Download or read book Islamic Private Law written by Ahmed Akgunduz and published by IUR Press. This book was released on with total page 825 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is no explicit separation in Islâmic law between public and private law, but a special system has been used throughout history. Some scholars use the term Muslim personal law, which derived from the term al-aḥwâl al-shaḫṣiyyah in Fiqh books. But we prefer Islâmic private law; because Muslim personal law indicates different legal meaning – rules governing natural and legal persons. In this book, we will elaborate on Islâmic rules relating to seven branches of private law: personal law, family law, inheritance law, obligations and contracts’ law, property law, commercial law, and international private law. We will explain or summarize Islâmic rules in this book, rather than my (the author’s) personal views. Unfortunately, there is a misunderstanding in Western countries: if any Muslim scholar writes an article or book or grants an interview to a journalist to explain Islâmic rules on any issue, most Westerners, and especially people ignorant of Islâmic Law attribute these views to this scholar and holds him or her accountable. For example, a Dutch journalist came to see me and asked about the issue of beating women in the Qur’an, I explained the verse in the Qur’an and some interpretations by the Prophet Muhammed and Muslim jurists. The journalist did not understand what I explained, and many people have accused me of advising Muslims to beat their women. This is absolutely false. This is why we have to explain the following points. The first point is this: All the regulations in Islâmic law are divided into two groups with respect to to legal authority. First, rules that were based directly on the Qur’an and the Sunnah and codified in books on Fiqh (Islâmic Law) are called Sharî‘ah rules, Shar‘-i Sharîf, or Sharî‘ah law; these rules constitute 85% of the legal system. The exclusive sources of these rules are the Qur’an, the consensus of Muslim jurists, and true analogy (qiyâs). All explanations of these rules based completely on the Qur’an and the Sunnah. If any Muslim scholar writes an article on ‘beating women’ or ‘polygamy,’ he is responsible only for his/her interpretations. Could any scholar be responsible for the religious ideology that he/she explains? Are his/her explanations to be considered propaganda for that religion or ideology? Absolutly not. Western authorities, politicians and journalists should know that Muslims hold that every machine has a manual. If the manual is not followed when the machine is being used or operated, it will break. Allah sent the Qur’an as the manual for human beings. If a society does not take the Qur’an as its guide, it is destined to have the same fate as a machine that is operated without the manual. This is a basic creed for Muslims. A Muslim cannot disagree with a explicit verse of the Qur’an. Second, financial law, land law, ta‘zîr penalties, arrangements concerning military law and administrative law in particular were based on the restricted legislative authority vested by Sharî‘ah decrees and those jurisprudential decrees that were founded on secondary sources such as customs and traditions and the public good, which fell under public law, al-Siyâsah al-Shar‘iyyah (Sharî‘ah policies), Qânûn (Legal Code), and the like. Since these could not exceed the limits of Sharî‘ah principles either, they should not be viewed as a legal system outside of Islâmic Law. The second point is that another classification of the Islâmic rules should be explained. Many Muslims and non-Muslims think that all injunctions in Islâmic Law, such as polygamy and slavery, were established by the Qur’an or the Sunnah directly, and Islâmic Law has been criticized severely for this. The supposition here is false. A further point that causes confusion is the view that there was no slavery, male or female, before Islâm and that Islâm introduced it. There are, however, two kinds of injunctions in Islâmic law. 1) The first are injunctions that were laid down by Islâm as principles for the first time since they did not exist in previous legal systems. Islâm established these principles, such as zakâh, waqf(endowments) and inheritance shares. Muslim scholars state that these are completely beneficial for humankind as a whole. They also contain many instances of wisdom and purpose, even if people are not aware of them. 2) The second are injunctions that Islâm did not introduce; they already existed and Islâm modified them. That is, Islâm was not the first to set them down; rather, they were part of the law systems of other societies and were applied in a savage form. Since it would have been contrary to human nature to abolish injunctions of this kind suddenly and completely, Islâmic Law modified them so that they were no longer barbaric but civilized. Slavery and polygamy are good examples of this.