Provides an illuminating discussion of the complex entanglements of religion and ethnicity that continue to animate highly fraught debates on Islamic law today.
Law and History Review Hussin's book is a fresh account of the interaction between Islamic law and both colonialism and the modern state. Its freshness does not lie in advancing a comprehensive or causal explanation. It ... Read morebuilds solidly on some past writings, but it recenters our understandings, shows links among developments across the Muslim world, and ventures into much underexplored terrain. The result will likely be embraced by a multidisciplinary audience and provide a model of how to understand Islamic law in the modern world.
Journal of Church and State The book is a refreshing departure from scholarly discourses that focus on binaries of Islamic authenticity and modernity, and works that lament the end of shari'a and the articulation of fiqh (jurisprudence).
St Antony's International Review Hussin's work provides an example of how historical work should be approached. Like many of the innovative examples of women's legal history produced in recent years, Hussin draws upon a wide range of sources including colonial and local papers, visual material, and private letters to paint a picture of the lived life of the law. As well as demonstrating and being an exemplar of how comparative research should be completed, Hussin's monograph can also provide inspiration for those who wish to promote the historical study of law as an interdisciplinary endeavour which is as important as social scientific approaches.
Journal of Law and Society While the unifying thread of this remarkable work is British colonialism proper in Malaya, Egypt and India, and its aftermath in a postcolony (Malaysia), it can also be read as a study in a new type of 'comparativism'. . . which thrives instead on critical comparisons of ideas about law, politics and the state akin to, and inspired by, such transdisciplinary intellectual traditions as postcolonial studies and the jurisprudence of violence. . . erudite and deeply engaging. . . . Accessible to non-specialist readers.
South Asia Review The Politics of Islamic Law takes a very fresh approach on understanding the roots of modern Islamic laws. It is a very well-researched and well-argued work. This book is a must-read for the students and experts of Islamic law. Since Hussin has traced the roots of Islamic laws in the colonial state and polices instead of Islamic theology and history, it may raise controversies. However, it is not possible to ignore this scholarly work.
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