... (51) Manaqib Abi Hanifa mawda'a kulluha wada&amp... more ... (51) Manaqib Abi Hanifa mawda'a kulluha wada'aha Ahmad b. al-Mughallis al-Himmdni, qara'tuhu ghayr marra (Ibn Hajar, Lisan al ... That Ahmad's wrote a work on the virtues of Abu Hanifa is also mentioned by Tamimi in al-Tabaqat al-saniyya, 1:360, and by Hajji Khalifa in his ...
This essay, based mainly on two early Iṣfahānī biographical dictionaries, describes the introduct... more This essay, based mainly on two early Iṣfahānī biographical dictionaries, describes the introduction of the ḥanafī school to Iṣfahān. I argue that although schools of ḥadīth had a long history in Iṣfahān, the ḥanafī law school was also represented there from an early date. The ḥanafī legal method was practiced in the town around the middle of the second/eighth century, and ḥadīth on the authority of Abū ḥanīfa, transmitted to Iṣfahānī scholars through Abū ḥanīfa's pupil Zufar b. al-Hudhayl, started to circulate there around the same time. By the beginning of the third/ninth century a significant ḥanafī community had developed in Iṣfahān, and although schools of ḥadīth continued to be influential there, the Iṣfahānī ḥanafī community survived into the fourth/tenth century and was strengthened by the Saljūqs in the fifth/eleventh century and thereafter.
Studies in History, Law, and Thought in Honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook
This chapter describes that the 'aqila, or blood-money group, is a group of adult men who are... more This chapter describes that the 'aqila, or blood-money group, is a group of adult men who are collectively liable for the payment of diya on behalf of any one of them. This legal institution found its way from pre-Islamic Arab customary law into Muslim law, although the principle that underlies it, namely, joint liability, is at odds with the Muslim notion of individual responsibility that is based on the Quran. What follows is a discussion of Umayyad practice (I), of the Hanafi opinion (II and III), and of the relations between them (IV). The last section (V) deals with a significant disagreement about this opinion within the Hanafi school. Al-Shaybani's example of Khurasan is part of a discussion intended to illustrate one aspect of the dlwan innovation: the units of the diwan cut across kinship boundaries, and the obligation to pay diya on behalf of the men of one's diwan. Keywords: aqila; Al-Shaybani's; dlwan; Hanafi; Muslim law; Umayyad
Journal of W omen of the Middle East and the Islamic W orld, 2021
Against the view that only men are liable for blood-money payment due for homicide, which goes ba... more Against the view that only men are liable for blood-money payment due for homicide, which goes back to pre-Islamic custom and was adopted by the Sharīʿa, by the fifth/ eleventh century a new opinion appeared in Ḥanafī doctrine. According to this opinion, women who perpetrated a homicide were required to pay a share of the blood money due. Examining the context of this opinion in Ḥanafī literature, I suggest that it reflects the jurists' tendency to put more weight on the Islamic principle of individual responsibility, regardless of gender. I propose that this opinion developed among Persian Ḥanafīs in eastern Iran, and follow the path through which it was incorporated into Ḥanafī standard law. Finally, I estimate the extent to which this opinion did influence Ḥanafī doctrine.
The Sharī‘a (according to the Ḥanafī tradition) determines that unlike other hired employees who ... more The Sharī‘a (according to the Ḥanafī tradition) determines that unlike other hired employees who are liable for damage resulting from their handling the object of deposited with them, the medical practitioner is not liable for such demage. His exemption from liability is qualified, however, by two stipulations: he must not act without permission, and his treatment of the patient must follow the accepted professional procedure. This article describes the accumulative process by which the two stipulations developed. It then examines the application of these stipulations in practice, by analyzing two medieval fatwās issued within Persian Muslim communities in Balkh and Kirmān. The practice reflected in these fatwās is highly compatible with Sharʻī law.
The Kitāb al-nawāzil, compiled by the Ḥanafī Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī, is considered the earlie... more The Kitāb al-nawāzil, compiled by the Ḥanafī Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī, is considered the earliest extant fatwā collection. It preserves legal decisions of Ḥanafī jurists primarily from Balkh, in Khurāsān, up to the late fourth/tenth century. Many of these legal decisions respond to the contingencies of the local community by reconciling Ḥanafī law with current practice, and hence reflect the social environment from which they arose. By examining the structure and contents of Kitāb al-nawāzil, which has so far been studied only in a preliminary fashion, this paper demonstrates the immense value of this collection for the development of Ḥanafī law, for our understanding of this development, and for learning about everyday life in early Islamic Balkh. This demonstration reveals the importance of the Nawāzil, first, as a reservoir of raw material from which legal opinions were incorporated into Ḥanafī standard law; second, in providing a picture of the interrelationships between Ḥanafī law in theory and practice, revealing the role of custom in shaping the law; and third, as a firsthand historical documentation of a specific Persian Muslim community, by its own members.