[2] My third point is that I have explained theoretical rules of Islâmic Law in this book, but have not neglected the practice aspect of Islâmic private law. We have focused on the practice of the Ottoman State for Sharî‘ah especially because the Ottoman State practiced Islâmic Law completely, and we have archival documents proving this claim. The study of Shar‘iyyah Records (Shari‘iyyah Sijilleri) proves that in the Ottoman State Sharî‘ah rules were taken as the basis for personal law, family law, inheritance law, jus obligationum, law of commodities, commercial law, and all the branches of private law with respect to international private law. The analysis of the two essential sources of information regarding Ottoman law, viz. legal codices and Shar‘iyyah Records, leads to the following irrefutable conclusion: the Ottoman legislative authorities only and solely codified administrative law, with the exception of various subjects of constitutional law, property law, laws regarding state land, military law, financial law, ta‘zîr(punishment by way of reproof), crimes in criminal law and their penalties and decrees regarding some exceptional issues of private law. In issuing decrees on these it codified Sharî‘ah principles – if any – since matters transferred to the rulers’ arrangements would be made in consideration of such secondary sources as the public good, customs, and traditions. Because it could never be alleged that a state’s legal system consisted solely in the above-mentioned subjects, it could also not be claimed that the stated issues were arranged in disregard of Shar‘-i Sharîf. The explanations below will clarify this matter.[3] The fourth point is that contemporary Islâmic codes from different Muslim countries were not negleced. I have sometimes looked at the Morroccan Family Code (al-Mudawwana),[4] Egyptian laws that are the root of Muslim Middle Eastern countries’ legal systems, Pakistan’s law code which was based on the Ḥanafî Law School. We could say that in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, the effects of Ottoman legal codes, like Majallah and family law continue. The fifth point is as follows. This book is based principally in the Ḥanafî School and Ottoman practice. Nonetheless, comparisons with other schools have been made, especially with the Mâlikî School, which is the official school in Morrocco, the United Arab Emirates, and some other countries, the Shâfi‘î School, which is the official school in Indonesia and some other countries, the Ḥanbalî School, the official school in Saudi Arabia, and some other countries, and finally the Ja’farî School, which is the official school especially in Iran. For comparison between schools, this work has benefitted from some major works on Islâmic law. These works include: M. Zarqa, Al-Fıqh al-İslâmî Fî Thawbih al-Jadîd, c. I-II, Dimaşk 1395/1975; ‘abd al-Rahman al-Jaziri, Al-Fiqh ‘ala al-maḏâhib al-arba‘a, Cairo, 1969; Al-Shahid al Thani (Zayn al-Din Muḥammad ibn ‘Ali al–Jab’i al-‘Amili [d. 965/1558]), Al-Rawdat al-bahiyya fi sharh al-lum‘at al-Dimashqiyya, Beirut, 1967; Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Qudâmah al-M’aqdisî, Al-Muqni‘, Cairo, 2005; Ḫalil bin Isḥaq, Al-Tawdîh Sharhu Muḫtasar ibn al-Hâjib, Casablanca, 2012. Some comparative works have also been of benefit. These include: Imran Ahsan Ḫan Nyazee, Outlines of Muslim Personal Law, Advanced Legal Studies Institute, Islâmabad, Pakistan, 2011; Chibli Malla, “Identity and Community Rights Islâmic Family Law: Variations on State,” in Islâmic Family Law, edited by Chibli Mallat & Jane Connors, Graham & Trotman Limited, London 1993; Ahmad Nasir, The Status of Women under Islâmic Law and Modern Islâmic Legislation, Brill, Leiden and An Introduction to the Law of Obligations of Afghanistan, edited by Trevor Kempner, Andrew Lawrence, and Ryan Nelson, Stanford Law School, (PDF). We should not forget some official or semi-official legal codes in Muslim countries that are completely based on Sharî‘ah. For example, Muḥammad Qadri Pasha’a (1306/1889), Murshid al-Hayrân (Guide for the Perplexed), which consists of 1,045 articles; Al-‘Adl Wal Insâf Fi Hall Mushkilât al-Awqâf (Justice and Equity in Solving the Problems of Endowments), which consists of 343 articles; and Al-Aḥkâm al-Shar‘iyyah Fi al-Aḥwâl al-Shaḫṣiyyah (Legal Rulings on Personal Status Law), which consists of 647 articles; Morroccan Family Law (Mudawwanah); The Egyptian Civil Code was written in 1949, whose primary author was Abdel-Razzak al-Sanhuri, who was assisted by Dean Edouard Lambert of the University of Lille; The Egyptian