Rule of Law, Natural Law, and Social Contract in the Early Abbasid Caliphate

The book analyses all extant works by Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 224/839310/923), referring to their individual methodologies; their legacy as al- madhhab al-jariri; and their scholarly and socio- political context. Through the study of al- Tabaris works, the book addresses research debates over dating the legal and scholarly institutions and their disciplines; authorship and transmission of scholarly writings; political theory and administration; and origins of the Quran and Islam. Al-Tabari defined the Quran in linguistic and legal terms. The linguistic terms refer to rhetoric and semiotics, and the legal to theories of social contract, natural law, and rule of law. Both sets of terms go into al-Tabaris theory of prophecy and administration, including of minorities. By engaging current debates about the usefulness or not of the medieval Muslim scholars in research on the Quran and early Islam, this book argues that the 2 20:59 contribution of each medieval scholar be assessed on an individual basis. Al-Tabaris philosophical, ethical, historical, linguistic, and legal education produced analysis of the Quran and origins of Islam that stands up to some fronts in contemporary research. The book thus adds to research on al-Tabari; early Islamic disciplines and institutions; and the Quran and early Islam.