An Orientalist Perspective of Islamic Law

ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE IN THE CLASSICAL ERA. By Norman Calder, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Pp 233. ISBN: 978052111 0809 HB.

WOMEN IN CLASSICAL ISLAMIC LAW: A SURVEY OF THE SOURCES. By Susan A. Spectorsky, 2010. Leiden: Brill. Pp. 223. ISBN: 9789004174351 HB.

AN INTRODUCTION TO ISLAMIC LAW. By Wael B.Hallaq, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Pp. 200. ISBN: 9780521678735.

THE LONG DIVERGENCE: HOW ISLAMIC LAW HELD BACK THE MIDDLE EAST. By Timur Kuran. Woodstock: Princeton University Press, 2011. Pp 405. ISBN 9780691147567 HB.

MUSLIM MARRIAGE IN WESTERN COURTS. By Pascale Fournier, Surrey: Ashgate. 2010. Pp. 206. ISBN: 9781409404415 HB.

Since the beginning of Orientalism as a discipline in the 17th century until today, research methodology on Islamic law has witnessed a paradigmatic shift. The derogatory and colonialist tone of pioneers such as Goldziher, Schacht and Watt has been replaced by academic objectivity by scholars such as Nadia Abbott and Wael Hallaq. The latter reflects also a trend within American rather than European scholarship.