Law and the Rule of God
A Christian Engagement with Shari'a

This book advances a constructive theological approach to the controversial issues of shar?'a, public law, and secularism in Christian-Muslim relations.

Joshua Ralston (Author)

9781108747646, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 December 2022

365 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.1 cm, 0.508 kg

'Ralston's aims in this book are ambitious. His scope is broad. His learnedness impressive. His use of footnotes is commendable … [This] book serves as a fresh model for comparative theology, offering deep learning of the religious other on a particular issue in order to shed light on theological issues from one's home tradition.' Anna Bonta Moreland, Scottish Journal of Theology

Shar?'a is one of the most hotly contested and misunderstood concepts and practices in the world today. Debates about Islamic law and its relationship to secularism and Christianity have dominated political and theological discourse for centuries. Unfortunately, Western Christian theologians have failed to engage sufficiently with the challenges and questions raised by Islamic political theology, preferring instead to essentialize or dismiss it. In Law and the Rule of God, Joshua Ralston presents an innovative approach to Christian-Muslim dialogue. Eschewing both polemics and apologetics, he proposes a comparative framework for Christian engagement with Islamic debates on shar?'a. Ralston draws on a diverse range of thinkers from both traditions including Karl Barth, Ibn Taymiyya, Thomas Aquinas, and Mohammad al-Jabri. He offers an account of public law as a provisional and indirect witness to the divine rule of justice. He also demonstrates how this theology of public law deeply resonates with the Christian tradition and is also open to learning from and dialoguing with Islamic and secular conceptions of law, sovereignty, and justice.

Acknowledgements
Note on transliteration
1. Christian political theology as comparative theology
2. Neither conciliation nor confrontation: a comparative approach to shar?'a and islamic jurisprudence
3. 'That hideous schizophrenia:' a genealogy of muslim critiques of christian theologies of law
4. The difficulty with distinctions: justin martyr, thomas aquinas, and martin luther on law
5. Building a christological legal foundation: a conversation with karl barth
6. The witness of law in comparative perspective
Conclusion: toward a comparative theo-legal discourse
Selected bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Islamic law [LAFS], Theology [HRLB], Islam [HRH], Christian theology [HRCM]