The history of an Islamic school of law : the early spread of Hanafism

Abstract

The Hanafi school of law is one of the oldest legal schools of Islam, coming into existence in the eighth century in Iraq, and surviving up to the present. So closely is the early development of the Hanafi school interwoven with non-legal spheres, such as the political, social, and theological, that the study of it is essential to a proper understanding of medieval Islamic history. Using rich material drawn mainly from medieval Islamic biographical dictionaries, Nurit Tsafrir offers a thorough examination of the first century and a half of the school's existence, the period during which it took shape. She provides a detailed account of the process by which the school attracted ever more followers and spread over vast geographical areas in the Islamic world empire. The book makes an important contribution to our understanding of the history of this influential school of law in the broader context of Islamic history. The History of an Islamic School of Law: The Early Spread of Hanafism will be of interest to all those concerned with early and medieval Isalmic history, the history of Islamic schools of law, legal history, and the social history of classical Islam.

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