1. Law and Intellectual Life
Carl W. Ernst
Introduction to Islamic Civilization

2. Outline Intellectual Life in the 14th Century Law
Problem of “golden age” concept
Major figures of the era
Law
“Queen of sciences”
“closing of the gate of ijtihad”?
The Varieties of Religious Expression
Problem of defining “orthodoxy”/“heterodoxy”
Proliferation of Sufi orders

3. 1. Intellectual life in the 14th century
Not the end of the “Golden age” -- no interruption of cultural life after Mongols etc.
Islamic law not dependent on any particular regime
Technical and scientific tendency of Europe only after 16th-17th centuries
Debates on the causes of “Great Western Transmutation,” technicalism

4. Problems in the analysis
“by the 13th century… philosophical speculation had practically ceased”??
 A major error based on inadequate knowledge of schools of Islamic philosophy in the East (School of Shiraz Conference, December 2008)
Lack of autonomous universities made it “next to impossible for a school of thought to develop”??
 Also seriously ignores the continued existence of scientific and philosophical research up to 18th century

5. Mansuriyya Madrasa (Shiraz, 16th century)

6. Tombs of school founders of Dashtaki family, residence

7. Major figures Ibn Taymiya (d. 1327), law
Ibn al-Shatir (d. 1375), astronomy
Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), history
Hafez (d. 1391), Persian poetry
Ibn Battuta (d. 1368), traveler

8. 2. Law
Four schools of Sunni legal tradition all mutually acceptable; but conformity (taqlid) strong within schools
Characteristics of the legal scholar (faqih, master of fiqh)
Independent judgment (ijtihad) as the pinnacle of legal scholarship

9. “closing of the gate of ijtihad”?
Expressions of exaggerated respect for legal founders misunderstood (by Europeans) as implying the end of independent thinking
Importance of understanding shari`a (theoretical ideal of Islamic law) as the cumulative collection of traditional interpretations
Greater emphasis on legal reasoning in Shi`ism
Kevin Jacques work on Shafi`i Ijtihad in Mamluk Syria; Brannon Wheeler on Hanafis

10. 3. Varieties of religious expression
Christians concepts of orthodoxy and heterodoxy depend on a single center of religious authority such as the papacy; there is no Muslim equivalent
Exceptions in particular regimes: Kharijite movement; `Abbasid Mu`tazili “inquisition”; official support of Shafi`i school by Saljuqs
Rejection of “extremist” Shi`is (Druze, Nusayris) as a way of defining emerging 12er positions [but contrast modern Syria]

11. More problems with the analysis
The Sunni tradition was one of self-censorship. It was inevitably conservative and traditional in spirit, leading to the withering of an independent philosophical tradition and the closing of the gate of ijtihad” (307)
 an overly broad statement that overlooks creative Sunni engagement with Sufi metaphysics and legal tradition

12. Proliferation of Sufi groups
Integration of Sufism into everyday religious life of many or most Muslims
Provided women an acceptable avenue of religious expression and leadership
Social roles of Sufi Masters and saintly shrines

13. Sufism as social critique
Rarity of attacks on veneration of saints
Institutional power of Sufi centers countered by “Sufi deviancy” of “self blamers” (malamatiyya) and Qalandar dervish dropouts
Charismatic figures in the Sufi hierarchy: Mahdi (Messiah), Qutb (center of the world), `Ali

14. Sufi Movements among the Turks
Naqshbandis stress intense discipline of silent dhikr meditation, adherence to shari`a
Bektashi order varies significantly from Sunni norms – seen in Turkish Alevis
 problematic concept of “syncretism” not very useful here; assumes that there are “pure” forms of religion that are superior
 erroneous connections made to Christian heretical movement (Paulicians)

15. More Sufi movements
Safavid movement, founded by Sunni leader Safi al-Din (d. 1334), eventually turns into a Shi`i tribal movement that establishes a kingdom in Iran (1504).
Chishtis in India
Mevlevis in Anatolia (Rumi)
Rifa`is in Arab regions
Qadiris all over

16. Outline Intellectual Life in the 14th Century Law
Problem of “golden age” concept
Major figures of the era
Law
“Queen of sciences”
“closing of the gate of ijtihad”?
The Varieties of Religious Expression
Problem of defining “orthodoxy”/“heterodoxy”
Proliferation of Sufi orders