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9 - The Sunni Legal Tradition: An Overview of Pluralism, Formalism, and Reform

from Part II - The Concept of Tradition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2021

By
Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim
Edited by
Helge Dedek
Helge Dedek
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal
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Summary

This chapter ventures into defining the Islamic legal tradition, its main characteristics as a legal tradition. Three main themes shed light on the nature of Islamic law historically. These themes are (1) legal pluralism, (2) legal determinacy, and (3) legal reform. While defining a tradition is hampered by its pluralism, legal determinacy allows for some stability and a better attempt at definition. I argue that in our conceptualization of the Islamic legal tradition we must incorporate the practice of law in the work of judges, rather than narrowly focusing on the black-letter discourse of jurists. It is this interaction, which is captured in several legal genres, that creates a stable legal system. In addition to the realist nature of this approach, it also promises to open up new possibilities for legal reform.

Keywords

AdjudicationdeterminacyformalismIslamic lawlegal pluralismlegal reformsunni traditiontradition
Type
Chapter
Information
A Cosmopolitan Jurisprudence
Essays in Memory of H. Patrick Glenn
 , pp. 180 - 201
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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