Theme: Institution

ISLAMIC LAW HELD BACK THE MIDDLE EAST – BUT THE FAILURE OF WESTERN LAW MADE US VULNERABLE

—“During the period of interest, an institution of great importance to Middle Eastern daily life was the holy la w of Islam (shari’a), also known as Islamic law.
In principle, Islamic law covered all human activity. As a matter of practice, certain spheres of life were governed by rules divorced from religious considerations. In the politica! discourse of the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922) there was even a category of laws known as “ruler’s la w” (kanun), as distinct from Islamic law, and also a third category, customary law (orf), which rested on precedent rather than religious scripture or learning.
In commerce and finance, two areas in which the Middle East fell conspicuously behind, right up to modern times Islamic law played a key role. People entered into contracts that followed an Islamic template and were enforced through Islamic courts. They apportioned estates according to Islamic inheritance rules. Residents of the region’s great cities obtained services mostly from waqfs, which were trusts formed under Islamic law and supervised by officials with religious training. Almost alllawsuits involving at least one Muslim were litigated by Muslirh judges, under Islamic legal principles.”–

LAW MATTERS MORE – MUSLIM FAILURE DUE TO MUSLIM LAW
–“… [Asking] why the modern economy took shape in northwestern Europe and not the eastern Mediterranean, the typical answer would contrast western flexibility with Muslim rigidity. Through the Reformation, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment, many would say, western Christendom liberated itself from Church dogma and gave free rein to creativity. For its part, the Islamic world failed to free itself from the fetters of religious custom. Islam opposes innovation, it is often claimed, so Muslim social structures resisted adaptation and advancement.”–

However, it was the religion and the custom that prevented the reformation of hte law – and as I have written extensively, it is the demographics that generate the need for that custom and religoin that in turn generate ignorance and stagnation, that in turn generated the inability to modify the law.

Islam like Judaism claims monopoly and finality that no other religions and cultures do -and this monopoly and finality is the reason both for the diasporic prosecution of the jews, and the civilizational failures of islam.