Language and the Interpretation of Islamic Law

Dr Sukrija Husejn Ramic's Language and the Interpretation of Islamic Law is the first work to appear in the English language on the important topic of language and its usage in the process of legal reasoning in Islamic law. These linguistic principles represent an important branch of the theoretical basis of Islamic law and are indispensable to its whole structure. Language and the Interpretation of Islamic Law is divided into four parts: linguistic principles and legal rulings; clarity and ambiguity of linguistic terms; the general and specific qualities of words; and ambiguity and clarity of selected terms. In order to place the discussion of language and the law in context, Dr Sukrija Ramic gives an introduction to the 'principles of Islamic jurisprudence' (usul al-fiqh ), its development, its branches, its importance and its relationship with the other Islamic sciences. Language and the Interpretation of Islamic Law, therefore, gives the reader for the first time an opportunity to study the 'tools' developed by Islamic scholars in making the law, the methods used in Islamic legislation, and an insight into the sources of Islamic law. In expounding the above, Dr Ramic mostly concentrates on two of the schools of Islamic law, the Hanafi and the Shafi'i.