Custom in Islamic Law and Legal Theory

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Ayman Shabana

      Pages 1-14

3. Custom and the Major Debates in the Field of Islamic Studies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

      PDF

   2. Custom and Islamic Law in Modern Scholarship

      • Ayman Shabana

      Pages 17-42

4. Beginning and Early History

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 43-43

      PDF

   2. Normative Foundations of the Concept of Custom in the Islamic Legal Tradition

      • Ayman Shabana

      Pages 45-58

   3. From ˓Ādah to ˓Urf Theological Foundations of the Concept of Custom as reflected in the Debate over Causality

      • Ayman Shabana

      Pages 59-70

   4. Custom between the Theoretical School and the Applied School

      • Ayman Shabana

      Pages 71-91

5. Development and Expansion

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 93-93

      PDF

   2. The Expansion of Legal Theory

      • Ayman Shabana

      Pages 95-110

   3. Custom and Legal Maxims

      • al-Qawā˓id al-Fiqhiyyah

      Pages 111-124

   4. Custom and the Objectives of Sharī˓ah

      • Maqāṣid al-Sharī˓ah

      Pages 125-146

   5. Custom, Legal Application, and the Construction of Reality

      • Ayman Shabana

      Pages 147-166

   6. Conclusion

      • Ayman Shabana

      Pages 167-171

6. Back Matter

   Pages 173-246

   PDF

This book explores the relationship between custom and Islamic law and seeks to uncover the role of custom in the construction of legal rulings. On a deeper level, however, it deals with the perennial problem of change and continuity in the Islamic legal tradition (or any tradition for that matter).

• causality
• concept
• construction
• continuity
• expansion
• foundation
• Inuit
• Islam
• Islamic law
• law
• tradition

"Shabana's work is an immensely important contribution to the study of the Islamic legal tradition. It provides a sound basis for more explorative examinations of custom as a source of Shar??ah, particularly its potential to contribute to the progressive reform of Shar??ah." - Waheeda Amien, University of Cape Town

"This book will be very useful to students and specialists in Islamic law who need to understand the historical development of the custom, its relationships with other significant legal theological concepts and institutions, and its status in different genres such as the qawa'id and maqasid. This focus makes technical discussion in technical terms inevitable. However, the book's general and comprehensive outlook should also interest non-specialists. In addition, it should pave the way for new and more specific studies on 'urf. Finally, the role of the 'urf and 'ada in the evolution of Islamic law in the modern period, is also highly important, and we need more studies in this field by serious and competent scholars like Shabana." - Ismail Cebeci, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, Journal of Islamic Studies

Ayman Shabana is Visiting Assistant Professor at Georgetown University s School of Foreign Service, Qatar

Policies and ethics