Legal authority in premodern Islam: Yahya B Sharaf Al-Nawawi in the Shafi'i School of Law/ Halim, Fachrizal A.

Introduction
General statement of the problem 1
Situating al-Nawawi in the chronology of the
Shafi'i school of law 3
Existing studies on al-Nawam 6
Method of approach and plan of this study 7
Notes 10
Bibliography 12
1 The man and his biography
Early life 14
His teachers and chains of transmission 16
His ascetic life 20
Career and written works 22
Theology 24
Einal days 26
Notes 27
Bibliography 32
2 The reception and routinization of his legacy
The reception and veneration of al-Nawawi 36
Al-Nawawl's authority to later Shaft'ite jurists 42
Legal change and the limits of al-Nawawi's authority 45
Einal remarks 47
Notes 48
Bibliography 51
Two communities of interpretation: Tarlqa of the Iraqians
and the Khurasanians
The origins and meaning of the tarlqa^ 54
The transmitters of the tarTqa^ 59
The conflicting doctrmes of the tariqa^ 61
Al-NawawVs reconciliation of the tarlqa^ 65
Fined remarks 71
Notes 72
Bibliography 77
The canonization of the school's doctrines
Canonization and the problem of indeterminacy 80
The measure of certainty: tarjTh and tashih 84
AI-NawawVs justification of tarjTh 86
AI-NawawVs theory of tarjTh 88
Reference to hcictah criticism 88
Public interest and necessity 91
Empirical experience 91
Customary practices ('urf) 93
The cemonical doctrines of the school 94
Final remarks 98
Notes 99
Bibliography 103
AI-NawawT's definition and vindication of the madhhah
The madhhab'5 evolution to al-NcnvawTs lifetime 105
ATNawawVs definition of the madhhab 111
Vindication of the school's principles and doctrines 115
Final remarks 120
Notes 120
Bibliography 123