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Ten years after his untimely death, Norman Calder is still considered a luminary in the field of Islamic law. At the time he was one among a handful of scholars from the West who were beginning to engage with the subject. In the intervening years, much has changed, and Islamic law is now understood as fundamental to any engagement with the study of Islam, its history, and its society, and Dr. Calder's work is integral to that engagement. In this book, Colin Imber has put together and edited four essays by Norman Calder that have never been previously published. Typically incisive, they categorize and analyze the different genres of Islamic juristic literature that was produced between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, showing what function they served both in the preservation of Muslim legal and religious traditions and in the day-to-day lives of their communities. The essays also examine the status and role of the jurists themselves and are to be particularly welcomed for giving clear answers to the controversial questions of how far Islamic law and juristic thinking changed over the centuries, and how far it was able to adapt to new circumstances. In his introduction to the volume, Robert Gleave assesses the place and importance of Norman Calder's work in the field of Islamic legal studies. This is a groundbreaking book from one of the most important scholars of his generation.
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Islamic Jurisprudence in the Classical Era
Ten years after his untimely death, Norman Calder is still considered a luminary in the field of Islamic law. At the time he was one among a handful of scholars from the West who were beginning to engage with the subject. In the intervening years, much has changed, and Islamic law is now understood as fundamental to any engagement with the study of Islam, its history, and its society, and Dr Calder’s work is integral to that engagement. In this book, Colin Imber has put together and edited four essays by Norman Calder that have never been published. Typically incisive, they categorise and analyse the different genres of Islamic juristic literature that were produced between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, showing what function they served both in preserving Muslim legal and religious traditions and in the day-to-day life of their communities. The essays also examine the status and role of the jurists themselves, and are particularly welcome for giving clear answers to the controversial questions of to what extent Islamic law and juristic thinking changed over the centuries, and was able to adapt to new circumstances. In his introduction to the volume, Robert Gleave assesses the place and importance of Norman Calder’s work in the field of Islamic legal studies. This is a ground-breaking book from one of the most important scholars of his generation. Norman Calder, who died in , was Senior Lecturer in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Manchester. His publications include Studies in Early Muslim Jurisprudence () and Interpretation and Jurisprudence in Medieval Islam (J. Mojaddedi and A. Rippin, eds.) (). Colin Imber was formerly Reader in Turkish at the University of Manchester. Robert Gleave is Professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Exeter, UK. He works mainly in the area of Islamic legal theory. His books include Inevitable Doubt: Two Theories of Shīʿī Jurisprudence () and Scripturalist Islam: The History and Doctrines of the Akhbārī Shīʿī School (). He is currently working on an examination of interpretation and linguistic meaning in Islamic jurisprudence.
Islamic Jurisprudence in the Classical Era NORMAN CALDER
Edited by COLIN IMBER
Introduction and Afterword by ROBERT GLEAVE University of Exeter
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