of the first 150 years of Islam. They constitute a voluminous literature with layers of early and late traditions from different cities, tribes, and sects. Determining the date and provenance of a report is a complex task that calls for the development of a variety of methods. This study presents a technique that should be added to the scholars' toolbox. It uses correlations between the contents of traditions and the cities represented in their isnāds to put a bound on the date of a tradition.
The essay presents three case-studies about women's participation in group prayers."""
CLICK ON "more" ABOVE FOR THE ABSTRACT, and on the link below for the article itself in the journal's website.
The lower text of Ṣan‘ā’ 1 is at present the most important document for the history of the Qur’ā... more The lower text of Ṣan‘ā’ 1 is at present the most important document for the history of the Qur’ān. As the only known extant copy from a textual tradition beside the standard ‘Uthmānic one, it has the greatest potential of any known manuscript to shed light on the early history of the scripture. Comparing it with parallel textual traditions provides a unique window onto the initial state of the text from which the different traditions emerged. The comparison settles a perennial controversy about the date at which existing passages were joined together to form the sūras (chapters). Some ancient reports and modern scholars assign this event to the reign of the third caliph and link it with his standardizing the text of the Qur’ān around AD 650. However, the analysis shows that the sūras were formed earlier. Furthermore, the manuscript sheds light on the manner in which the text was transmitted. The inception of at least some Qur’ānic textual traditions must have involved semi-oral transmission, most likely via hearers who wrote down a text that was recited by the Prophet. This essay argues for these conclusions by considering the broad features of the text. The essay also presents the edited text of the folios in the Dār al-Makhṭūṭāt, Ṣan‘ā’, Yemen, in addition to four folios that were auctioned abroad. A systematic analysis of all the variants is postponed to future publications.
1 We would like to thank the owner of the Stanford '07 folio for making it available and for... more 1 We would like to thank the owner of the Stanford '07 folio for making it available and for submitting a sample for radiocarbon dating, Bryce Cronkite-Ratcliff for help with image tracing, Ceci Evangelista of the Office of Development at Stanford University for logistical and other help, and the ...
... al-āthār to al-Shaybānī's Kūfan master, Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767-8... more ... al-āthār to al-Shaybānī's Kūfan master, Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767-8) and to the late first/seventh century Kūfan jurist, Ibrāhīm b. Yazīd al-Nakhaʿī (d. 96/714-5), as well the material ascribed in the Muwaṭṭaʾ to Mālik b. Anas (d. 179/795-6). ...
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What makes laws endure or change? When a law changes, how does a tradition of legal interpretation justify the innovation in light of its legal precedents and foundational texts? What is the function of the reasons given for laws? What relationship does law bear to social values? These interrelated questions fall under the heading of philosophy of law, yet it is mainly through the study of history that they can be probed. Answering these questions in different cultural and historical settings is a prerequisite for developing a general theory of law, for it makes distinguishing universal elements from culturally-specific parameters possible. In particular, a culturally specific feature of Islamic law is its religious character. One may ask, therefore, whether the fact that Muslim legal traditions invoke sacred authority makes an essential difference to the way the questions posed above are answered. In other words, does sacred law operate in a fundamentally different way from secular law? This book explores these questions through a study of the largest legal tradition in Islam, namely the Hanafi school of law.
The book begins by creating a general model of juristic decision making that describes any legal tradition, Islamic or not, in terms of a number of parameters. It does not presuppose that all legal traditions are identical, for the parameters in the model may vary from one tradition to another. [continued]"""""""
The essay presents three case-studies about women's participation in group prayers."""
What makes laws endure or change? When a law changes, how does a tradition of legal interpretation justify the innovation in light of its legal precedents and foundational texts? What is the function of the reasons given for laws? What relationship does law bear to social values? These interrelated questions fall under the heading of philosophy of law, yet it is mainly through the study of history that they can be probed. Answering these questions in different cultural and historical settings is a prerequisite for developing a general theory of law, for it makes distinguishing universal elements from culturally-specific parameters possible. In particular, a culturally specific feature of Islamic law is its religious character. One may ask, therefore, whether the fact that Muslim legal traditions invoke sacred authority makes an essential difference to the way the questions posed above are answered. In other words, does sacred law operate in a fundamentally different way from secular law? This book explores these questions through a study of the largest legal tradition in Islam, namely the Hanafi school of law.
The book begins by creating a general model of juristic decision making that describes any legal tradition, Islamic or not, in terms of a number of parameters. It does not presuppose that all legal traditions are identical, for the parameters in the model may vary from one tradition to another. [continued]"""""""
The essay presents three case-studies about women's participation in group prayers."""