This book brings together edited articles from the second and third editions of the Encyclopaedia of Islam that are relevant to Islamic judicial practice, institutions, and agents. The material presented in this compilation identifies and explains key concepts germane to the application of Islamic law. It demonstrates the wide spectrum of variations in the functions and operations of judicial actors and institutions in different Islamic contexts, and reveals the complicated relationship between legal doctrine and practice. As such, this book constitutes a much-needed introductory volume and a convenient starting-point for readers interested in Islamic judicial practice.

Bogac A. Ergene, Ph.D. (2001) in History, Ohio State University, is Associate Professor at the University of Vermont. He has published extensively on Ottoman legal history, including Local Court, Provincial Society and Justice in the Ottoman Empire (Brill, 2003).