Islamic and Jewish Legal Reasoning: Encountering Our Legal Other

306 Pages·2016·2.022 MB·English

by  Anver Emon

More praise for
Islamic and Jewish Legal Reasoning
‘Islamic and Jewish Legal Reasoning is a series of thoughtful scholarly
essays in which recognition of differences becomes the starting point
for mutual understanding. The essays introduce the reader to pairs of
outstanding scholars who reflect together on legal questions regarding
animals, sovereignty, the status of women, and other issues. Their con-
versations provide a wealth of detail on these two important traditions,
and they remind us again that to know our own law and culture, we
must first understand the questions others raise about them.’
robin W. Lovin,
William H. Scheide Senior Fellow in Theology,
Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton
‘Islamic and Jewish Legal Reasoning is daring and innovative. The book
is a conversation among scholars of law and religion in these two great
traditions, based on intensive collective readings of and reflections on
each other’s key texts, specifically concerning the role of reason and
authority in determining law. The result is a fascinating and highly
readable account of this dialogue.’
Ziba Mir-Hosseini,
SOAS, University of London
‘Designed for the non-specialist, this fascinating book invites the reader
to listen in on a conversation about law, Jewish law and Islamic law,
among distinguished scholars thinking about modern questions—the
nature of law and judicial authority, the status of women, animal rights,
and sovereignty—with ancient and medieval texts. It is a deeply serious
book which models an informed and open dialogue about consequential
matters rather than providing packaged pieties.’
Winnifred faLLers suLLivan,
Chair, Department of Religious Studies, Indiana University Bloomington

Islamic and Jewish
Legal Reasoning
—Encountering Our Legal Other—
Edited by
anver M. eMon
O N EW O R LD
A Oneworld Book
First published by Oneworld Publications 2016
This ebook published by Oneworld Publications 2016
Copyright © Anver Emon 2016
All rights reserved
Copyright under Berne Convention
A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78074-880-1
eISBN 978-1-78074-881-8
Typeset by Tetragon, London
Oneworld Publications
10 Bloomsbury Street
London WC1b 3sr
England
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Islamic and Jewish Legal Reasoning—Beginnings xi
Anver M. EMon and Robert Gibbs
On Reading Together xi
Formation of a Reading Practice xviii
From Reading Together to Writing Together xxi
PART I
1. Assuming Power: Judges, Imagined Authority, and the
Quotidian 3
RuMee AHMed and AryeH CoHen
Introduction 3
Rumee Ahmed 5
Aryeh Cohen 14
Rumee Ahmed 19
Aryeh Cohen: Coda 22
Conclusion 23
2. Guardianship of Women in Islamic and Jewish Legal Texts 25
RaCHeL AdLer and AyesHa S. CHaudHry
Introduction 25
Reading an Islamic Legal Text Together 29
Reading a Jewish Legal Text Together 39
Further Reflections: Rachel Adler 51
Comparative Reflections: Ayesha S. Chaudhry 54
Conclusion 55
3. The Cowering Calf and the Thirsty Dog: Narrating
and Legislating Kindness to Animals in Jewish and
Islamic Texts 61
BetH BerkoWitZ and Marion KatZ
Introduction 61
Dialogue 1: Legal Obligations toward Animals 67
Dialogue 2: Compassion toward Animals 89
Conclusion 108
4. Policing Women: Virginity Checkers and the Sotah Ordeal
as Sites of Women’s Agency 113
AyesHa S. CHaudHry and SHari GoLberg
Women Policing Women: From Montreal to Jerusalem 113
The Hidaya: Testimony in Cases of Zina 121
Mishnah Sotah: Testimony in the Case of Suspected
Adultery 128
The Adulteress vs. the Adulterer 151
Conclusion 152
5. Sovereignty, Law, and the Pedagogy of Historical Fantasy:
On the Halakha on the Laws of War and the Fiqh on
Dhimmis 155
Arye Edrei and Anver M. EMon
Introduction 155
Early Rabbinic and Islamic Legal Trajectories 162
Inverting the Political Form 188
Conclusion 212
PART II
6. Cross-Textual Reflections on Tradition, Reason, and
Authority 219
AdaM B. SeLigMan
Introduction: Tradition and Reason 219
Tradition and Dialogue 222
Authority and Religion 230
7. The Social Life of Reason 237
Robert Gibbs
A Philosophical Framework 240
Philosophical Questions 246
List of Contributors 259
Index 265