The second emergence of Islamic jurisprudence

Islamic jurisprudence has remained a target of Orientalist study in the modern era, despite the differences in its schools, to the point that this study has become a refuge for many of those seeking a deeper exploration of legal sayings within the political and social context that produced them. This study, issued as part of the Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization series and published in its Arabic version by the Namaa Center, is the first to address the emergence of the official jurisprudential school in the post-Mongol era; it reveals how the ruling Ottoman family shaped a special branch within the Hanafi school in terms of structure and choice. The book also examines the opposition expressed by various jurists, especially in the Arab provinces under Ottoman rule, against this new trend. By looking at the emergence of the concept of the official jurisprudential school, the book aims to challenge the grand narratives related to the history of Islamic legislation, which tend to view the nineteenth century as a major rupture. Instead, the book demonstrates that some developments presumed to have occurred in the nineteenth century, such as the codification of Islamic jurisprudence, are rooted in earlier centuries. Therefore, the book proposes a new periodization for the history of Islamic legislation in the Levantine Islamic lands.