Overview

The Second Formation of Islamic Law is the first book to deal with the rise of an official school of law in the post-Mongol period. The author explores how the Ottoman dynasty shaped the structure and doctrine of a particular branch within the Hanafi school of law. In addition, the book examines the opposition of various jurists, mostly from the empire's Arab provinces, to this development. By looking at the emergence of the concept of an official school of law, the book seeks to call into question the grand narratives of Islamic legal history that tend to see the nineteenth century as the major rupture. Instead, an argument is formed that some of the supposedly nineteenth-century developments, such as the codification of Islamic law, are rooted in much earlier centuries. In so doing, the book offers a new periodization of Islamic legal history in the eastern Islamic lands.

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9781107462076

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Reviews

'What is immediately striking, and indeed exciting, about this work is the breadth and detail of the author's research, which has allowed him to reconstruct some details of the Ottoman legal establishment which have hitherto remained obscure ... What the author records, with a richness of detail that can only be hinted at here, is the increasing formalization and central control of the institutions of law in the Ottoman Empire.' Colin Imber, Journal of Islamic Studies 'Burak displays an impressive command of Ottoman legal writings, both published and in manuscript. This is by far the most detailed examination to date of the legal literature of the period ... Burak has given Ottomanists and students of early modern Islamic empires much to consider, and for that he is to be thanked. This book is an important reference for anyone studying the development of law in the Ottoman Empire.' Adam Sabra, The American Historical Review

'What is immediately striking, and indeed exciting, about this work is the breadth and detail of the author's research, which has allowed him to reconstruct some details of the Ottoman legal establishment which have hitherto remained obscure ... What the author records, with a richness of detail that can only be hinted at here, is the increasing formalization and central control of the institutions of law in the Ottoman Empire.' Colin Imber, Journal of Islamic Studies 'Burak displays an impressive command of Ottoman legal writings, both published and in manuscript. This is by far the most detailed examination to date of the legal literature of the period ... Burak has given Ottomanists and students of early modern Islamic empires much to consider, and for that he is to be thanked. This book is an important reference for anyone studying the development of law in the Ottoman Empire.' Adam Sabra, The American Historical Review 'What is immediately striking, and indeed exciting, about this work is the breadth and detail of the author's research, which has allowed him to reconstruct some details of the Ottoman legal establishment which have hitherto remained obscure ... What the author records, with a richness of detail that can only be hinted at here, is the increasing formalization and central control of the institutions of law in the Ottoman Empire.' Colin Imber, Journal of Islamic Studies 'Burak displays an impressive command of Ottoman legal writings, both published and in manuscript. This is by far the most detailed examination to date of the legal literature of the period ... Burak has given Ottomanists and students of early modern Islamic empires much to consider, and for that he is to be thanked. This book is an important reference for anyone studying the development of law in the Ottoman Empire.' Adam Sabra, The American Historical Review

Author Information

Guy Burak is the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Librarian at New York University's Bobst Library. Previously, Burak was a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, and in the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. His articles have appeared in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Comparative Studies in Society and History, the Mediterranean Historical Review, and the Journal of Islamic Studies.

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