Chapter 18 Islamic Jurisprudence

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2004

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Juta

Abstract

What is the meaning of the word Jurisprudence? The etymology of the word 'jurisprudence' hails from two Latin words; first, 'ius' meaning 'law' and 'iuris' meaning 'of law' and secondly, 'prudens' meaning 'knowledge' or 'science' or 'philosophy'. 'Jurisprudence' therefore means 'knowledge of the law' or 'philosophy of the law'. In the Western world, 'jurisprudence' has been variously described. Julius Stone, for example, describes 'jurisprudence' as a 'chaos of approaches to a chaos of topics, chaotically delimited.' While Dias writes that books that bear the title 'jurisprudence' vary widely in subject matter and treatment because the 'nature of the subject is such that no distinction of its scope and content can be clearly determined.

Description

Keywords

Jurisprudence, Philosophy, Islamic Law, Shari'a, Western Jurisprudence

Citation

Moosa, N and Goolam, N.M.I. (2004) “Chapter 18 Islamic jurisprudence” Roederer, C.J and Moellendorf, D (eds) Jurisprudence, Cape Town: Juta, 463-498