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With the revival of Islamic finance, the translation of this seminal work on fiscal matters is a significant landmark. While such Islamic thinkers as Baqir al-Sadr, Abu’l A`la al-Mawdudi, and others were formulating the thinking that eventually engendered Islamic banks and finance houses, most of the classical reference works in Arabic remained obscure and unpublished. Over the past 50 years, however, much has changed. Of course, the Qur’an and Sunnah provide a wealth of material on transactions (mu`amalat). However, during the first few centuries, Muslim jurists expended great energy on the subject, especially as Muslims encountered business practices and legal customs that differed from those found in seventh-century Arabia. That this body of law was ignored for several centuries, however, is part of the legacy of colonialism and, in part, a very natural phenomenon. After the colonial and other powers marginalized Islam’s social and cultural institutions, it is not surprising that fiqh was relegated to academic settings. Moreover, in order for it to become vibrant once again, it required practitioners who were conversant with the classical discipline as well as cognizant and appreciative of the world’s new realities. Beginning with the theoretical musings of such thinkers as Baqir al- Sadr, Mawdudi, and Qutb, the growth of Islamic banks and investment houses in the decades of the seventies and eighties provided the incentive for more practical studies; and a new generation of Muslim jurists began work in earnest on modern finance. What began as a handful of small banks in the Gulf in the 1970s, developed in the 1980s into over 100 such ...

According to Smith, the Ndembu diviner applies a "canon" of twenty-four fixed objects to a client's situation, first selecting a few of the objects by shaking the basket, interpreting the selected objects according to a range of meanings fixed by pub­ lic convention, and matching the meanings to the client's particular condition. Brannon Wheeler, in his Introduction to Applying the Canon in Islam When the idolaters inimical to the message of Muhammad, upon him be peace, attempted to criticize the Qur'an for its use of the lowly and the trivial in its rhetorical repertoire, the following verse was revealed in reply. Behold, God does not disdain to propound a parable of a gnat, or of something even less than that. Now, as for those who have attained to faith, they know that it is the truth from their Sustainer whereas those who are bent on denying the truth say, What could God mean by this parable? (2:26) This exchange then became the basis for djscussion and debate among the classical Arabic rhetoricians on the subject of what might and what might not be suitable for use in similes, metaphors, and other comparative ljterary devices. That this debate shouJd be recalled at the outset of a review of a work dealing with Hanafi fiqh scholarship might seem slrangely out of place. Yet, once one has acqurunted oneself with the underlying premise of this work, one cannot help but recall the classical debate and the verses of Qur'anic scripture so often cited in regard to it. What lies at the heart of the matter is that comparisons drawn between disparate and remote subjects are sometimes delightful and sometimes awful. This, after all, is the stuff of literature. There are some comparisons, however, that are simply offensive. In fact, there are some things people just don't like to see compared at all. Period. Things held near and dear often fall under this category, things like one's religion, ethnicity, culture, and so on. This is human nature. And that is dangerous ground. Of course, I've oversimplified the matter. ln fact, I'm going in a direction that was certrunly not intended by the author for his readership. Wheeler's Applying the Canon in Islam is not a work of literature. Likewise, hjs use of models and examples from other disciplines, like anthropology and the history of religion, is a methodological rather than a literary choice. But the fact remains that the choice Professor Wheeler has made in this matter is one that will not likely be met with objectivity by Muslims. If I may venture a comparison of my own, this is rather akin to inviting a Muslim to partake of a meal, a sumptuous and hearty ...

