Transformations of Tradition probes how the encounter with colonial modernity conditioned Islamic jurists' conceptualizations of the shari'a. Departing from the tendency to focus on reformist-minded thinkers and politically charged issues, Junaid Quadri directs his attention towards the overlooked jurisprudential writings of Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti-i (1854-1935), Mufti of Egypt and a frequent critic of the famed reformists Muhammad 'Abduh and Rashid Rida. There, he locates a remarkable series of foundational intellectual shifts. Offering a fresh perspective on a pivotal period in the history of Islamic thought, Quadri tracks how Bakhit reworks the relationship of the shari'a to categories of understanding as fundamental as history and authority, science and technology, and religion and the secular, thereby upending the very ground upon which Islamic law had until then functioned. Through close readings of complex legal texts and mining of oft-neglected archives, this carefully researched study situates its argument in both the contested scholarly world of a quickly-changing Cairo, and the transregional school of Hanafi law as represented by jurists writing in Kazan, Lucknow, and Baghdad. Examining Islamic jurisprudential discourse in the colonial moment, Transformations of Tradition uncovers a shari'a that is neither a medieval holdover nor merely a pragmatic concession to the demands of a new world, but rather deeply entangled with the epistemological commitments of colonial modernity.

About the Author
Junaid Quadri is Associate Professor of History and Director of Religious Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Reviews
Quadri's conclusion is bold: the status and nature of Islamic law in modernity has been fundamentally altered because of the "irresistible" nature of modern epistemological commitments. * Rajbir Singh Judge, California State University, Long Beach, Journal of the American Academy of Religion *
This book is essential reading for any scholar of the ulama or Islamic law. But it will also be of great interest to scholars of Muslim societies under colonialism generally, and to scholars of secularity in any period ... It is to Quadri's great credit that virtually anyone interested in any aspect of Islam in the last two centuries will find something thought - provoking in this book. * Brannon D. Ingram, Northwestern University, Reading Religion *
...much anticipated and equally brilliant book... * SherAli Tareen, New Books Network *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197754580
Author Junaid Quadri
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 340g
Dimensions(mm) 160mm * 226mm * 28mm