Civil Code has been the source of law and inspiration for numerous other Middle Eastern jurisdictions, including the pre-dictatorship kingdoms of Libya, Jordan, and Iraq (both drafted by Al-Sanhuri himself and a team of native jurists under his guidance), Bahrain, as well as Qatar (the last two merely inspired by his notions) and the commercial code of Kuwait (drafted by Al-Sanhuri); Pakistan Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961. This book is divided into seven chapters: 1) personal law, 2) family law, 3) inheritance law, 4) obligations and contract Law, 5) property law, 6) commercial law, 7) international private law. We repeat again that we have preferred to write what Muslim jurists (fuqahâ) have argued is how the Qur’an and the Sunnah should be interpreted. Our success will be measured by our ability to correctly reproduce what existed in Islâmic sources. Every human enterprises falls short; we are ready to perfect our study with the help of contributions by readers and constructive criticism. I would like to thank all those who read this book and contribute constructively to it. I am thankful to God Who enabled me to complete this book.
Download or read book The Spirit of Islamic Law written by Bernard G. Weiss and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focuses on a Muslim legal science known in Arabic as usul al-fiqh. Whereas the kindred science of fiqh is concerned with the articulation of actual rules of law, this science attempts to elaborate the theoretical and methodological foundations of the law. It outlines the features of Muslim juristic thought.
Download or read book The Politics of Islamic Law written by Iza R. Hussin and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Politics of Islamic Law, Iza Hussin compares India, Malaya, and Egypt during the British colonial period in order to trace the making and transformation of the contemporary category of ‘Islamic law.’ She demonstrates that not only is Islamic law not the shari’ah, its present institutional forms, substantive content, symbolic vocabulary, and relationship to state and society—in short, its politics—are built upon foundations laid during the colonial encounter. Drawing on extensive archival work in English, Arabic, and Malay—from court records to colonial and local papers to private letters and visual material—Hussin offers a view of politics in the colonial period as an iterative series of negotiations between local and colonial powers in multiple locations. She shows how this resulted in a paradox, centralizing Islamic law at the same time that it limited its reach to family and ritual matters, and produced a transformation in the Muslim state, providing the frame within which Islam is articulated today, setting the agenda for ongoing legislation and policy, and defining the limits of change. Combining a genealogy of law with a political analysis of its institutional dynamics, this book offers an up-close look at the ways in which global transformations are realized at the local level.
Download or read book The Islamic Law of Personal Status written by Jamal J. Nasir and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-06-02 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Islamic law of personal status is of immeasurable significance to the lives of many millions of people of the Islamic faith throughout the world. This systematic account of the subject, and the explanatory references to both traditional Islamic treatises and modern interpretative texts, make this new edition an immensely useful guide for both jurists and students."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Islamic Law and Civil Code written by Richard A. Debs and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-28 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard A. Debs analyzes the classical Islamic law of property based on the Shari'ah, traces its historic development in Egypt, and describes its integration as a source of law within the modern format of a civil code. He focuses specifically on Egypt, a country in the Islamic world that drew upon its society's own vigorous legal system as it formed its modern laws. He also touches on issues that are common to all such societies that have adopted, either by choice or by necessity, Western legal systems. Egypt's unique synthesis of Western and traditional elements is the outcome of an effort to respond to national goals and requirements. Its traditional law, the Shari'ah, is the fundamental law of all Islamic societies, and Debs's analysis of Egypt's experience demonstrates how Islamic jurisprudence can be sophisticated, coherent, rational, and effective, developed over centuries to serve the needs of societies that flourished under the rule of law.
