The Life of Shari'a

A Comparative Anthropology of Law

Youssef Belal

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

University of California Press
27 May 2025

Islamic & Arabic philosophy; Islamic life & practice; Islamic studies; Social & cultural anthropology; Islamic law

Is there a way to think about contemporary life with knowledge that is neither modern nor Western? Rather than confining Islam to a ""religion"" and shariʿa to its ""law,"" Youssef Belal provocatively argues that Islamic shariʿa is a mode of knowledge with its own concepts and scholarly categories through which the world and the self are grasped. The Life of Shariʿa considers two intertwined lineages: how Islamic scholars have formulated knowledge from the classical period to today and how Westerners have understood the law and its origins. By melding these two traditions, Belal puts the formation of modern law under a new light and offers, through a compelling conceptualization of shariʿa, a powerful argument for its continued relevance to the life of contemporary Muslims.

By: Youssef Belal
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 499g
ISBN: 9780520410039
ISBN 10: 0520410033
Pages: 374
Publication Date: 27 May 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Youssef Belal is an anthropologist and political theorist. He is also a UN diplomat and peace mediator who served as political director of UN missions in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa. He has taught at Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley, and was named a member of Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study in 2016. He is author of Le cheikh et le calife: Sociologie religieuse de l’Islam politique au Maroc (The sheikh and the caliph: Religious sociology of political Islam in Morocco).