RT Article T1 How can we understand Islamic law today? JF Islam and Christian-Muslim relations VO 17 IS 2 SP 159 OP 172 A1 Fletcher, Madeleine LA English YR 2006 UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/597089337 AB This article attempts to point to certain major aspects of Islamic law which have been obscured from view by the separation between specialized academic disciplines. It indicates the parallel between Arab common law and English common law and also points out that Arab common law is the template for Islamic law, while acknowledging that the Sunni and Shiʾite traditions differ over this. Arab custom also provided negative examples and the article shows that these were contradicted in the Qur'an and Prophetic hadith with respect to practices prejudicial to women. The article suggests that the tribal system made it impossible to enforce certain formal legal penalties and that interim measures were used until the Sunni schools of law were established following the urbanization of Islamic society. What remains today of the traditional Islamic impulse is the importance of an independent judiciary as an essential value. The impact of social reality on Islamic law often takes the form of differences in u&art1;ūl al-fiqh. K1 Islam K1 Recht K1 Glaubensstreitigkeiten K1 Law K1 religious disputes