ON SCHACHT’S ORIGINS OF MUHAMMADAN JURISPRUDENCE

ON SCHACHT’S ORIGINS OF MUHAMMADAN JURISPRUDENCE   ON SCHACHT’S ORIGINS OF fiD-MUHAMMADAN JURISPRUDENCE Dr. Muhammad Mustafa al-A`zami This in depth study, carried out by one of Islam’s leading scholars, presents a detailed analysis and critique of the classic Orientalist work, Schacht’s Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. Azami’s work examines the source used by Schacht to develop his thesis on the relation of Islamic Law to the Qur’an, and exposes fundamental flaws in Schacht’s methodology that lead to the conclusions unsupported by the texts examined. This book is an important contribution to Islamic legal studies from an Islamic perspective. For the first time we have a work like Azami’s. He has devoted literally years of research to the investigation of Hadith and has analyzed, tested and passed scholarly judgment on Schacht’s argument step by step, working with actual hadith materials. *** “This book is indeed an effective response to Schacht…. Azami has, through this and other works, demonstrated himself to be an outstanding scholar of Hadith…. He is the most well-versed and learned scholar of the Islamic sciences of tradition.” —Journal of Near Eastern Studies *** “This work deserves to find a place not only in libraries of educational institutions and research organizations but also in the personal collections of every serious student of Islamic law.” — Muslim World Book Review