In Fatwa and the Making and Renewal of Islamic Law, Omar Awass examines the formation and transformation of Islamic legal discourse and its impact on Muslim society by analyzing fatwas—religious legal opinions—throughout Islamic history. Historically, substantial aspects of Islamic law have evolved from the material contained within these fatwas. In the early stages of Islamic history, there were no formal laws providing guidance on religious and social matters. Instead, Muslims sought guidance on their religious practices by posing religious questions to early proto-jurists in the form of religious legal inquiries, the responses to which became known as fatwas. From this critical mass of fatwas, an Islamic legal doctrine took shape, leading to the emergence of a definitive corpus of Islamic law.
Awass explores the discourse surrounding Islamic law and how it has evolved over time, particularly through the lens of fatwas, which have served as key sources of legal interpretation and guidance for Muslims. He elucidates how fatwas have played a central role in shaping Islamic legal norms and principles and how they have responded to the evolving socio-historical contexts of Muslim societies. By analyzing the evolution of fatwas and their impact on legal thought and practice, Awass provides insights into the dynamic relationship between Islamic legal discourse and Muslim societies throughout history.
Awass not only delineates transformations within Islamic legal discourse via fatwas but also highlights their historical impact on Islamic civilization. Fatwas, originating from social and religious issues, serve as legal responses, reflecting societal changes. They either legitimize or hinder these changes. Additionally, fatwas stem from civil society, their dialogical nature facilitating exchanges between the public and muftis. Despite differing social status, seeking fatwas remains a dialogical process reflecting public concerns. Awass explains how the distinctiveness of iftaʾ—the process that produces fatwas—is rooted in Islam’s discursive sources, fostering its dialogical essence.
Awass has meticulously organized the material in a chronological manner, beginning with the early stages of Islam and extending to the postcolonial Muslim world. Although Awass does not narrow down to particular periods, personalities, or geographical locales, he intricately weaves a narrative around the legal custom of iftaʾ, a practice pivotal in the emergence of Islamic legal norms, methodologies, and institutional frameworks. Through his careful tracing of the trajectory of fatwas across successive epochs in Islamic legal history, he retains a sustained focus while simultaneously accentuating the diverse array of discourses, historical events, institutional formations, influential figures, and geographical contexts that collectively shape Islamic jurisprudence.
The book consists of six chapters and a conclusion. In chapter 1, Awass traces the origin of the fatwa to the prophetic era, emphasizing iftaʾ as a dialogical process, through which early Muslims used scriptural hermeneutics to address socio-political challenges, shaping Islamic legal methodology. In chapter 2, Awass analyzes fatwas from the classical era and their role in implementing Quranic legal norms. In chapter 3, he discusses the emergence of Islamic legal principles from the third century AH/ninth century CE to the fifth century AH/eleventh century CE, highlighting how earlier fatwas contributed to the formation of Islamic legal theory and doctrines while also exploring the dialectical relationship between iftaʾ activity and the development of new legal concepts.
In chapter 4, Awass illustrates how past legal practices shaped the Islamic legal tradition as fatwas from previous jurists influenced subsequent legal doctrines. He also outlines the establishment of the Islamic legal schools and their doctrines after the fifth century AH/eleventh century CE, leading to a more structured iftaʾ process, and he delineates the discursive rules for fatwa production. In chapter 5, Awass demonstrates the practical application of fatwa’s discursive rules discussed in the prior chapter, from 1100 to 1850 CE. This era witnessed the full establishment of legal schools and doctrines and legal theory in Islamic law, significantly influencing the production of Islamic legal rulings. Through analysis of representative fatwas, Awass showcases how fatwas adapted to societal changes by modifying the legal corpus. In chapter 6, he then outlines the historical impact of European colonialism on Muslim society and law in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Western modernity posed significant intellectual challenges to established Muslim ideas and institutions, leading to destabilization. Awass documents this impact, focusing on challenges to Islamic legal institutions and discourse during the colonial period. He then assesses the impact of modernity on colonial and postcolonial Islamic legal discourse through fatwa analysis, evaluating how Islamic law navigated colonial and postcolonial challenges and whether new legal reasoning represents substantive transformations.
Ultimately, Awass’s central inquiry focuses on the role of legal practice in issuing fatwas (iftaʾ) and how it has shaped the evolution of a distinct legal tradition. Furthermore, Awass provides insight into how this practice serves as a social instrument, facilitating the formation of an Islamic society centered on legal norms, and how it enables these legal norms to adapt to socio-historical changes over time. Thus, fatwas, in essence, serve as a discursive barometer for gauging the shifts and continuities within Islamic civilization.
Awass offers valuable insights into the formation and evolution of Islamic legal discourse through the analysis of fatwas throughout Islamic history. One of the book’s strengths lies in Awass’s comprehensive examination of fatwas as pivotal components in shaping Islamic legal traditions, providing a nuanced understanding of the development of legal norms within Muslim societies. By tracing the trajectory of fatwas from the early stages of Islam to the postcolonial era, Awass offers a holistic view of how legal practices have adapted to socio-historical contexts over time. Furthermore, he sheds light on the dialectical relationship between fatwas and social change, illustrating how fatwas both reflect and influence societal transformations.
Overall, while Awass offers valuable insights into the role of fatwas in shaping Islamic legal traditions and societies, the book could have been strengthened by a more focused thematic analysis, a nuanced treatment of colonial influences, and deeper engagement with contemporary scholarly discourses. The chronological organization results in a disjointed narrative and hinders a deeper exploration of specific themes or contexts. Additionally, while Awass acknowledges the impact of European colonialism on Islamic legal discourse, his treatment of this complex historical phenomenon is overly generalized and insufficiently nuanced. Moreover, his argument could have benefited from more explicit engagement with contemporary debates and perspectives within Islamic legal studies, providing readers with a more robust understanding of the relevance and implications of its findings in modern contexts.
Acknowledgments and Citation Guide
The author has no competing interests to declare. Citations follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, with citations to the book under review in parentheses.
