In recent years some of the more fundamentalist regimes in the developing world (such as those of Iran, Pakistan, Sudan and the northern states of Nigeria) have reintroduced Islamic law in place of western criminal codes. Rudolph Peters presents a detailed account of the classical doctrine and trace[...]

Jihad or "Holy War" is very much alive in the Islamic world, and plays a prominent political role. Western observers usually associate jihad with fanaticism, while Islamists emphasize its mission as a crusade against drugs and other societal scourges. This updated edition has a new chapter on jihad [...]