Our Tradition and Traditional Schools of Law
An article briefly addressing the origins of the Islamic legal schools and the use of intellect in deriving Sacred Law from its sources.
Early Debates in Traditional Scholarship
A brief article and reflection on the early debates between the Ahl al-Raʽy (People of Legal Opinion) and Ahl al-Ḥadīth (People of Transmission) and some of the implications for today.
A review of Abou El Fadl’s The Authoritative and the Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses: A Contemporary Case Study which addresses contemporary authoritarian trends within the Muslim community and how their approach diminishes the complex methodologies of classical jurists.
A brief reflection on how, in the absence of traditional scholarship, authoritative texts may become interpreted with greater rigidity.
Of Love and Knowledge: The Story of Fatimah al-Samarqandi
An amazing story of life and love expressed through the life of one of our tradition’s greatest female scholars.
A brief reflection on war and peacemaking shared at an interfaith dialogue.
This peer-reviewed article provides a combined reading of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah through the lens of both the Christian and Islamic tradition. Rather than focusing on the story’s use in contemporary discourse related to same-gendered relationships and homosexuality, it addresses the spiritual lessons that have historically been derived related to hospitality and the care of those who provide religious instruction with hopes that these lessons will not be lost in today’s contemporary polemics (Published by The Journal of Transcendent Thought).
A Series of Articles on the Birth of the Ḥanafī Madhhāb
(Revision of articles for republishing in progress.)
These articles look at the diverse cultures and controversies in the city of Kūfa; the city from which one of the most important Islamic legal schools would arise: the Ḥanafī Madhhāb. They also look at the early use of hadith within the school, the school’s founder, and two of his most important students.
The City of Kūfa
- Born to be Wild: Kūfa and the Birth of the Ḥanafī Madhhāb
- Born to be Wild II: A Young City, But Ancient Controversies
The School’s Founder and Early Students
- Origins of the Ḥanafī School: Abū Ḥanīfa
- Origins of the Ḥanafī School II: Abū Yūsuf
- Origins of the Ḥanafī School III: al-Shaybānī
Ibrahim J. Long 