Islamic Law: Continuity and Change

This reading group will be devoted to a study of Islamic law. More specifically, it has two aims: (1) to bring together graduate students working on Islamic law in different departments at Princeton, and (2) to critically examine recent scholarship on Islamic law. Islamic law is truly an interdisciplinary field at Princeton. It is directly studied in the departments of Near Eastern Studies, Religion, and History, and indirectly in various other departments. Moreover, it is studied from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and focusing on different dimensions of this legal tradition. The group will gather these students together to critically reflect on recent scholarship produced in this field. The general theme of the group for the year will be the idea of continuity and change in the process of historical unfolding of Islamic law. How does Islamic law respond to changing social, economic and political landscape while staying rooted in its foundational textual sources? And how does the role of the traditional interpreters of Islamic law evolve with these changing circumstances?