Dr Ali-reza Bhojani’s co-edited volume ‘Visions of Sharīʿa: Contemporary Discussions in Shī ͑ī Legal Theory’ published by Brill

Al-Mahdi Institute is proud to announce the publication of ‘Visions of Sharīʿa: Contemporary Discussions in Shī ͑ī Legal Theory’. Published within Brill’s  Studies in Islamic law and Society series and co-edited by AMI’s  Dr Ali-reza Bhojani, Dr Laurens de Rooij and Prof. Michael Bohlander, the volume includes contributions from a number of AMI faculty and graduates alongside other academics and mujtahids from around the world.

In Visions of Sharīʿa Bhojani, De Rooij and Bohlander present the first broad examination of ways in which legal theory ( uṣūl al-fiqh) within Twelver Shīʿī thought continues to be a forum for vibrant debates regarding the assumptions, epistemology and hermeneutics of Sharīʿa in contemporary Shīʿī thought. Bringing together authoritative voices and emerging scholars, from both ‘traditional’ seminaries and ‘Western’ academies, the distinct critical insider and emic accounts provided develop a novel avenue in Islamic legal studies. Contextualised through reference to the history of Shīʿī legal theory as well as contemporary juristic practice and socio-political considerations, the volume demonstrates how one of the most intellectually vibrant and developed discourses of Islamic thought continues to be a key forum for exploring visions of Sharīʿa.

The volume includes contributions from Ayatollah Seyyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad, Dr Hashim Bata, and Dr Imranali Panjwani, with an epilogue by Professor Robert Gleave.  A full table of contents and the appendix ‘al-Sayyid ʿAlī al-Ḥusaynī al-Sīstānī on Uṣūl al-fiqh in Twelver Shīʿī Thought: Its Importance and Historical Phases’ is available as an open access resource here.