Ayşegül Çimen

The three books reviewed in this article do not seem closely related in the first impression. Younos’ book sheds light upon Islamic culture in the context of cultural anthropology; Duri’s book scrutinizes some of the significant Islamic institutions, their emergence, evolution, functioning, as well as the principles that emerged during the formative period of Islam.

As one of the major components of the Islamic state, Islamic law has drawn considerable attention from different scholars both in the East and West. Particularly, comparative studies on the historical evolution of Islamic law and its application in modern legal systems are some of the major topics in the last two decades. Peters’ Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from Sixteenth to Twenty-First Century, Millers’ Legislating Authority: Sin to Crime in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, Hallaq’s Shari’a: Theory, Practice, Transformations, and Naim’s Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari’a are some of the prominent books in the field.