When Less is More
Law and Commandment in Sūrat al-Anʿām
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22318189 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joseph E Lowry (0000-0002-9793-1519, University of Pennsylvania), Joseph Lowry (California University of Pennsylvania, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 22-42 |
| Publication date | 2007-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Qur'anic Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1465-3591 • E-ISSN: 1755-1730 |
| Publisher | Edinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3366/e1465359108000041 |
| OpenAlex | W2018507932 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 2 |
In this article I argue that the passage at Q. 6:136–53 exhibits a minimalist attitude towards law. This passage offers extensive criticisms of norms, rites and practices that are in force in another community (or communities), and then concludes with a list of commandments that are portrayed as a simpler alternative to the matters described and denounced in the preceding ayas. The ‘minimalist attitude’ towards law in this passage expresses itself as an ambivalence towards norms as such and as a suggestion that the Qur'anic dispensation seeks to unburden the Qur'anic community from needless legislative restrictions. The phenomenon of legislative minimalism in the Qur'an is of interest for two reasons. First, it has the potential to provide a perspective on the subsequent rise of Islamic law, which could fairly be described as a legislatively ‘maximalist’ enterprise. Second, the identification of tendencies in the Qur'an – in this case its attitudes towards law and its means of expressing those attitudes – can help to illuminate the theological inclinations that conditioned the composition, shaping and reception of the Qur'an in its original environment
Ambivalence · Epistemology · Islam · Legislature · Phenomenon · Political science · Sociology · Ten Commandments · Theology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Families in Therapy and Culture · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.29 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2024 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |