Learning From the Steep Decline of Islamic Civilization

Another cracking In Our Time, yesterday, on sharia law. But did you notice something about the discussion? It stopped with events about 500 years ago, and was carefully titled The Origins of Islamic Law.

Sharia was this vibrant, contested, life-giving tradition in Islamic culture before the 16th century. Today, it's something as much to fear, and not always only in the western imaginary, I guess. (Melvyn tried valiantly to get his guests to talk about beheadings and stonings, and they insisted that it was a marginal concern, with not a single record that anyone was ever stoned for adultery, in the period under scrutiny.)

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