Routledge Judging in the Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian Legal Traditions: A Comparison of Theory and Practice (Cultural Diversity and Law)

This book presents a comparative analysis of the judiciary in the Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian legal systems. It compares postulations of legal theory to legal practice in order to show that social practice can diverge significantly from religious and legal principles. It thus provides a greater understanding of the real functions of religion in these legal systems, regardless of the dogmatic positions of the religions themselves. The judiciary is the focus of the study as it is the judge who is obliged to administer to legal texts while having to consider social realities being sometimes at variance with religious ethics and legal rules deriving from them. This book fills a gap in the literature examining Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian law and as such will open new possibilities for further studies in the field of comparative law. It will be a valuable resource for those working in the areas of comparative law, law and religion, law and society, and legal anthropology. Review 'This book provides a comparative study of three important religious communities and their law in the late antique and medieval Iranian world. The merit of Jany's work is that he is able to see the wider picture and provide an understanding as to how Zoroastrians, Jews and Muslims functioned within and among themselves.' Touraj Daryaee, University of California, Irvine, USA 'In this fascinating new book, Janus Jany presents, as his subtitle suggests, a comparative analyis of the Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian judiciary systems... With notes, extensive tables and bibliography, and an excellent index, this work represents a worthy acquisition for libraries with foci on Middle Eastern and/or legal studies.' Association of Jewish Libraries About the Author Janos Jany is founder and current Head of the Dept. of International Studies Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary. He is the author of several books on Islamic and Persian law and has published in both Hungarian and English language journals.