Ethics and Analogy (Qiyas) in 5th/11th-Century Islamic Legal Theory

In Ethics and Analogy (Qiyas) in 5th/11th-Century Islamic Legal Theory Felicitas Opwis presents how ?Abd al-Jabbar, Abu l-Husayn al-Basri, al-Dabbusi, al-Shirazi, and al-Juwayni relate the ethical status of acts to their legal norm, and whether they apply the ethical content of divine rulings in the procedure of analogy when extending laws to new circumstances. The study draws attention to theological worldview as an explanatory factor of norm construction and a jurist's approach to identifying the ratio legis of divine rulings. The book traces the shift, fully articulated later by al-Ghazali, toward understanding the purpose of the divine law as attaining people's maslaha in this life, which enables extending the law outside of Scripture and supports Ash?ari legal universalism.