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Heaven On Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia to the Streets of the Modern Muslim World
In the wake of the colossal acts of terrorism of the last decade, the legal historian and human rights lawyer Sadakat Kadri realized that many people in the West had ideas about the origins and implications of the shari‘a, or Islamic law, that were hazy, contradictory, or simply wrong. Even as “shari‘a” became a loaded word and an all-encompassing explanation, most of us
Paperback
Published
June 1st 2011
by Random House Export
(first published January 1st 2011)
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This book has been really hard to read but worth it. If you would like to know more about the basis in law for jihad or for some of the things that are happening in the Middle East now, this would be a good book to read. You may find, as I did, that you will have to reread bits a couple of times before you really comprehend how different Shari'a law is from our familiar legal systems and what has happened to the interpretations of the Qu'ran and the interpretations of the law since the Qu'ran wa...more
Not really what the subtitle promised. Kadri writes very well, and seems to have a good command over the subject matter, but it really only skims the surface of actual legal matters. On the other hand, if you know very little about Islam in general, this would be an ideal one stop shop: there's plenty of stuff on the early history, some slightly convoluted/compressed bits, some very well done. I can know name the four traditional schools, at least (Hanafite, Malikite, Shafi'ite, Hanbalite) and h...more
It's a must read for details on the Indian and Pakistani Muslim scene. The author is not shy to exploit his own heritage by extensively touring both India and Pakistan in his quest to understand Sharia through the ages. I particularly liked the Iranian Shiah angle and the Saudi take on Wahabism. I loved it when he topped the discussion off by covering the UK Muslim approach to Islam as well. Some bits get a bit tiresome when he goes into lengthy discussions on the finer points of Sharia but I gu...more
A well-written and, overall, excellent book -- one I will recommend to my friends who want to learn about the evolution of Shari'a law.
Part I provides a concise journey through the history of Shari'a law. The author covers the main developments in the Islamic jurisprudence and puts those developments in their historical and political context. He makes a compelling point for not limiting our opinions and treatment of Shari'a law to what we know about it based on the past few decades.
Part II of th...more
Part I provides a concise journey through the history of Shari'a law. The author covers the main developments in the Islamic jurisprudence and puts those developments in their historical and political context. He makes a compelling point for not limiting our opinions and treatment of Shari'a law to what we know about it based on the past few decades.
Part II of th...more
A frankly amazing and lucid illustration of Islamic culture and the role (disputes over) sharia plays in it. The first section, a history of Islam from Mohammed's inital experiences through Afghanistan in the eighties, tells a fairly familiar story, but Kadri is self-aware enough to stud his story with exmaples and anecdotes both representative and exemplary, and throughout he keeps a strong sense of narrative-- so we get chapters that cover a chunk of history, but they are organized, for exampl...more
I thought this a timely read given current developments around efforts (and, I don't think I need to use adjectives like misguided, misinformed, misdirected, bigoted) to ban use of Shari'a law in the US. It generally confirmed what I suspected about shari'a: as with anything so intrinsically linked to religion, there is no single, consistent thing that is or can be identified as shari'a law. As Kadri points out in the book, "Every faith community in the United States, from the Amish to the Zoroa...more
The book falls into two parts. The first is historical, concentrating on the rise of Islam until about the 14th century, and thereafter skipping quickly to the present; the second is thematic, distilling the experiences of the author's extensive travels in the Islamic world, with chapters focusing on modernity, criminal law and punishment, religious tolerance, and I'm not sure exactly what the topic of the final chapter is.
The book is engagingly written and informative. I'm happy to have read it...more
The book is engagingly written and informative. I'm happy to have read it...more
A wonderful read, unless you are in a rush, which would be a pity.
Kadri takes his time, which is just as well, as he is exploring an enormous mess of more-or-less related stories, over a long time span. And you can't hurry when dealing with mountains of Islamic names!
He is a good writer, with a skilful turn of phrase. Intelligent rather than blandly moderate, and of course, pretty expert when it comes to legal matters.
But also, he seems able to span cultures and mind-sets with considerable sensi...more
Kadri takes his time, which is just as well, as he is exploring an enormous mess of more-or-less related stories, over a long time span. And you can't hurry when dealing with mountains of Islamic names!
He is a good writer, with a skilful turn of phrase. Intelligent rather than blandly moderate, and of course, pretty expert when it comes to legal matters.
But also, he seems able to span cultures and mind-sets with considerable sensi...more
Mr. Kadri provides a pretty thorough historical overview of the development of Sharia from India to the US. My lawyer friends will enjoy it a lot, I think, and I am going to recommend it to them. I certainly learned a lot about the historical development and present logical confusion. Just tonight we heard on the news about a man who lost his hand to a judgment of "sharia" by a group of insurgents, who sound perfectly lawless.
