Table Of ContentRoutledge Handbook of
Religious Laws
Much has been written on specific religious legal systems, yet substantial comparative studies
that strive to compare systems, identifying their analogies and differences, have been relatively
few. This absence undermines the capacity to understand religions and becomes particularly
serious when the faithful of these religions live together in the same geographical space, as
happens today with increasing frequency. Both interreligious dialogue and dialogue between
States and religions presuppose a set of data and information that only comparative research
can provide.
This book seeks to address this gap in the literature by presenting a comparative analysis of
Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Hindu laws and traditions. Divided into five parts, the first part of
the book offers the historical background for the legal analysis that is developed in the subsequent
parts. Part II deals with the sources of law in the four religions under discussion. Part III addresses
the dynamics of belonging and status, and Part IV looks at issues relating to the conclusion of
marriage and its dissolution. The fifth and final part discusses how each religion views the legal
other. Each part concludes with exploring what we can learn from a comparative examination of
the topic that is dealt with in that part.
Written by leading experts in the field, this book presents a clear and comprehensive picture
of key religious legal systems along with a substantial bibliography. It provides a state of the art
overview of scholarship in this area accompanied by a critical evaluation. As such, it will be an
invaluable resource for all those concerned with religious legal systems, multiculturalism and
comparative law.
Rossella Bottoni is a Researcher and an Adjunct Professor at the Catholic University of Milan,
Italy. She has published extensively in both English and Italian on aspects relating to law and
religion.
Silvio Ferrari is Professor of Law and Religion at the University of Milan, Italy. He has
been Visiting Professor at the University of California, USA (1994 and 2001), the Institute for
Advanced Legal Studies, London (1998–99), the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne,
Paris (2004) and the CTI, Princeton (2014).
Routledge Handbook of
Religious Laws
Edited by Rossella Bottoni and Silvio Ferrari
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2019 selection and editorial matter, Rossella Bottoni and
Silvio Ferrari; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Rossella Bottoni and Silvio Ferrari to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the contributors
for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
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retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bottoni, Rossella, author. | Ferrari, Silvio, editor.
Title: Routledge handbook on religious laws / Rossella Bottoni and
Silvio Ferrari. Other titles: Handbook on religious laws
Description: New York, NY: Routledge, 2019. | Series: Routledge
international handbooks
Identifiers: LCCN 2018048172| ISBN 9781138698437 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781315518978 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Religious law and legislation. | Religion and law. |
Comparative law. | Church and state.
Classification: LCC KB197 .B68 2019 | DDC 208/.4—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018048172
ISBN: 978-1-138-69843-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-51897-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Swales & Willis, Exeter, Devon, UK
Contents
Contributors viii
Introduction: religious laws and their comparison – theoretical and
methodological issues 1
Rossella Bottoni, Silvio Ferrari and Russell Sandberg
PART I
History 19
1 The Jewish tradition: a history 21
Joseph E. David
2 The Christian tradition: a history 35
Kenneth Pennington
3 The Islamic tradition: a history 52
Knut S. Vikør
4 The Hindu tradition: a history 68
Domenico Francavilla
5 Comparative remarks: a history of religious laws 83
John Tolan
PART II
Sources of law 93
6 Jewish law: the sources 95
Joseph E. David
7 Christian law: the sources 108
Burkhard J. Berkmann
v
Contents
8 Islamic law: the sources 122
Knut S. Vikør
9 Hindu law: the sources 134
Domenico Francavilla
10 Comparative remarks: the sources of religious laws 146
Gary F. Bell
PART III
Dynamics of belonging and status 155
11 Jewish law: dynamics of belonging and status 157
Suzanne Last Stone
12 Christian law: dynamics of belonging and status 168
Norman Doe
13 Islamic law: dynamics of belonging and status 184
Anver M. Emon
14 Hindu law: dynamics of belonging and status 195
Werner Menski and Kalindi Kokal
15 Comparative remarks: religious laws and dynamics of belonging and status 208
Francis Messner
PART IV
Marriage 219
16 Jewish law: marriage 221
Elimelech Westreich and Avishalom Westreich
17 Christian law: marriage 239
Agustín Motilla
18 Islamic law: marriage 250
Roberta Aluffi
19 Hindu law: marriage 263
Werner Menski and Gopika Solanki
20 Comparative remarks: religious laws and marriage 279
Yüksel Sezgin
vi
Contents
PART V
The legal other 289
21 Jewish law perspectives: the legal other 291
Suzanne Last Stone
22 Christian law perspectives: the legal other 301
Norman Doe
23 Islamic law perspectives: the legal other 319
Anver M. Emon
24 Hindu law perspectives: the legal other 335
Werner Menski and Zoe Headley
25 Comparative remarks: religious laws and the legal other 351
Adam B. Seligman
Index 360
vii
Contributors
Roberta Aluffi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Law at the University of Turin,
Italy.
Gary F. Bell is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the National University of
Singapore and Director of the Asian Law Institute.
Burkhard J. Berkmann is a Professor of Canon Law in the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the
Ludwig-Maximilian University, Germany.
Rossella Bottoni is a Researcher and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Political and Social
Sciences at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy.
Joseph E. David is an Associate Professor of Law and Religion at the Law School of Sapir
Academic College, Israel.
Norman Doe is a Professor of Law at the School of Law and Politics and Director of the Centre
for Law and Religion at Cardiff University, UK.
Anver M. Emon is a Professor of Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto,
Canada.
Silvio Ferrari is a Professor of Law at the University of Milan, Italy.
Domenico Francavilla is an Associate Professor in the Department of Law at the University of
Turin, Italy.
Zoe Headley is a Researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research, France.
Kalindi Kokal is a Research Partner in the Department of Law and Anthropology at the Max
Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Germany.
Werner Menski is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Law at the SOAS University of
London, UK.
Francis Messner is a Professor at the University of Strasbourg, France.
viii
Contributors
Agustín Motilla is a Professor of Law and Religion at the University Carlos III of Madrid,
Spain.
Kenneth Pennington is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Canon Law at the Catholic
University of America, USA.
Russell Sandberg is Head of Law and Professor of Law at the School of Law and Politics at
Cardiff University, UK.
Adam B. Seligman is a Professor of Religion and a Research Associate at the Institute on
Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University, USA.
Yüksel Sezgin is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Maxwell School of
Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, USA.
Gopika Solanki is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Sciences at Carleton
University, Ottawa, Canada.
Suzanne Last Stone is a Professor of Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization and Director
of the Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization in the Benjamin N. Cardozo
School of Law at Yeshiva University, USA.
John Tolan is a Professor of History at the University of Nantes, France, and a Member of the
Academia Europæa.
Knut S. Vikør is a Professor of the History of the Middle East and Muslim Africa at the University
of Bergen, Norway.
Avishalom Westreich is a Senior Lecturer at the College of Law and Business, Ramat Gan and
a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem, Israel.
Elimelech Westreich is a Professor of Law in the Buchman Faculty of Law at Tel-Aviv
University, Israel.
ix