Islamic law plays a crucial role in creating lines of demarcation between Islam and other religio... more Islamic law plays a crucial role in creating lines of demarcation between Islam and other religions. The laws that define contact between Muslims and non-Muslims are among the most important factors fashioning the nature of Islam. They determine whether it will be a closed religion, prescribing restrictive measures and limitations that constitute a barrier between it and other religions, or an open religion that, by virtue of its recognition of the value of other monotheistic religions , allows its adherents to maintain far-reaching ties with other monotheists. The Qur'an, by its very nature, provides a textual foundation that enabled Muslim scholars to base either approach on it. They generally opted for the latter, more open approach. The rulings discussed below, concerning the acceptability of ritual slaughter performed by ahl al-kitab and marital ties with them, attest that the general orientation of medieval Sunnî law was one of openness toward and toleration of non-Muslim monotheists.
The 'Aqila in Hanafi Law: Preliminary Notes. In: "The Islamic scholarly tradition : studies in hi... more The 'Aqila in Hanafi Law: Preliminary Notes. In: "The Islamic scholarly tradition : studies in history, law, and thought in honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook", Leiden: Brill, Boston. 2011, pp. 221-238.
Abū Ja'far al-Ṭaḥāwī (D. 321/933), in: Islamic Legal Thought: A Compendium of Muslim Jurists, eds... more Abū Ja'far al-Ṭaḥāwī (D. 321/933), in: Islamic Legal Thought: A Compendium of Muslim Jurists, eds. Arabi, Oussama, David S. Powers and Susan A. Spectorsky, Leiden and Boston, 2013, pp. 123-145.
... (51) Manaqib Abi Hanifa mawda'a kulluha wada&amp... more ... (51) Manaqib Abi Hanifa mawda'a kulluha wada'aha Ahmad b. al-Mughallis al-Himmdni, qara'tuhu ghayr marra (Ibn Hajar, Lisan al ... That Ahmad's wrote a work on the virtues of Abu Hanifa is also mentioned by Tamimi in al-Tabaqat al-saniyya, 1:360, and by Hajji Khalifa in his ...
This essay, based mainly on two early Iṣfahānī biographical dictionaries, describes the introduct... more This essay, based mainly on two early Iṣfahānī biographical dictionaries, describes the introduction of the ḥanafī school to Iṣfahān. I argue that although schools of ḥadīth had a long history in Iṣfahān, the ḥanafī law school was also represented there from an early date. The ḥanafī legal method was practiced in the town around the middle of the second/eighth century, and ḥadīth on the authority of Abū ḥanīfa, transmitted to Iṣfahānī scholars through Abū ḥanīfa's pupil Zufar b. al-Hudhayl, started to circulate there around the same time. By the beginning of the third/ninth century a significant ḥanafī community had developed in Iṣfahān, and although schools of ḥadīth continued to be influential there, the Iṣfahānī ḥanafī community survived into the fourth/tenth century and was strengthened by the Saljūqs in the fifth/eleventh century and thereafter.
Studies in History, Law, and Thought in Honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook
This chapter describes that the 'aqila, or blood-money group, is a group of adult men who are... more This chapter describes that the 'aqila, or blood-money group, is a group of adult men who are collectively liable for the payment of diya on behalf of any one of them. This legal institution found its way from pre-Islamic Arab customary law into Muslim law, although the principle that underlies it, namely, joint liability, is at odds with the Muslim notion of individual responsibility that is based on the Quran. What follows is a discussion of Umayyad practice (I), of the Hanafi opinion (II and III), and of the relations between them (IV). The last section (V) deals with a significant disagreement about this opinion within the Hanafi school. Al-Shaybani's example of Khurasan is part of a discussion intended to illustrate one aspect of the dlwan innovation: the units of the diwan cut across kinship boundaries, and the obligation to pay diya on behalf of the men of one's diwan. Keywords: aqila; Al-Shaybani's; dlwan; Hanafi; Muslim law; Umayyad
Journal of W omen of the Middle East and the Islamic W orld, 2021
Against the view that only men are liable for blood-money payment due for homicide, which goes ba... more Against the view that only men are liable for blood-money payment due for homicide, which goes back to pre-Islamic custom and was adopted by the Sharīʿa, by the fifth/ eleventh century a new opinion appeared in Ḥanafī doctrine. According to this opinion, women who perpetrated a homicide were required to pay a share of the blood money due. Examining the context of this opinion in Ḥanafī literature, I suggest that it reflects the jurists' tendency to put more weight on the Islamic principle of individual responsibility, regardless of gender. I propose that this opinion developed among Persian Ḥanafīs in eastern Iran, and follow the path through which it was incorporated into Ḥanafī standard law. Finally, I estimate the extent to which this opinion did influence Ḥanafī doctrine.
