Conflict in Islamic Jurisprudence: Noel J. Coulson’s Historical Approach and His Contribution to the Study of Islamic Law

Abstract

Islamic jurisprudence has a long history, especially with the emergence of various schools of thought and Qadli positions that emerged during the hegemony era of Muslim leadership, especially in Asia and northern Africa. However, in its development, in the decisions of the Islamic law courts, various innovations were found that were brave enough to “violate” some doctrinal boundaries between schools of thought. This is what Noel J. Coulson later portrayed in his book Conflict in Islamic Jurisprudence. This paper reviews how Noel J. Coulson approaches Islamic jurisprudence, by asking two main questions: (1) what is Noel J. Coulson's approach and method in Islamic jurisprudence research in his book? And (2) How is Noel J. Coulson's contribution to the development of Islamic studies, especially in the field of Islamic law and jurisprudence studies? These two questions are answered by taking a historical approach and comparing the thoughts of Noel J. Coulson. The results obtained are, (1) Noel J. Coulson, dissects the development of Islamic jurisprudence through historical and sociological approaches. Coulson did not escape from the historical sequence of the development of Islamic jurisprudence from the classical period in the form of fiqh doctrines, to the decisions of religious courts in various countries in the Middle East region. (2) Coulson views traditional fiqh (the era of classical fiqh to the middle ages), contemporary fiqh, along with decisions in Islamic law courts as an actual legal entity.