Introduction

Summary

Poised at the dihliz

Life, I sit at your dihliz,

Hands holding the bowl of endeavour.

In my eyes are desires for a flower-filled spring,

On my lips lie grievances of the indifference of time.

Life, I sit at your dihliz.

The word dihliz is common to Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Urdu, those great languages of the Muslim world, with cognates in many related languages besides (in my native Pashto, the word is darshal). A literal, albeit inadequate, English translation might be ‘threshold’ or ‘vestibule’ – the dihliz is an ‘inter-space’ or an ‘in-between place’. As a metaphor, though, the dihliz has a deep cultural significance that goes well beyond its bare translation, encompassing a passage or corridor connecting and disconnecting spaces, places and buildings; a notional path that connects and frames other spaces.

Much like the poet, I am poised at a dihliz, exploring conceptual and analytical tools to contextualize and write about Islamic law, a subject that constitutes both a personal and a professional journey. How do I link theoretical perspectives of a discipline to its lived reality in language that resonates with readers across cultures, geographies and knowledge systems? In seeking an appropriate vantage point from which to engage with the Islamic legal traditions, the metaphor that comes to mind is of being poised at the dihliz. This in-between place or threshold is also imagined as a passage or corridor connecting and disconnecting spaces, places and buildings. Located at the dihliz, one is simultaneously inside and outside the broader frameworks of life and knowledge. Conscious of competing experiences and contexts, at the dihliz one is offered multiple panoramic visions dotted on the horizons beyond one's immediate proximity. From its vantage point, I position myself to explore and expose multiple interpretations of Islamic law as well as the complexity inherent in handling plural normativity. Modern Challenges to Islamic Law aims to bring to the fore the diversity within Muslim communities and the various cultural and linguistic lenses through which they perceive and experience their religious traditions. At the level of state and government, it aims to demonstrate how Islamic law is served up rhetorically and selectively for popular consumption and for the retention of authority.