The Origins of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, the Muwatta' and Madinan Amal

by Yasin Dutton

If the Qur'an is the first written formulation of Islam in general, Malik's Muwatta' is arguably the first written formulation of the Islam-in-practice' that becomes Islamic law. This book considers the methods used by Malik in the Muwatta' to derive the

Genres: Islam, Religion, History

264 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 1998

Reviews

[Uwais · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable and informative source. Dutton has this charm in summarising important theories and manages to give his own take on them too. His style is engaging and 'dissertion-ese' free. The topic speaks for itself. I personally know very few individuals that are as well-versed as Dutton in Maliki Law. I have not read the book in full but have browsed through chapters relevant to the development topics. To his critics, from the amount I have read, this book does not communicate the type of Maliki polemics that is noticed in his later works.

[Muawiyah Yousuf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dutton has done an amazing job with this book. He provides an alternative understanding in regards to the origins of Islamic law through the lens of the Qur'an, Malik's Muwatta and Madinan amal. Providing a new paradigm, the book challenges both Schachts claims as well as certain aspects from the traditional viewpoint. The sources of law such as Qur'an, sunnah and Hadith (Dutton makes it a point to clarify that hadith and sunnah are not synonymous, something many scholars—both western and islamic— conflate) are all viewed with the backdrop of Madinan amal. Dutton shows how Malik harmonized between the sources and collective amal. The reader also gets a glimpse into the workings of a legal jurist.

The narrative is laid out in very simple language with even explanations given for the fiqh terminology used. Highly recommended for anyone interested in either the maliki madhab or on the development of islamic laws during the first two islamic centuries.