This is the fifth edition of a book that has enjoyed immense popularity for more than six decades. The author was a scholar of not just Islamic law, but very significantly of Islamic jurisprudence, as well as of Arabic and Persian-the original languages in which Islamic laws and Commentaries were written. In a learned and elegantly written introduction, Fyzee gives a detailed background of pre-Islamic Arabia and ancient Arabian customs, tracing the advent of Islam and the origin of Muslim law. The main text covers areas such as marriage and its dissolution, parentage, guardianship, and legitimacy, maintenance and gifts, as well as the Sunnite and Shiite laws of inheritance. The author has made a notable contribution to the study of Muslim law, especially as it is administered in India. The fifth edition, revised and edited by Professor Tahir Mahmood traces developments and modifications that have taken place in Islamic law since the publication of the fourth edition in 1974, highlights new statutory and case law, and also provides brief analytical comments. He remains true to the format and intellectual design of the original book, which remains a study primarily of Indian Islamic law. Wherever relevant, it includes references to the law in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

This is the fifth edition of a classic work by a scholar, not just of Islamic law, but also of Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic and Persian. The present edition, revised by one of the formost scholars of Islamic law today, brings the reader up-to-date by adding more than 35 years of new statutory and case law within the format and intellectual design of the original book.