Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Overview of the Book

Reconsidering Paradigms

Considered Opinion (Ra'y) versus Ḥadīth

Comparing Mālik and Abū Ḥanīfa

Dissent in Early Islamic Law

The Relative Paucity of Legal Ḥadīth

Part One Mālik and the Medinese Tradition

Chapter One Mālik in Medina

Mālik’s Medina and the World Beyond

Mālik’s Teachers

Mālik as a Teacher and Jurist

Mālik’s Works

The Muwaṭṭa'

The Mudawwana

Comparing the Muwaṭṭa' and the Mudawwana

Other Early Compendia of Mālik’s Opinions

Chapter Two An Overview of Mālik’s Legal Reasoning

Introduction

Mālik’s Use of the Qur'ān

Mālik, Ḥadīth, and the Sunna

The Disconnected Ḥadīth (al-Ḥadīth al-Mursal)

Post-Prophetic Reports (Āthār)

The Solitary Connected Ḥadīth (Ḥadīth al-Āḥād al-Musnad)

Mālik’s View of Consensus

Mālik and Regional Customs

Mālik’s Utilization of Considered Opinion (Ra'y)

Mālik’s Use of Analogical Reasoning

Al-Shāfi'ī’s Method of Legal Analogy

Analogical Reasoning on the Basis of Earlier Analogies and Standing Precepts

Legal Instruments Based on Inference (Istidlāl)

Mālik’s Use of Discretion (Istiḥsān)

Illustrations of Mālik’s Use of Discretion

The Ḥanafī Method of Discretion

Mālik’s Use of Preclusion (Sadd al-Dharā'i')

Illustrations of Mālik’s Application of Preclusion

Mālik and the Unstated Good (al-Maṣāliḥ al-Mursala)

Illustrations of the Unstated Good

Chapter Three Critiques of Medinese Praxis

Theories on Praxis in Modern Studies

Formative-Period Polemics against Praxis

Abū Yūsuf’s Critique of Hijazi Praxis

Al-Shaybānī’s Polemic against the Medinese

Early Shāfi'ī Contentions Regarding Medinese Praxis

Critiques of Praxis in Post-Formative Legal Theory

Praxis in Ḥanafī Works

Praxis in Mu'tazilī Works

Praxis in Shāfi'ī Works

Praxis from a Ẓāhirī Perspective

Generalizations about Praxis Seen through the Prism of Post-Formative Juristic Critiques

Chapter Four Medinese Praxis in the Eyes of Its Advocates

Introduction

The Correspondence of Mālik and al-Layth ibn Sa'd

Praxis in Mālikī and Ḥanbalī Works on Legal Theory

Categories of Medinese Praxis

Juristic Classifications of Medinese Praxis

Juristic Classifications of Praxis in the Light of Mālik’s Terminology

The Medinese Community in Mālik’s Eyes

Jurists as Heirs and Guardians of Praxis

Praxis and the Golden Mean

Mimesis and Early Islamic Praxis

General Observations about Praxis and Legal Texts

Using Praxis to Distinguish Repealed (Mansūkh) from Repealing (Nāsikh) Texts

Using Praxis to Distinguish between Normative and Non-Normative Texts

Using Praxis to Distinguish Isolated from Habitual Actions

Using Praxis to Distinguish between the Prophet’s Different Roles (Taṣarrufāt)

Using Praxis to Modify and Supplement Textual Content

Part Two Mālik’s Terminology in the Muwaṭṭa’ and Mudawwana

Chapter Five Mālik’s Terminology

Introduction

Theories Regarding Mālik’s Terminology

Why Does Mālik Use Terms in the Muwaṭṭa'?