The Sharī‘a (according to the Ḥanafī tradition) determines that unlike other hired employees who ... more The Sharī‘a (according to the Ḥanafī tradition) determines that unlike other hired employees who are liable for damage resulting from their handling the object of deposited with them, the medical practitioner is not liable for such demage. His exemption from liability is qualified, however, by two stipulations: he must not act without permission, and his treatment of the patient must follow the accepted professional procedure. This article describes the accumulative process by which the two stipulations developed. It then examines the application of these stipulations in practice, by analyzing two medieval fatwās issued within Persian Muslim communities in Balkh and Kirmān. The practice reflected in these fatwās is highly compatible with Sharʻī law.
The Kitāb al-nawāzil, compiled by the Ḥanafī Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī, is considered the earlie... more The Kitāb al-nawāzil, compiled by the Ḥanafī Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī, is considered the earliest extant fatwā collection. It preserves legal decisions of Ḥanafī jurists primarily from Balkh, in Khurāsān, up to the late fourth/tenth century. Many of these legal decisions respond to the contingencies of the local community by reconciling Ḥanafī law with current practice, and hence reflect the social environment from which they arose. By examining the structure and contents of Kitāb al-nawāzil, which has so far been studied only in a preliminary fashion, this paper demonstrates the immense value of this collection for the development of Ḥanafī law, for our understanding of this development, and for learning about everyday life in early Islamic Balkh. This demonstration reveals the importance of the Nawāzil, first, as a reservoir of raw material from which legal opinions were incorporated into Ḥanafī standard law; second, in providing a picture of the interrelationships between Ḥanafī law in theory and practice, revealing the role of custom in shaping the law; and third, as a firsthand historical documentation of a specific Persian Muslim community, by its own members.
Islamic law plays a crucial role in creating lines of demarcation between Islam and other religio... more Islamic law plays a crucial role in creating lines of demarcation between Islam and other religions. The laws that define contact between Muslims and non-Muslims are among the most important factors fashioning the nature of Islam. They determine whether it will be a closed religion, prescribing restrictive measures and limitations that constitute a barrier between it and other religions, or an open religion that, by virtue of its recognition of the value of other monotheistic religions , allows its adherents to maintain far-reaching ties with other monotheists. The Qur'an, by its very nature, provides a textual foundation that enabled Muslim scholars to base either approach on it. They generally opted for the latter, more open approach. The rulings discussed below, concerning the acceptability of ritual slaughter performed by ahl al-kitab and marital ties with them, attest that the general orientation of medieval Sunnî law was one of openness toward and toleration of non-Muslim monotheists.
The 'Aqila in Hanafi Law: Preliminary Notes. In: "The Islamic scholarly tradition : studies in hi... more The 'Aqila in Hanafi Law: Preliminary Notes. In: "The Islamic scholarly tradition : studies in history, law, and thought in honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook", Leiden: Brill, Boston. 2011, pp. 221-238.
Abū Ja'far al-Ṭaḥāwī (D. 321/933), in: Islamic Legal Thought: A Compendium of Muslim Jurists, eds... more Abū Ja'far al-Ṭaḥāwī (D. 321/933), in: Islamic Legal Thought: A Compendium of Muslim Jurists, eds. Arabi, Oussama, David S. Powers and Susan A. Spectorsky, Leiden and Boston, 2013, pp. 123-145.
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from their handling the object of deposited with them, the medical practitioner is not liable for such demage. His exemption
from liability is qualified, however, by two stipulations: he must not act without permission, and his treatment of the patient
must follow the accepted professional procedure. This article describes the accumulative process by which the two stipulations
developed. It then examines the application of these stipulations in practice, by analyzing two medieval fatwās issued within
Persian Muslim communities in Balkh and Kirmān. The practice reflected in these fatwās is highly compatible with Sharʻī
law.
from their handling the object of deposited with them, the medical practitioner is not liable for such demage. His exemption
from liability is qualified, however, by two stipulations: he must not act without permission, and his treatment of the patient
must follow the accepted professional procedure. This article describes the accumulative process by which the two stipulations
developed. It then examines the application of these stipulations in practice, by analyzing two medieval fatwās issued within
Persian Muslim communities in Balkh and Kirmān. The practice reflected in these fatwās is highly compatible with Sharʻī
law.