6. Western Views of Islamic Law

This chapter examines the external scholarship, authored by non-Muslims, about Islam and Islamic law and asks the question whether such scholarship can be efficacious in influencing contemporary ijtihad . As noted in Chapter 2, external scholarship, mostly published in the West, can influence contemporary ijtihad by showing the way to improve, even modify, some sources of Islamic positive law, such as constitutions, local customs, legislation, and international law. External scholarship can be highly influential in specialized markets, such as finance, where non-Muslim experts can offer advice in structuring technical rules. However, external scholarship faces difficulty, at times fierce opposition, when it aims to improve or modify the rules of fiqh derived from divine texts. This opposition to the engagement of external scholarship with the fiqh markets may be attributed to at least two factors. First, the fiqh markets do not allow non-Muslim jurists to interpret the Basic Code for the benefit, or to the detriment, of Muslim communities. The fiqh markets are formally open only to Muslim jurists who may render opinions without fear or favor. Even the most learned non-Muslim scholars cannot invoke formal authority to issue binding opinions on divine texts. The external scholarship on fiqh , even when deferential to Islamic divine texts, is frequently viewed with suspicion in Muslim circles. Second, the fiqh markets do not welcome any criticisms of the Basic Code. External scholarship on fiqh , when it offers to reform Islamic law by finding faults with the Basic Code or compromising the Prophet's personal integrity, is summarily dismissed as prejudiced, if not deliberately blasphemous.