Download or read book Islamic Family Law written by Chibli Mallat and published by BRILL. This book was released on 1990 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Artikler om praktisering af islamisk familieret i Mellemøsten, Europa, Syd- og Sydøstasien samt Kina.
Download or read book Islamic Public Law Islamic Law in Theory and Practice written by Ahmed Akgunduz and published by IUR Press. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 717 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Islamic law contains explications and divisions that imply a classification in terms of public and private law. In this book we will explain the outlines of Islamic public law, e.g. First Chapter; Islamic constitutional law (al-siyāsah al-shar‘iyyah) and administrative law (al-siyāsah al-shar‘iyyah); Second Chapter; penal law (al-̒uqūbāt); Third Chapter; financial law (zakāt, ʻushr, ḫarāj and other taxes); Fourth Chapter; trial law (qaḍā), and Fifth Chapter: international public law (al-siyar). The fields of especially Islamic constitutional law, administrative law, financial law, ta‘zīr penalties, and arrangements concerning military law based on the restricted legislative authority vested by Sharī‘ah rules and those jurisprudential decrees based on secondary sources like customs and traditions and the public good (maslahah) all fell under what was variously called public law, al-siyāsah al-shar‘iyyah (Sharī‘ah policy), qānūn (legal code), qānūnnāmah, ‘orfī ḥuqūq etc. Since these laws could not go beyond Sharī‘ah principles either, at least in theory, they should not be regarded as a legal system outside of Islamic law. But Islamic penal law, financial law, trial law, and international law depend mostly on rules that are based directly on the Qur’an and the Sunnah and codified in books of fiqh (Islamic law) called Sharī‘ah rules, Sharʻ-i sharīf, or Sharī‘ah law. Such rules formed 85% of the legal system. In this book, we will focus on some controversial problems in the Muslim world today, such as the form of government in Islamic law and the relation between Islam and democracy. Islamic law does not stipulate a certain method of state government; nonetheless, we may say that the principles it decrees and its concept of sovereignty suggest a religious republic. As a matter of fact, Ḫulafā al-Rāshidūn (the Rightly Guided Caliphs), were both caliphs and religious republican presidents. We could say that this book has three main characteristics. i) We have tried to base our explanations directly on the primary Islamic law sources. For example, after reading some articles on the caliphate or tīmār system in articles or books by some Western scholars and even by some Muslim scholars, one might conclude that there are different views on these subjects among Muslim scholars. This is not true: Muslisms have agreed on the basic rules on legal subjects, but there are some conflicts regarding nuances and interpretations. If one reads works by Imām Gazzali, Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Māwardi, and al-Farrā’, one will not find any disagreement on the main rules, but there are some different interpretations of some concepts. We have tried to discover where they agreed and we have sometimes pointed to where they differed. ii) We have researched practices of Islamic law, especially legal documents in the Ottoman archives. For example, we explain ḥadd-i sariqa but also mention some legal articles from the Ottoman legal codes (qānunnāmes) and some Sharī‘ah court decisions like legal decrees (i‘lāmāt-i shar‘iyyah). It is well known that nobody can understand any legal system without implementing and practicing it. That also holds for Islamic law because theory alone does not yield a complete understanding of Sharī‘ah rules. iii) We have worked hard to correct some misconceptions and misunderstandings about Islamic law. That is why we appeal to the primary sources. For example, some scholars claim that the Ḥanafī jurist Imām Saraḫsī did not accept the idea of punishment for apostasy. We have studied his work al-Mabsūt and found this claim to be unfounded. The comparison between tīmār and fief is another example because the tīmār system is different from the fief system. Some scholars confuse the concept of sovereignty and governance. The Islamic state is not a theocratic state in the sense in which Europeans understand the term.”
