This introduction to Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) summarizes its major concepts and presents the contemporary debates among historians concerning the historicity of the Islamic sources of dogma, and of the dating of early Islamic law.

This introduction to Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) summarizes its major concepts and presents the contemporary debates among historians concerning the historicity of the Islamic sources of dogma, and of the dating of early Islamic law. It describes the classical practice of the law, in the formulation and elaboration of the legal rules (fatwas, furu' works, mukhtasars and so forth) and in the paradigms of legal practice in the courts. It summarizes various types of Islamic substantive legal rules (in mu'amalat), hudud and ta'zir, bodily harm and diya, marriage and family law and some apects of economic law, in particular taxation, contracts and the marketplace.