David Vishanoff’s The Formation of Islamic Hermeneutics is a significantcontribution to the study of Islamic legal theory and legal hermeneutics. Vishanoff’smain objective is to examine how Sunni legal hermeneutics becamea systematic and institutional discipline. For this purpose, he strives to restorethe reception and development of al-Shafi‘i’s (d. 820) legal hermeneutics during the pre-classical period (ninth...Read More

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, some advocated a turn toward “tradition,”thereby raising fears that women would be pushed out of the public arena despitetheir active participation and would even lose those gains made underprevious governments. The debates around gender parity vs. complementaritythat were stirred up were not new, but they did manage to...Read More

During a discussion in my “CPRL 373 Women in Islam” class, students werebaffled by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s (d. 1111) candid discussion of sex in hisIḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn.1 I was not surprised, because many assumptions are takenfor granted about medieval Muslim scholars due to their religious and sectarianreputations, cultural environments, and eras. However, without highlightingany sexual...Read More

Medical treatment by Muslim doctors will sometimes be influenced by Islamic law and ethics rather than solely medical consideration. Muslim patient’s sometimes need reassurance that modern medicine that offered to them is also acceptable by Islamic law. Orthognathic deformities are condition which associated with discrepancies of the jaw. These deformities resulted from different rates of...Read More