Download or read book The Islamic Law of Personal Status written by Jamal J. Nasir and published by Brill Archive. This book was released on 1990-01-01 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This huge piece of legislation promulgated in September 1993 represents the culmination of a major project aimed at producing comprehensive unified regulation of all areas of commercial activity. In the introductory chapter to the law, which concerns its application, it is stipulated that commercial matters with regard to which specific federal laws are promulgated shall be subject to the provisions of these laws & to such provisions of the present law as do not conflict with them (Article 3). The main body of the law commences with definitions of what constitutes commercial activity: these persons who shall be deemed to be traders, & the conditions of eligibility to engage in trade. It sets out the requirements of accounting & record keeping which are obligatory for all traders. There is comprehensive legislation of a range of general commercial matters such as commercial houses, trade names, commercial data, commercial obligations & contracts, sale on deferred terms, sale at action, international sales, commercial pledges & deposits in public depositories. Following this there is detailed regulation of several of the most important specific areas of commercial activity including the different forms of commercial agency, commercial representation, brokerage & carriage of goods & persons. The large section of banking operations is systematic & exhaustive, as is the regulation of actions & transactions involving commercial & financial documents. The last section deals with bankruptcy, composition to avert bankruptcy, the procedures & administration of bankruptcy & its consequences. Article 196 states that the establishment of a Stock Exchange will be subject to the agreement of the Council of Ministers & promulgation of a Federal Law regulating the activity of the Exchange. The Law is presented in a comprehensive & consistent manner & is clear & accessible. An invaluable reference to all those who have business interests in or with the United Arab Emirates.
Download or read book Everyday Islamic Law and the Making of Modern South Asia written by Elizabeth Lhost and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2022-05-10 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning in the late eighteenth century, British rule transformed the relationship between law, society, and the state in South Asia. But qazis and muftis, alongside ordinary people without formal training in law, fought back as the colonial system in India sidelined Islamic legal experts. They petitioned the East India Company for employment, lobbied imperial legislators for recognition, and built robust institutions to serve their communities. By bringing legal debates into the public sphere, they resisted the colonial state's authority over personal law and rejected legal codification by embracing flexibility and possibility. With postcards, letters, and telegrams, they made everyday Islamic law vibrant and resilient and challenged the hegemony of the Anglo-Indian legal system. Following these developments from the beginning of the Raj through independence, Elizabeth Lhost rejects narratives of stagnation and decline to show how an unexpected coterie of scholars, practitioners, and ordinary individuals negotiated the contests and challenges of colonial legal change. The rich archive of unpublished fatwa files, qazi notebooks, and legal documents they left behind chronicles their efforts to make Islamic law relevant for everyday life, even beyond colonial courtrooms and the confines of family law. Lhost shows how ordinary Muslims shaped colonial legal life and how their diversity and difference have contributed to contemporary debates about religion, law, pluralism, and democracy in South Asia and beyond.
Download or read book History of Islamic Law written by Noel Coulson and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2014-03-11 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The classic introduction to Islamic law, tracing its development from its origins,through the medieval period, to its place in modern Islam.
Download or read book Islamic Family Law in a Changing World written by ʻAbd Allāh Aḥmad Naʻīm and published by Zed Books. This book was released on 2002-08 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In "Islamic Family Law in a Changing World," Abdullahi A. An-Na'im explores the practice of the Shari'a, commonly known as Islamic Family Law. An-Na'im shows that the practical application of Shari'a principles is often modified by theological differences of interpretation, a country's particular customary practices, and state policy and law.
