Shah Wali Allah's Treatises on Islamic Law

These new scholarly translations of Shah Wali Allah’s two important treatises on Islamic law provide access to important debates on authority and reform in Islamic legal reasoning.

The question of ijtihad (independent critical reasoning) vs. taqlid (adherence to the classical schools and rulings of Islamic law) continues to inform contemporary discussions of how Muslims as individuals and in their institutions and practice, can maintain fidelity and authenticity, while addressing the compelling issues of the present age.

Shah Wali Allah’s balanced approach to questions of juristic disagreement, utilizes historical context and critical interpretive method to model an approach to questions of Islamic law and practice that is simultaneously traditional and skillfully adaptive.