The emergence and evolution of Islamic public law throughout the first four hundred years of Islam represented one of the most dramatic transformations of law in history. As a result of this development, society, politics, literature, and law were profoundly shaped throughout Islamic civilization. However, this field of study has been limited largely to a jurisprudential perspective which does not fully convey its versatility and depth. In this seminar, we will venture to explore and reconstruct the evolution of Islamic law and its application within its various dimensions. 

You will engage with an eclectic mix of genres in Classical Arabic accompanied by English translations, such as administrative documents, papyri, fiqh (jurisprudential texts), and mirrors for princes, and fatāwā (legal pronouncements). My hope is you will come away from this class with a nuanced understanding of the Islamic criminal justice on both theoretical and practical levels, while at the same time becoming acquainted with the astonishing diversity of Islamic society.
 

This is an eight-week course

Dates: Wednesdays, 29/04/2026; 06/05/2026; 13/05/2025; 20/05/2025; 27/05/2025; 03/06/2025; 10/06/2025; 17/06/2025

Location: Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. This course is in-person only (not online).

Time: 9.30am - 10.45am

Cost: £120.00

Refreshments: teas and coffee to be served prior to start of course.

Speakers: Dr Mohammed Allehbi

Click here to apply for this course

Learning Outcomes:

• Participants will identify parallels and differences in legal theories and practices throughout the pre-Islamic and Islamic Near East, and the Mediterranean
• Participants will understand that the theoretical aspects of the law are at times distinct from its application
• Participants will be able to critically engage with the primary and secondary sources
• Participants will learn how to write effective historical arguments on Law