Table of Contents

1. Tradition under siege; 2. Debates on Hadith and consensus; 3. From local community to universal canon; 4. Status, power, and social upheaval; 5. Scholarship between persecution and patronage; 6. Authorship, transmission, and intertextuality; 7. A community of interpretation; 8. Canonization beyond the Shafi'i school.

Promotional Information

Ahmed El Shamsy's The Canonization of Islamic Law is a detailed history of the birth of classical Islamic law.

About the Author

Ahmed El Shamsy is an Assistant Professor of Islamic Thought in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.

Reviews

'It is very well-written, draws on an impressive array of Arabic texts, and is the best available guide to al-Shafi'i's legal-theoretical writings, in large part because it engages the arguments expressed in both the Risala and the Umm. In short, it is essential reading for all students and scholars of Islamic law.' Scott. C. Lucas, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
'Ahmed El Shamsy has given us a ground-breaking picture of the third/ninth-century development of Shafi'i legal scholarship.' David R. Vishanoff, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations