The Justice of Islam: Comparative Perspectives on Islamic Law and Society

by Lawrence Rosen

Overview

One out of five people in the world today lives subject to Islamic law, but stereotypes of rigid doctrine or harsh punishment obscure an understanding of the values and style of reasoning that characterize everyday lslamic adjudication. By considering its larger social and cultural context, this book shows Islamic law to be a kind of common law system: justice is sought through a careful assessment of persons, more than facts, and justice resides not in equality but in a quest for equivalence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198298854
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/20/2000
Series:	Oxford Socio-Legal Studies
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Laurence Rosen is Professor and Chair of Anthropology at Princeton University.

Table of Contents

IntroductionPart One: The socio-logic of Islamic legal reasoning1. Equity and discretion in Islamic law2. Islamic case-law and the logic of consequence3. Islamic law as common law: Power, culture, and the reconfiguration of legal taxonomies4. Responsibility and compensatory justice in Arab culture and lawPart Two: In and out of court5. From courtroom to courtyard: Law and custom in popular legal culture6. On the docket: Changing conventions in a Muslim court, 1965-19957. Local justice: A day in an alternative court8. Who do you trust? Structuring confidence in Arab law and societyPart Three: Justice past and present9. Islamic concepts of justice and injustice10. Muhammad's sociological jurisprudence11. Private thoughts, public utterances: Law, privacy, and the consequences for community12. Islam and Islamic culture in the courts of the United StatesReferencesIndex