Focusing on the Maghrib in the period between 1300 and 1500, in this 2002 book David Powers analyses the application of Islamic law through the role of the mufti. To unravel the sophistication of the law, he considers six cases which took place in the Marinid period on subjects as diverse as paternity, fornication, water rights, family endowments, the slander of the Prophet and disinheritance. The source for these disputes are fatwas issued by the muftis, which the author uses to situate each case in its historical context and to interpret the principles of Islamic law. In so doing he demonstrates that, contrary to popular stereotypes, muftis were in fact dedicated to reasoned argument, and sensitive to the manner in which law, society and culture interacted. The book represents a groundbreaking approach to a complex field. It will be read by students of Islamic law and those interested in traditional Muslim societies.
Author(s): David S. Powers
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 276
City: Cambridge
Cover
Copyright
Contents
Figures and Tables
Preface
Introduction
1. Kadijustiz or Qadi-justice?
A paternity dispute from fourteenth-century Morocco
2. From Almohadism to Malikism: The case of al-Haskuri, the Mocking Jurist, c. 712–16/1312–16
3. A riparian dispute in the Middle Atlas mountains, ca. 683–824/1285–1421
4. Conflicting conceptions of property in Fez, 741–826/1340–1423
5. Preserving the Prophet's honor Sharifism, Sufism and Malikism in Tlemcen, 843/1439
6. On Judicial Style: Two Fatwas on Tawllj {ca. 880/1475)
Conclusion: the Mufti
Bibliography
Index
