Books in the Law, Governance, and Development series

The aim of Sharia Incorporated is to provide unbiased and contextual information about a topic that has of late been hijacked by politics in the West. Sharia Incorporated is an ambitious study of the development and incorporation of sharia and Islamic and customary law traditions into national legal, political, and social state structures. Sharia Incorporated also explores the sensitive topic of 'Western' human rights and rule of law standards in a Muslim world. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the role of sharia in the historical and legal formation of twelve representative Muslim states. In particular, the introduction Jan Michiel Otto goes to the heart of the prevailing environment in which Western discourses tend to oversimplify and misrepresent the substance and effect of Islam and more specifically Sharia. Otto's analysis and the twelve chapters, each written by laudable international scholars of law and anthropology, speak to the origin of Islamic legal trends, providing not only a comprehensive overview but a unique comparison of relevant legal domains and key issues raised by the advent of sharia. It is intended that this wealth of factual information contribute to current international debates on sharia, law, and politics. Jan Michiel Otto is hoogleraar Law and governance in developing countries aan de Universiteit Leiden, en directeur van het Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Development.