Research Project

Unity in non-centralized normative discourses: cohesion and flexibility in Islamic schools of law

My research focusses on mechanisms that facilitate cohesion within non-centralized normative discourses. More specifically, I am interested in the techniques and strategies applied by Islamic schools of law (madhāhib, Sg. madhhab) in order to accommodate for a plurality of opinions and yet maintain a high degree of unity.

Typically, legal systems are hierarchically structured, vesting authority in central institutions (e.g. high courts, a pope, a legislative body, etc.) that may decide in doctrinal conflicts or unify the law by way of legislation. Islamic law, in contrast, developed a markedly anti-centralist attitude during its formative phase: Legal insight was defined as an individual duty of every capable believer (viz. everyone with “knowledge”) that must not be delegated to an institution. As a result, Islamic law emerged as a non-hierarchical discourse of jurists.

Over time, however, “schools” emerged. These schools were not defined by any ties to a place or institution (like, e.g., the School of Bologna), but rather emerged as interpretative communities spanning over many generations and referring to a common (and growing) body of literature. By the 12th century, these schooles developed a remarkably stabilized doctrine that some have described as a “canon”. My interest is in the mechanisms by which these schools – as “decentralized institutions” – generated legal unity. At the same time, I am interested in how the schools enabled the flexibility necessary to adapt a unified law to diverse and ever changing social and economical conditions.