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    Justifying Transgression

    MUSLIMS, CHRISTIANS, AND THE LAW – 1200 to 1700

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    Author(s)
    Kruijtzer, Gijs
    Language
    English
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    Abstract
    How do people justify what others see as transgression? Taking that question to the Persian-Muslim and Latin-Christian worlds over the period 1200 to 1700, this book shows that people in both these worlds invested considerable energy in worrying, debating, and writing about proscribed practices. It compares how people in the two worlds came to terms with the proscriptions of sodomy, idolatry, and usury. When historians speak of the gap between premodern practice and the legal theory of the time, they tend to ignore the myriad of justifications that filled this gap. Moreover, a focus on justification evens out many of the contrasts that have been alleged to exist between the two worlds, or the Muslim and Christian worlds more generally. The similarities outweigh the differences in the ways people came to terms with the various rules of divine law. The level of flexibility of the theologians and jurists in charge of divine law varied more over time and by topic than between the two worlds. Both worlds also saw the development of ever more sophisticated justifications. Amid the increasing complexity of justifications, a particular kind of reasoning emerged: that good outcomes are more important than upholding rules for their own sake. ; How do people justify what others see as transgression? Taking that question to the Persian-Muslim and Latin-Christian worlds over the period 1200 to 1700, this book shows that people in both these worlds invested considerable energy in worrying, debating, and writing about proscribed practices. It compares how people in the two worlds came to terms with the proscriptions of sodomy, idolatry, and usury. When historians speak of the gap between premodern practice and the legal theory of the time, they tend to ignore the myriad of justifications that filled this gap. Moreover, a focus on justification evens out many of the contrasts that have been alleged to exist between the two worlds, or the Muslim and Christian worlds more generally. The similarities outweigh the differences in the ways people came to terms with the various rules of divine law. The level of flexibility of the theologians and jurists in charge of divine law varied more over time and by topic than between the two worlds. Both worlds also saw the development of ever more sophisticated justifications. Amid the increasing complexity of justifications, a particular kind of reasoning emerged: that good outcomes are more important than upholding rules for their own sake.
    URI
    https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/87865
    Keywords
    Comparative World History; Usury; Idolatry; Sodomy; legal pluralism; consequentialism
    DOI
    10.1515/9783111218014
    ISBN
    9783111218014, 9783111218625, 9783111215907, 9783111218014
    Publisher
    De Gruyter
    Publisher website
    https://www.degruyter.com/
    Publication date and place
    Berlin/Boston, 2024
    Imprint
    De Gruyter
    Classification
    History and Archaeology
    CE period up to c 1500
    c 1500 onwards to present day
    Christianity
    Islam
    Sociology
    Methods, theory and philosophy of law
    Pages
    356
    Rights
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
    • Imported or submitted locally

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    License

    • If not noted otherwise all contents are available under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

    Credits

    • logo EU
    • This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 683680, 810640, 871069 and 964352.

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