Page 211 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

1030 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Further Reading instructs about all that is personal, religious, economic,
Ahmed, A. S. (1999). Islam today: A short introduction to the Muslim social, and political. Generally, only four sources for the
world. London: I. B.Tauris.
Ali,A. (Trans.). (1988). Al-Qur’an:A contemporary translation by Ahmed prescriptions and prohibitions of the sharia are recog-
Ali. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. nized: the Quran, the Sunna, consensus, and analogy.
Al-Tabari, A. J. M. b. J. (1985–1999). The history of al-Tabari (E. Yar- However, this is an idealization of how the law came to
Shater, Ed.). Albany: State University of New York Press.
Barlas, A. (2002). “Believing women” in Islam: Unreading patriarchal be formed, as it actually took several centuries, the
interpretations of the Qur’an. Austin: University of Texas Press. growth of the schools (madrasahs), and codification of
Eaton, R. M. (1990). Islamic history as global history. Washington, DC: the traditions (hadith) of Muhammad and his compan-
American Historical Association.
Esack, F. (2002). The Qur’an: A short introduction. Oxford, UK: ions for the sharia to reach full development.
Oneworld. The first source of law for the sharia is the Quran. For
Esposito, J. L. (1998). Islam, the straight path (3rd ed.). New York:
Oxford University Press. Muslims all aspects of life fall under the purview of the
Esposito, J. L. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford history of Islam. New York: commands of God, for he is the almighty and supreme
Oxford University Press.
Hodgson, M. G. S. (1977). The venture of Islam: Conscience and history lawgiver. His will is recorded in the Quran, and so fol-
in a world civilization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. lowing it is a religious duty of a Muslim. The Quran is
Knysh, A. (2000). Islamic mysticism: A short history. Leiden, Nether- thus both scripture and legal document.
lands: Brill.
Kurzman, C. (Ed.). (2002). Modernist Islam, 1840–1940:A sourcebook. The Quran repeatedly orders Muslims to obey
New York: Oxford University Press. Muhammad and states that he is their example. As the
Lapidus, I. (2002). A history of Islamic societies (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Prophet, his functions included explaining and apply-
UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lewis, B. (2001). The emergence of modern Turkey (3rd ed.). New York: ing the revelations, and acting as the judge for his peo-
Oxford University Press. ple. And, since Muhammad was divinely guided, his
McCarthy, J. (1997). The Ottoman Turks: An introductory history. Lon-
don: Longman. actions and sayings are God’s will.Thus, the conduct of
Nasr, S. H. (2004). The heart of Islam. San Francisco: Harper San Muhammad, known as the Sunna and transmitted in
Francisco.
Peters, F. E. (1994). A reader on classical Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton the form of hadiths (traditions), is also legally binding.
University Press. In the Sunna, many of the legal subjects of the Quran
Rahman, F. (1984). Islam and modernity. Chicago: University of Chicago are elaborated and many others are addressed. Thus,
Press.
Ramadan,T. (2003). Western Muslims and the future of Islam. New York: while the Quran is the supreme source of the sharia,
Oxford University Press. many of its laws are derived from and dependent upon
Schulze, R. (2002). A modern history of the Islamic world. New York: the interpretations of the Sunna.There is a considerable
New York University Press.
Sonn, T. (2004). A brief history of Islam. Oxford, UK: Blackwell range of opinion about the Sunna, even today. For
Publishing. many Muslims the traditions serve only as a general
Voll, J. O. (2000). Islam as a special world system. Journal of World His-
tory, 5, 213–226. guide; but for just as many, they serve as a source of law
Watt, W. M. (1974). Muhammad: Prophet and statesman. London: second only to the Quran.
Oxford University Press.
There is a hadith that states Muhammad said,“My com-
munity will never agree in error.” If hadiths are indeed
legally binding, then this hadith implies that consensus
is an acceptable source of law as well.Thus, whatever is
Islamic Law accepted by the entire community as true or prescribed

must be treated as true or prescribed.
he sharia is normally translated as Islamic law, but The fourth source of law is reason by analogy. For
Tnot law in a narrow sense. It might better be trans- example, if the Quran prohibits the use of wine, then nar-
lated as “a way of life,” as is suggested by its literal trans- cotics are also, by analogy, prohibited. The principle is
lation, “a way” or “a path.” In other words, the sharia that the impairment to one’s judgment caused by wine is