What Mālik Reportedly Said about His Terminology

Terminology in the Mudawwana

Chapter Six The Sunna-Terms

General Observations about the Sunna-Terms

Examples of Sunna-Terms

1. S-XN: Zakāh on Gold and Silver

2. S-XN . . . : No Zakāh on Fruit, Provender, and Greens

3. SthN-X: Bequests to Heirs

4. SN and S-XN: Marriage Annulment through Mutual Cursing (Li'ān)

5. S-XN and SN: Zakāh on Inheritance

6. MḍS: A Plaintiff with One Supporting Witness

Mālik’s Sunna-Terms in Summary

Chapter Seven Terms Referring to the People of Knowledge in Medina

General Observations

Examples

1. -zĀIb: The Pilgrim’s Chant (Talbiya)

2. -zĀIb: Regarding Circumambulation of the Ka'ba (Ṭawāf)

3. -zĀIb: Steeping Dates with Raisins

4. -zĀIN: The Waiting Period ('Idda) of a Pregnant Woman Whose Husband Dies

5. ĀdIb: Joining the Friday Prayer Late

6. ĀdIb: Husbands Who Cannot Support Their Wives

7. ĀdIb: The Banishment of Fornicators

Mālik’s References to the People of Knowledge in Summary

Chapter Eight References to Medinese Praxis

General Observations

Affirmative Praxis Terms

1. AlNs: Payment for Animals before Delivery Dates

2. AlNs: Defining Lands Suitable for Shared-Profit Farm Labor (Musāqāh)

3. AlNs: Contracts of Earned Emancipation (Mukātaba)

4. ĀAl: Inheritance Allotments for Kin Who Perish in the Same Battles or Calamities

Negative Praxis Terms

1. Al-Ā: Qur'ānic Prostrations

2. Al-Ā: 'Umar’s Letter to a Military Commander

3. Al-Ā: 'Ā'isha’s Reading of an Abrogated Qur'ānic Verse

4. Al-Ā: Optional Sales Agreements (Bay' al-Khiyār)

5. AlN-Ā: 'Umar and the Camel Thieves

The Praxis Chapters

1. AlA: Ritual Wiping over Footwear (al-Masḥ 'alā al-Khuffayn)

2. AlA: The Sitting Posture in Prayer

3. AlA: S-XN: Festival Prayers (Ṣalāt al-'Īdayn)

4. AlA: Sacrificial Camels (al-Hady) Driven to Pilgrimage

5. AlA: Washing the Bodies of Martyrs

6. AlA: The Newborn Sacrifice (al-'Aqīqa)

7. AlA: Amounts of Indemnities (Diya) in Gold and Silver

Mālik’s Praxis Terms in Summary

Affirmative Praxis Terms

Negative Praxis Terms

The Praxis Chapters

Chapter Nine Amr-Terms Supported by Local Consensus

General Observations

Examples of Amr-Terms Indicating Consensus

1. AMN: Using a Magian’s Hunting Dogs

2. AMN: Taking the Testimony of Minors

3. AMN: The Inheritance of an Unknown Son

4. AMN and A-XN: Permission to Alter Bequests Other than Deferred Manumission (Tadbīr)

5. AMN: Bequests to Free Jointly Owned Slaves

6. AMN and S-XN: The Collective Oath (Qasāma)

Mālik’s Amr-Terms for Consensus in Summary

Chapter Ten AN: Al-Amr 'Indanā

General Observations

AN Precepts Pertaining to Ritual

1. AN: Recitation behind an Imām

2. AN: Conjugal Relations in the Case of False Menstrual Bleeding (Istiḥāḍa)

3. AN: Praying Voluntary Prayers at Night and Day

4. AN: The Number of Proclamations of God’s Greatness (Takbīrāt) in Festival Prayers

5. AN: Proclamation of God’s Greatness (Takbīr) during the Festive Days of Pilgrimage (Ayyām al-Tashrīq)

AN Precepts Pertaining to Social Transactions

1. AN: No Fixed Indemnity for Penetrating Body Wounds (Al-Nāfidha)

2. AN: Indemnities for Broken Teeth

3. AN: The Divorcement Oath (Al-Īlā')

4. AN: Advancing Emancipation Deadlines and Reducing the Cost of a Slave under Contract of Earned Emancipation (Mukātaba)

5. AN: Punishment in Conspiracies to Commit Murder

Mālik’s AN Terms in Summary

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index