Islamic Law

Shari’a or the sacred law of Islam is the will of God revealed to the prophet Muhammad and eventually taken down in the text of the Quran. The Quran together with the Sunna, the normative precedents of the prophet and his followers, written down in the form of Traditions (hadith),  form the two main sources of the Shari’a.
The legal scholars of the science of Shari’a (fiqh) developed methodologies and constructed an elaborate legal system, discussing cases and exercising legal reasoning on the basis of consensus (ijma’) and on analogy (qiyas). There are four pre-eminent schools of law: the Shafi’i, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali school.
The Shari’a prescribes in detail how a Muslim must behave in all aspects of life, that is, in the religious, moral and legal sphere and represents an eternally valid ideal to which society must aspire. The main legal areas treated are family, inheritance, commercial, contract, criminal and evidence law. Justice is being administered by Islamic judges (qadi’s).
The legal areas not covered by Islamic law belong to the discretionary power of the ruler, called siyasa. This double administration of justice, one religious and the other secular prevails until this day.
The reception of Western political ideas and the formation of states in particular changed the natural environment of the Shari’a. Modern theories differ widely about the possibility of an Islamic state and about the Shari’a as a basis for legislation or human rights.

This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research on Islamic Law. It provides the basic legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library’s classification index code 346. Works on the Law of Oriental Countries and on Islamic Law and subject heading (keyword) Islamic Law are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.

Reference works

• Hallaq, W. B., Shari'a : Theory, Practice, Transformations / Hallaq, W.B., 2009
• Schacht, J., An introduction to Islamic law / J. Schacht, 1982

These publications are selected for you by Francisca Markx.

• Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, International law, regional developments : Islam, by Mohammad Fadel

• Finding the Law: Islamic Law (Sharia) By Andrew Grossman, Published on August 1, 2002
• Harvard Law School, Islamic Law : Research Guide
• Intute, UK Universities Webresources Collection on Islamic studies
• Law Research Guide Columbia University Law School by Aslihan Bulut
• Iran Law
• Islamic Family Law Project of Emory Law School upd. 2002
• List of Islamic Law Sites
• SOAS-CIMEL Islamic and Middle Eastern Law Materials
• The Islamic Sharia Council UK
• International Islamic University Malaysia, DEED Islamic Resources Repository
• Muslim Arbitration Tribunal
• Muslim Law Systems and Mixed Systems with a Muslim Law Tradition
• Reforming Islamic family law within the religious framework: the « best practices » strategy by Khalid Chraibi
• Religious Legal Systems: A Brief Guide to Research and Its Role in Comparative Law, by Marylin Johnson Raisch
• Sharia : ITO, Intellectual Takeout, Minnesota
• World Database for Islamic Banking and Finance

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