İslam Hukuk Sosyolojisi
Authors: Macit Yüksel 
Published: February 2025

Sociology of Islamic LawrnSociology of Islamic Law is a book that talks about the social foundations of Islamic law provisions. Because although revelation came from time to time to support the Prophet, the provisions were formed according to the needs and conditions on earth. Every verse of decrees has a reason for revelation and the provisions emerged over a period of twenty-three years. Although this issue is known, there are many who have difficulty accepting that Islamic law developed according to changing needs and conditions later. We have emphasized this issue in some of our other works. We wrote our works from a sociological perspective, and in this book, we have examined and analyzed all the topics in a classical fiqh book in general terms from the perspective of general law sociology. In the book, we focused on analyzing the provisions of Islamic law that emerged during the time of the Prophet. Because if the beginning of something is well understood, its end is well understood. Since most people perceive the provisions that emerged during the time of the Prophet as mysterious provisions abstracted from previously prepared world conditions, Islamic law does not renew and develop according to needs. If the law does not develop, many things will not develop, the economy will not develop. Basic principles such as worship and justice do not change, but other minor rulings can change according to expediency. If the texts remain in place and similar old expediency emerges, the rulings can be put into practice again. Since worship is based on the special relationship between Allah and the servant, it is not interfered with. Although some scholars in the past, with foresight, said that rulings regarding transactions after the Prophet could change according to expediency, for some reasons, they said that fate (hadd punishments, etc.) are subject to the traditional view, they cannot be imposed, they cannot be changed. However, Islam was not the first to invent hadd punishments; for example, as mentioned in this book, some historical sources show that the first person to cut off the hand of a thief was Walid b. Mugira, who was not a Muslim either, and because he was one of the elders and referees of the Arabs, this practice became widespread; since there was no prison system in those days and since theft was common, Islam approved that punishment imposed on the body as a deterrent. When viewed sociologically, this is the situation. Therefore, in our opinion, all kinds of punishments can be determined according to social interests. There is no legal judgment without justification. As it is known, the Ottomans did not cut off the thief’s hand, considering the interests, but gave him the punishment of being driven to the galleys. Fatih Sultan Mehmet Khan also changed some other punishments. Articles have been written on this subject. It is necessary to know the history of comparative law well. European laws, based on the legacy of Roman law, changed the retaliation and blood-money in Roman law, turning them into imprisonment. What is universal is not the forms of punishment, but the punishment of crimes as a deterrent. If the punishment is insufficient, it can be increased to a reasonable extent. If the logic of the law is well understood, the problems are not insoluble.rnKeywords: Islam; law; sociology; conditions; conjuncture; change;