The Curious Case of Bughaybigha, 661–883: Land and Leadership in Early Islamic Societies

Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, 2017

26 Pages Posted: 2 Aug 2019

See all articles by Intisar A. Rabb

Intisar A. Rabb

Harvard Law School; Harvard University

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 15, 2017

Abstract

This chapter in Justice and Leadership in Islamic Societies examines questions of discretion and judicial procedure in early Islamic law (7th-9th centuries). This reported property law case (reported in 9th-century sources for a 7th-century case) case vividly displays the extent to which discretionary use of judicial procedure drove substantive outcomes in ways little-recognized by conventional accounts of early Islamic law. I argue that the dispute over Bughaybigha, together with the dueling canons attached to it, demonstrates how procedure came to play a critical role in the development of early Islamic law. Procedure also intervened in questions of legitimacy on disputes of land and leadership in that period. Conventional accounts of Islamic law tend to discount the between caliphs and jurists. However, the relationship between caliphs and jurists was often mediated through courts — courts laden with procedure. No account of early Islamic law so far shows the centrality of procedure to had for questions of legitimacy, land, and leadership.

Suggested Citation

Rabb, Intisar A., The Curious Case of Bughaybigha, 661–883: Land and Leadership in Early Islamic Societies (November 15, 2017). Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3427950 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3427950

Intisar A. Rabb (Contact Author)

Harvard Law School ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/index.html?id=1054

Harvard University ( email )

1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/intisar-rabb

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