Rudolph Peters' book is about crimes and their punishments as laid down in Islamic law. In recent years some of the more fundamentalist regimes, such as those of Iran, Pakistan, Sudan and the northern states of Nigeria have reintroduced Islamic law in place of western criminal codes. Peters gives a detailed account of the classical doctrine and traces the enforcement of criminal law from the Ottoman period to the present day. The accounts of actual cases which range from theft, banditry, murder, fornication and apostasy shed light on the complexities of the law, and the sensitivity and perspicacity of the qadis who implemented it. This is the first single-authored account of both the theory and practice of Islamic criminal law. It will be invaluable for students, and scholars in the field, as well as for professionals looking for comprehensive coverage of the topic.

Rudolf Peters is Professor of Islamic law at Amsterdam University. He has published extensively on modern Islam and Islamic law. His books include Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (1996) and Sharia Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria (2003).

Acknowledgements; Maps; 1. Introduction; 2. The classical doctrine; 3. The implementation of Islamic criminal law in the pre-modern period: the Ottoman Empire; 4. The eclipse of Islamic criminal law; 5. Islamic criminal law today; 6. Conclusion; Glossary of technical terms; Bibliography; Suggestions for further reading; Index.