Law and Politics under the Abbasids: An Intellectual Portrait of al-Juwayni (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)
Cambridge University Press, 6/18/2020
EAN 9781108721950, ISBN10: 1108721958
Paperback, 330 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm
Language: English
Abu Ma'ali al-Juwayni (d.478/1085) lived in a politically tumultuous period. The rise of powerful dynastic families forced the Abbasid Caliph into a position of titular power, and created instability. He also witnessed intellectual upheavals living amidst great theological and legal diversity. Collectively, these experiences led him to consider questions of religious certainty and social and political continuity. He noted that if political elites are constantly changing, paralleled with shifting intellectual allegiances, what ensures the continuity of religion? He concluded that continuity of society is contingent upon knowledge and practice of the Shari'a. Here, Sohaira Siddiqui explores how scholars grappled with questions of human reason and knowledge, and how their answers to these questions often led them to challenge dominant ideas of what the Shari'a is. By doing this, she highlights the interconnections between al-Juwayni's discussions on theology, law and politics, and the socio-political intellectual landscapes that forged them.
Introduction
Part I. Historical Background
1. Politics, patronage, and scholarship in Nishapur
2. Al-Juwaynī
life of a scholar
Part II. Epistemology
3. Intellectual fissures
the Ashʿarīs and the Muʿtazila
4. The epistemology of al-Juwaynī
Part III. Legal Theory
5. Certainty in legal sources
Hòadīth
6. Certainty in legal sources
Ijmāʿ
7. The rise of legal uncertainty
Qiyās al-Maʿnā
8. Coping with legal uncertainty
Qiyās al-Shabah
Part IV. Political Thought
9. The search for continuity
al-Juwaynī's political thought
10. Continuity, custom, and applied epistemology in al-Juwaynī's political thought
Conclusion.