Journal of Islamic Studies

Alazemi, Abdulrahman Sabah

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf039pmid: N/A

This article explores the implications of the absence of central political authority on Islamic jurisprudence in pre-colonial Mauritania. It examines how Saharan jurists, in the absence of a sultan, assumed de facto authority to uphold shariʿa, thereby legitimizing the local Muslim community and its internal alliances. These jurists adapted Mālikī jurisprudence to the socio-political and economic challenges particular to the desert environment, using flexible principles and tools of ijtihād. This adaptability enabled them to address complex legal issues, including interactions with mustaghriqī al-dhimma, management of tributes imposed by the Banī Ḥassān, the adoption of pecuniary penalties in place of retributive measures to prevent tribal conflicts, and the expansion of the ʿāqila concept. Furthermore, their approach facilitated the controversial recognition of French colonial rule. The study highlights the intricate relationship between shariʿa and siyāsa and commends further research into the nawāzil heritage of the Mālikī school, to deepen our understanding of how Islamic jurisprudence adapts across diverse political contexts.

Özervarlı, M Sait

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf026pmid: N/A

This article examines the role and consequences of scholarly encounters and interactions in the early modern Muslim world. It argues that the biography and intellectual formation of Veliyüddin Cârullah (d. 1738), a vigorous and reflective Ottoman scholar who travelled from the capital Istanbul to engage with intellectual circles in Arab and other Kurdish centres of the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire and returned with a more critical and interdisciplinary vision, contributed to the cultural and intellectual activity of the early eighteenth century. The article highlights his reading practices, teaching activities, and his writings based on his margin annotation on manuscript copies, in order to better elaborate his vast knowledge and intellectual networks. It concludes that interactions with scholarship in the eastern lands of the empire were as significant for the formation of Istanbul intellectuals as their contacts with the West in the same period.

Brodersen, Angelika

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf037pmid: N/A

The Sunni theological school of Māturīdiyya emphasizes human freedom in making choices and performing acts, particularly in the context of debate about divine omnipotence and human responsibility. This focus on human agency has sparked a resurgence of interest in Māturīdī theology in various parts of the contemporary Muslim world. However, the issue remains complex and challenging, as Māturīdī thought also maintains that God is the Creator of everything that exists in time, including human decisions. This article aims to contextualize and analyse the theory of human action presented in the late Ottoman work Kitāb al-Masāʾil al-khilāfiyya bayna al-Māturīdiyya wa-l-Ashāʿira by Muḥammad b. Walī b. Rasūl al-Qīrshahrī al-Izmīrī (d. 1165/1751). An overview of the development of Sunni kalām (theology) during the Ottoman era shows that al-Qīrshahrī skilfully integrated post-Avicennan philosophical discourses into his argument. In so doing, he refutes Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s (d. 606/1209) famous tarjīḥ argument. This results in the incorporation of the Muʿtazilī concept of the ‘states’ (aḥwāl), rejected by classical Māturīdī theologians but re-examined by later Māturīdī theologians as early as in the fourteenth century. Overall, this theological treatise offers valuable insights into one scholar’s earnest efforts to reconcile religious doctrines with the demands of a premodern society by weaving together diverse elements from the rich tapestry of Islamic intellectual history.

Barry Flood, Finbarr

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf048pmid: N/A

Yu, Yusen

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf044pmid: N/A

Boivin, Michel

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf041pmid: N/A

Talib, Mohammad

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf042pmid: N/A

Tignol, Eve

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf051pmid: N/A

Zenn, Jacob

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf022pmid: N/A

Williams, Jacob

doi: 10.1093/jis/etaf032pmid: N/A