In recent years, Islamic law, or Shari'a, has been appropriated as a tool of modernity in the Muslim world and in the West and has become highly politicised in consequence. Wael Hallaq's magisterial overview of Shari'a sets the record straight by examinin

Table of Contents:
• Part I. The Pre-Modern Tradition: 1. The formative period 2. Legal theory: epistemology, language, and legal reasoning 3. Legal education and the politics of law 4. Law and society 5. The circle of justice and later dynasties • Part II. The Law: An Out