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ABU BAKR IBN AL-MUNDHIR, AMPUTATION, AND THE ART OF IJTIHĀD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2007

Scott C. Lucas
Scott C. Lucas
Affiliation:
Scott C. Lucas is Assistant Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Religious Studies Program, University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210158B, Tucson, Ariz. 85721-0158, USA; e-mail: sclucas@email.arizona.edu.
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Abstract

This article introduces the legal methodology of independent mujtahid (legal scholar) Abu Bakr ibn al-Mundhir al-Naysaburi (d. 930) in order to shed light on the nature of ijtihād (independent judgment in a legal or theological question) on the eve of crystallization of the four Sunni legal schools. Ibn al-Mundhir's presentation of laws concerning punishment for theft indicates that the Qurʿan and Prophetic hadith played a modest role in early elaboration of Islamic law. Instead, the bulk of this early mujtahid's efforts were devoted to culling and evaluating legal opinions of the companions, successors, and, in particular, a small group of postsuccessor jurists. I conclude by locating Ibn al-Mundhir within the literature of juristic disagreement (ikhtilāf) and highlighting the features that make his writings exceptional within this tradition.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , August 2007 , pp. 368a
Copyright
© 2007 Cambridge University Press

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