Ibrahim, Yasir S.

Dr. Yasir S. Ibrahim is Assistant Professor in the Philosophy and Religion Department at Montclair State University, New Jersey. He completed his Ph.D. at Princeton University. Dr. Ibrahim is a specialist in twentieth-century Islamic reform movements in the Middle East. His publications include the article “Muhammad ‘Abduh and maqasid al-shari‘a” and the forthcoming book Islamic Reform between the Ethics of Divine Command and Utilitarianism.

Al-Tabari's Book of Jihad

2007 0-7734-5458-6
The Book of Jihad (Kitab al-Jihad) is part of the fragmentary Book of the Disagreement among Muslim Jurists (Kitab Ikhtilaf al Fuqah’) by Muhammad ibn Jarar al-Tabar (ca. 839 – ca. 923 C.E.), the famous Muslim historian and Qur’anic commentator. It consists of several sections that deal with different issues related to jihad in classical Islam such as the rules of declaring and conducting war against enemy states and the rules of making peace with the enemy. Regarding each of these issues, the author expounds the opinions (or, “legal decisions”) of the founders of the three major Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence (d. 767 C.E.) and disciples, al-Shifi (d. 820 C.E.) and Malik Anas (d. 795 C.E.) in addition to the other jurists. The present annotated translation of the Book of Jihad is based on the original manuscript located in Istanbul, Turkey. The translator has provided a description of the structure and content of the translated text which concludes that al-Tabar’s Book of Jihad presents a clear model for the relations between the Islamic state and other states. This work will appeal to scholars of Islamic Studies as well as Religion, History and Political Science.