Understanding Islamic Law

From Classical to Contemporary

Ramadan brings together essays to explain the history of Islamic law and its role in the contemporary world.

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this chapter is not only to educate the reader on
the fundamentals of the Islamic punishment scheme but also to permit the reader
to enter a law sphere that might be atypical and indeed at odds with the legal
concepts already rooted in the reader's mind. The reason for the peculiarity is that
most readers living in the west are most familiar with positive law,1 applying its
norms, as a criterion, to the examination of Islamic law doctrines and philosophy.