Chapters on Marriage and Divorce: Responses of Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Rahwayh

While western-derived legal codes have superseded Islamic law in many parts of the Muslim world, Islamic, Koran-based law still retains its force in the area of marriage and family relations, the area that is key to the status of women. This work makes available for the first time in English three compilations of responses to questions about family law given by two prominent Muslim jurists of the ninth century (third century of Islam)--Ahmad b. Hanbal, the eponymous founder of the Hanbali rite of Sunni Islam (the one dominant in Saudi Arabia), and Ishaq b. Rahwayh. These compilations are basic sources for the study of the development of legal thinking in Islam. The introduction to the translation locates the compilations in a historical context and elucidates how the various issues of family law are treated. An appendix contains a collation of the significant variants among the manuscripts and printed versions of the Arabic texts. The volume concludes with a topical index and an index of names.

Author: Susan A. Spectorsky
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 08/01/1993
Pages: 294
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.03h x 6.01w x 0.83d
ISBN: 9780292776722

About the Author
Susan A. Spectorsky is Associate Professor Emerita of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Queens College of the City University of New York.