llris seminar was the second in a series of seminars held jointly by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) in cooperation with the Kuwaiti Department of Awqaf. The inaugural session of the seminar was addressed by the Minister for Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Jam'an al 'Azimi, who stated that the topic of the seminar sufficed to indicate its importance. The following speaker, the Secretary of the Ministry, Khalid al Zir, underlined the fact that while everyone agreed on the need to return to the pristine teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, it was not an easy matter to determine how, in practical tenns, this might be achieved. This is why, the Secretary said, this seminar was convened. Taha Jabir al 'Alwani, President of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, after making his opening remarks, delivered a paper entitled The Horizons of Change and Its Approaches, in which he stated that the Arab world had very recently reached a critical stage. Many analytical studies of various aspects of the Arab situation, he added, had been conducted from several different perspectives. Undoubtedly, on the basis of these studies, the outlines of an alternative civilizational project may emerge. It is for this reason that the topic of the seminar, "Methodologies of Change in the Contemporary Islamic World," is of such overwhelming importance. Muhammad al Ghazali, the noted Muslim 'alim and author, then spoke on behalf of the seminar participants. Prefacing his remarks by noting the importance of Kuwait in the Arab and Muslim worlds, al Ghazali explained that it is the duty of Muslims everywhere to work together to further the cause of Islam. This is why, he added, the cooperation of the Kuwaiti Ministry with the International Institute of Islamic Thought was such a commendable undertaking. The seminar was comprised of four distinctive themes. The first one dealt with defining the concept of change within the Islamic paradigm, beginning with the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and the historical experience of Islam. This concept may be studied in light of the theories and opinions of the classical scholars of Islam. In addition, it may prove beneficial to study it in conjunction with such similar concepts within the Islamic paradigm as tajdid, reform, revival, awakening, revolution, modernization, development, and progress. Topics for discussion included the following: ...

When one works in the field of Shari'ah studies, a field widely perceived as holding little excitement (for those who pursue careers in it and for those who don't), one rarely encounters a book that sends one into the poetic ecstasy of a Keats, for example, on the occasion of his first looking into Chapman's Homer. Nonetheless, in any intellectual enterprise there are joys that perhaps only the initiated, so to speak, may truly share. In fact, in the field of Shari'ah studies, as in many of the fields related to the study of classical Islamic disciplines, the esoteric delights to be tasted these days are many, particularly in view of the continual stream of carefully edited works from the classical period ... especially when so many of them were believed lost, eaten by worms in some dreary desert setting or sent tumbling toward eternity in the bloody waters of the Tigris when Baghdad was overrun by Mongol hordes. But, to return to the present, it is certainly not everyday that something really significant happens in the field. In The Search for God's Law, that significant something has happened. Less than a decade ago, a distinguished western scholar lamented in the Journal of the American Oriental Society that "despite the great interest shown in U$iil al fiqh by Orientalists throughout the world, no general and systematic work dealing with this most important Islamic ...

The volume under review is essentially a collection of papers presented at a two-day workshop on the changing division of labor in South Asia held at the University of Wisconsin in 1984 at which the two major themes were the emerging role of women; and the “increasingly violent role of religion.”I The latter theme became the subject of this book. Concerning this subject, the editor, Dr. Bjorkman, writes: “If, then, you have been perplexed about the chronic religious violence in contemporary South Asian states, you need search no further for relief. The following chapters examine, explore, and explain aspects of religious fundamentalism, self-righteous revivalists, and murderous mayhem among the four major faiths of South Asia." Then, evincing his concern for the human situation in the area, and his own obviously painful experiences there, Dr. Bjorkman continues: “. . . one may justifiably conclude that a no-win situation characterizes the South Asian mosaic. Contemporary reality is depressing, if not gruesome; the daily documentation of death and destruction, cruelty and carnage, is sufficient evidence thereof? Candidly assessing the objective of his work, Dr. Bjorkman states: “The aim of this book is to uncover some of the socio-political truths disguised by the frequent invocation of “fundamentalist” and “revivalist” claims in contemporary South Asian religions.” And in order to prepare the reader for what lies ahead, the learned editor adds: “One can come away from this volume wringing one’s hands in despair at the utter hopelessness of human foibles. Or one can catch glimpses of truth and possible points of leverage by which the certain slide into anarchy might be arrested and even reversed. Sigmund Freud once wrote: ‘The truths contained in religious doctrines are after all so distorted and systematically disguised that the mass of mankind cannot recognize them as truth (Freud 1928 :78) .“ Thus, before moving on to even the editor’s introductory chapter, the interested reader, in the sense of his or her faith or allegiance to one or the other of the four major religions of South Asia, will begin to feel queasy at the prospect of what lies ahead. Many such, I suspect, will put the volume down and start wringing their own hands at the utter hopelessness of human foibles in the guise of Western academic treatments of Eastern affairs of the spirit. But no, gentle reader, dismay not; the volume is not your average witch hunt. On the contrary, as food for thought it is immediately engaging, and as an opportunity for self-exam ...