Fantastic on the basic history of shari'a law and its modern applications, but I think it might be hard for people who aren't already at least vaguely aware of terms like "jahiliya," "Mutazilites," things/groups that are discussed within the text but will get discussed again later and could be confusing for casual readers. That's in no way meant to deter readers, though. I loved this, but I also know a lot of Islamic history already.
May 22, 2013
Azhar Ali
added it
This book is a good read for anyone who wants to know about the evolution of Shari'a law. Kadri neither dismisses the Shari'a as outdated and irrelevant to current times, nor does he find himself in agreement with the orthodoxists who understand and define Shari'a as it has been shared through generations.
Kadri's detailed accounts of seasoned scholars such as Al-Ghazali and Ibn Tayyim is noteworthy. I gotta know a lot about these both scholars. However, the book is too short for such a great su...more
Kadri's detailed accounts of seasoned scholars such as Al-Ghazali and Ibn Tayyim is noteworthy. I gotta know a lot about these both scholars. However, the book is too short for such a great su...more
I'm not going to lie, the book was boring as all get out and really hard to read. That said. I felt that it was kind of important to get the sweeping notions of Shari'a law in order to understand all the Fox news hoopla. I guess I am kind of behind on this, I suppose this would have better served me a year ago. Anyhoo... So here is what I have gleaned. It started out as something good and was basterdized to sever the puropses of a few. Then, through propoganda was morphed - for some - into somet...more
Hard to get started reading it but once into to it it moves along. There are alot of Arabic terms which are a bit hard to keep up with
but tolerable.....I have simpathy for anyone living under a legal
system where a judges piety influences the outcome. I now have
a better understand of the rules....Its Jerry Fallell/Pat Robertson with a sword
but tolerable.....I have simpathy for anyone living under a legal
system where a judges piety influences the outcome. I now have
a better understand of the rules....Its Jerry Fallell/Pat Robertson with a sword
This is a well written book on the evolution of Sharia Law. This book is not and does not try to explain things in great detail. It is a good introduction to the evolution of Sharia over the last 14 hundred years. I learned a lot and enjoyed reading it.
Good historical construct of Sharia while taking the context of culture and situational circumstances into the development of different strands of Islamic laws. Provokes much over-due debates on some hidden corners of Islamic jurisprudence.
Brilliant combination of history and analysis that could have cut 20 pages of conversations with students and been perfect. Excellent introduction to Islamic culture, and Kadri does a fantastic job of extending his analysis beyond the Arab world.
A wonderfully engrossing account of the development of Islamic jurisprudence in light of historical and social factors, leavening the subject matter with a rare wit. Should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the subject - or even for those who want an example of how to deal with any subject in an engrossing way
The term shari'a law conjures up pictures of extremism at its worst, but in this book Mr. Kadri clearly explains the origin and evolution of the law and what, in his view, has gone so wrong in recent years. Well worth reading.
The book doesn't aim to be a detailed, scholarly exploration of shari'a-- but ably achieves its goal of delivering a general understanding of the history of the concept and its multiple roles, places, and interpretations.
Apr 16, 2012
Juliana
marked it as to-read
April 16, 2012 - "Interpreting Shariah Law Across The Centuries" on NPR
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/16/1505609...
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/16/1505609...
In just 280 pages, I feel as though I've been brought up to speed on the glories and pitfalls of an entire civilization spanning 1400 years. And, now, capable of seeing modern day Islam with that rarest of things: perspective. Which is to say: read this book.
This book is a good starting point to understanding the development Islamic Jurisprudence.
very slow going. I couldn't finish and it needs to go back to the library.
Excellent and thoughtful book. Written with insight and humor.
Excellent and accessible historical overview of Islamic law and how it intersects with Muslim (and host) culture(s)
Interesting and well-structured, this is a nice introduction to the history of Shari'a law through modern times.
I enjoyed this book. I learned a lot. I definitely read it too quickly, however, and I'd like to look it over again with a closer reading some other time.
Excellent thinking and well written.
KOBOBOOKS
Reviewed by The Guardian
Reviewed by The Guardian
I browsed through this densely written history book & learned a few things about the history of Shari'a law. But I'm not going to read it all the way through.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aslan Media Book ...: Misunderstood? | 1 | 3 | Jun 22, 2012 08:23am | |
| Aslan Media Book ...: Shifting Perspectives of Islamic Law | 1 | 7 | Jun 04, 2012 07:07pm | |
| Aslan Media Book ...: Using History to find Rationality in Sharia Law | 1 | 6 | Jun 04, 2012 07:01pm |
Feb 16, 2013 04:54pm