Download or read book Islamic Law written by Mashood A. Baderin and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2021 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Islamic law is one of the major legal systems in the world today, yet it is often misunderstood, particularly in the West. This book provides a critical overview of the theory, scope, and practice of Islamic law, taking into account both classical and modern scholarly perspectives in examining the various facets of this key legal system.
Download or read book Islamic Law RLE Politics of Islam written by Aziz Al-Azmeh and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-03 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book underlines the mutability of Islamic law and attempts to relate its substantive and institutional varieties and transformations to social, political, economic and other historical circumstances. The studies in the book range from discussion of the received wisdom in Islamic law to studies of legal institutions and the theoretical means employed by Islamic law for the accommodation of changing historical circumstances. First published in 1988.
Download or read book An Introduction to Islamic Law written by Wael B. Hallaq and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-09 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of Islamic law can be a forbidding prospect for those entering the field for the first time. Wael Hallaq, a leading scholar and practitioner of Islamic law, guides students through the intricacies of the subject in this absorbing introduction. The first half of the book is devoted to a discussion of Islamic law in its pre-modern natural habitat. The second part explains how the law was transformed and ultimately dismantled during the colonial period. In the final chapters, the author charts recent developments and the struggles of the Islamists to negotiate changes which have seen the law emerge as a primarily textual entity focused on fixed punishments and ritual requirements. The book, which includes a chronology, a glossary of key terms, and lists of further reading, will be the first stop for those who wish to understand the fundamentals of Islamic law, its practices and history.
Download or read book Outlines of Muslim Personal Law written by Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-12-27 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This small book is exactly what the title says it is: an outline. It is meant as a convenient handbook for the student. A more detailed ``code'' is being written to meet the needs of lawyers and researchers, and will hopefully be published soon. The purpose of this small book is to lay down the traditional law of Islam first, especially the law of the Hanafi school, and then to identify the points on which this law has been altered by statute or by case law. The purpose is not to identify the law first and then to fill the gaps with traditional law, which is what is done for the common law. On a few occasions, this outline differs from the position taken by other publications, especially Mulla's Code. The reason is that the position taken by such works, in these cases, is not in conformity with the traditional Islamic law. The differences have been indicated along with the position stated in such codes. Nevertheless, these occasions are not too many and the reader will not feel that there is a major departure from the earlier literature in the field. The outline also indicates those points where a decision taken by the learned courts is totally contrary to the rulings of traditional law. Reasons for disagreement have been indicated very briefly as a small outline cannot be burdened with detailed discussions. Despite its concise nature, the book has been quoted by some courts, including the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Download or read book Islamic Law and International Human Rights Law written by Anver M. Emon and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2012-10-11 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The relationship between Islamic law and international human rights law has been the subject of considerable, and heated, debate in recent years. The usual starting point has been to test one system by the standards of the other, asking is Islamic law 'compatible' with international human rights standards, or vice versa. This approach quickly ends in acrimony and accusations of misunderstanding. By overlaying one set of norms on another we overlook the deeply contextual nature of how legal rules operate in a society, and meaningful comparison and discussion is impossible. In this volume, leading experts in Islamic law and international human rights law attempt to deepen the understanding of human rights and Islam, paving the way for a more meaningful debate. Focusing on central areas of controversy, such as freedom of speech and religion, gender equality, and minority rights, the authors examine the contextual nature of how Islamic law and international human rights law are legitimately formed, interpreted, and applied within a community. They examine how these fundamental interests are recognized and protected within the law, and what restrictions are placed on the freedoms associated with them. By examining how each system recognizes and limits fundamental freedoms, this volume clears the ground for exploring the relationship between Islamic law and international human rights law on a sounder footing. In doing so it offers a challenging and distinctive contribution to the literature on the subject, and will be an invaluable reference for students, academics, and policy-makers engaged in the legal and religious debates surrounding Islam and the West.
Download or read book Custom in Islamic Law and Legal Theory written by Ayman Shabana and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-11-14 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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).