University of Pennsylvania
Islamic law, the sacred law of Islam grounded in the Qur’an, the practice of the Prophet Muḥammad, and the writings of Muslim scholars and jurists, stretches back nearly 1500 years. In this course, we will explore various aspects of Islamic law as seen through the eyes of one of the great minds of the Middle Ages, Ibn Rushd (known to the West as Averroës, d. 1196). Based on readings from Ibn Rushd’s handbook of Islamic law, The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer (Bidāyat al-mujtahid), and other texts, this course will examine Islamic legal doctrine relating to criminal and penal law, ritual purity, dietary rules, family law, commercial law, and the law of war. Additional readings will deal with the role of the Qur’an in early Islamic law, institutions, legal theory, gender, Muslim feminism and the law, and some contemporary Muslim responses to the Islamic legal tradition.
Students will learn the main outlines of the history of Islamic law, its major concepts, and selected areas of legal doctrine. Comparative analyses of legal doctrines will also serve to introduce students to some general legal concepts.
This course was previously taught in Fall 2011.