Sources

The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/the-canonization-of-islamic-law-a-social-and-intellectual-history.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/the-canonization-of-islamic-law-a-social-and-intellectual-history

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-the-canonization-of-islamic-law-a-social,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/the-canonization-of-islamic-law-a-social-and-intellectual-history},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Ahmed El Shamsy's history traces a specific, documented historical process, how Islamic legal methodology and the Sunni madhabs actually became canonized, working from the historical record of hadith collection, ijma and qiyas as institutions developed rather than treating the schools as having existed in fixed form from the outset. That process-tracing method, showing change over documented time, is the book's real evidentiary contribution. This record has not independently traced further scholarly response to El Shamsy's specific historical argument since 2013. Use it for the documented historical formation of Sunni legal theory and the schools' doctrinal positions; a claim about current legal practice within a school needs a separate contemporary source.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Ahmed El Shamsy's scholarly history of how Islamic legal methodology and the Sunni schools of law became canonized, covering hadith, ijma and qiyas as sources of law, published by Cambridge University Press; a critical academic history, not a devotional manual of fiqh.

Notes

Ahmed El Shamsy's scholarly history of how Islamic legal methodology and the Sunni schools of law (madhabs) became canonized, covering the sources of law such as hadith, ijma and qiyas. Use for established historical facts about the formation of Sunni legal theory and the schools' doctrinal positions on the sources of law; a critical academic history, not a devotional or practitioner's manual of fiqh.

Citation

Author

Ahmed El Shamsy

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Publication Year

2013

URL

https://archive.org/details/canonizationofis0000elsh

Source Type

academic monograph

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Sunni

This source names Sunni directly: "how Islamic legal methodology and the Sunni madhabs actually became canonized, working from the historical record of hadith collection, ijma and qiyas as institutions developed rather than treating..."

Source The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual HistoryAhmed El Shamsy

Claims Backed By This Source (97 claims)

This source backs 97 claims across the atlas. As facts: 37 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 33 holds, 1 critiqued Here, 1 held Differently. Plus 24 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Schools of Religious Law, 30 claims: 5 well-attested, 19 holds, 1 held Differently, 5 general references.
Beliefs & Restrictions, 15 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 6 general references.
Articles, 12 claims: 8 well-attested, 4 general references.
Doctrines, 12 claims: 4 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 critiqued Here, 5 general references.
Denominations, 10 claims: 9 holds, 1 general references.
Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
Historical Figures, 4 claims: 1 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 general references.
Religious Organization & Structure, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
Scriptures & Texts, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.