Abstract
Within a larger world historical context of crosscultural contact and exchange, various forms of Western and Islamic law have reciprocally influenced one another throughout their long centuries of interaction, from the rise of Islam in the early-seventh century to the fifteenth-century CE and beyond. These centuries-long exchanges included not only legal, but cultural, economic, political, and other forms of crosscultural influence. Thus, various forms of Western law (and culture) already contain within them varying degrees of influence from diverse forms of Islamic law (and culture), and vice versa. Along, therefore, with a great deal of diversity and variation within Western and Islamic societies themselves, both historically and presently, the large amount of shared heritage and reciprocal exchange across fourteen centuries results in inclusive (as opposed to exclusive) understandings of each society: various ‘Western’ societies are, in varying measure, partly ‘Islamic’ and various ‘Islamic’ societies partly ‘Western.’
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Notes
- 1.
Montgomery (1978), for example , argues that: “Anglo-American jurisprudence —the common law of England before the nineteenth century and the common law of America since the eighteenth century—is permeated with the spirit of Christianity to a greater degree than any other system of law except canon law. …where common law is at its best, you feel that Christ Himself would have smiled upon its judgments. It is so because in many cases the judges have not hesitated to draw their inspiration and light from the words of Christ and His Apostles, particularly St. Paul.”
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Weller, R.C. (2021). The Historical Relation of Islamic and Western Law. In: Weller, R.C., Emon, A.M. (eds) Reason, Revelation and Law in Islamic and Western Theory and History. Islam and Global Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6245-7_2
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