This introduction to Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) summarizes itsmajor concepts and presents the contemporary debates among historiansconcerning the hist... » 

This introduction to Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) summarizes itsmajor concepts and presents the contemporary debates among historiansconcerning the historicity of the Islamic sources of dogma, and of the datingof early Islamic law. It describes the classical practice of the law, in theformulation and elaboration of the legal rules (fatwas, furu' works, mukhtasarsand so forth) and in the paradigms of legal practice in the courts. Itsummarizes various types of Islamic substantive legal rules (in mu'amalat),hudud and ta'zir, bodily harm and diya, marriage and family law and some apectsof economic law, in particular taxation, contracts and the marketplace. «