This pioneering study is a fascinating overview of how Islamic law has evolved and the thinking behind individual rulings.

1. A general model; 2. Preliminaries; 3. Women praying with men: adjacency; 4. Women praying with women; 5. Women praying with men: communal prayers; 6. The historical development of Hanafi reasoning; 7. From laws and values; 8. The logic of law making.

Behnam Sadeghi has been an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University since 2006. His research spans Islamic thought and law in the early and post-formative periods. In addition, he has made groundbreaking contributions to the history of the Qur'¿n and the ¿ad¿th literature in a series of published essays.