Using contemporary illustrations, Legal Maxims in Islamic Criminal Law delves into the theoretical and practical studies of al-Qawaid al-Fiqhiyyah in Islamic legal theory. It elucidates the importance of this concept in the application of Islamic law and demonstrates how the concept relates to the objectives of Islamic law (maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah), generally. Included in this examination are the following maxims: al-Umūr bi-Maqāṣidihā ("Matters shall be Judged by their Objectives"); al-Yaqīn lā Yazūl bi-sh-Shakk ("Certainty Cannot be Overruled by Doubt"); al-Mashaqqa Tajlib at-Taysīr ("Hardship begets Facility"); Lā Ḍarar wa-lā Ḍirār ("No Injury or Harm shall be Inflicted or Reciprocated"); and al-ʿĀda Muḥakkama ("Custom is Authoritative").

This study analyses the legal maxims from a conceptual and historical point of view and gives a broad overview of the application of legal maxims in substantive law manuals as well as some other sub-genres.

This book considers the rarely studied but pervasive concepts of doubt that medieval Muslim jurists used to resolve problematic criminal cases.

Ahmed El Shamsy's The Canonization of Islamic Law is a detailed history of the birth of classical Islamic law. It shows how Islamic law and its institutions emerged out of the canonization of the sacred sources of Quran and Sunna (prophetic practice) in the eighth and ninth centuries CE. The book focuses on the ideas and influence of the jurist al-Shāfiʿī (d. 820 CE), who inaugurated the process of canonization, and it paints a rich picture of the intellectual engagements, political turbulence, and social changes that formed the context of his and his followers' careers.

Al-qawāʻid al-fiqhīyah or legal maxims of Islamic Law are the general rules of fiqh that portray the goals and objectives of the Sharīʻah. They are applied in various cases that come under the common rulings and play a very important role in deducing many rules of fiqh since they provide a guideline to come up with particular ḥukm. There are five leading maxims, as reflected in the Majallah, such as, al-umūr bi maqāṣidihā (matters are determined according to intentions), al-yaqīn la yazūl bi alshakk (certainty is not overruled by doubt), al-mashaqqah tajlib al-taysīr (hardship begets facility), al- ḍarar yuzāl (harm must be eliminated) and al-ʻādah muḥakkamah (custom is a basis for judgment). Other than these five leading maxims, which are applicable to a number of legal principles, there are other maxims, which are not as extensive as the main maxims, but nonetheless, address a number of more detailed issues in fiqh. Usually, the maxims incorporated in this category are either an extension of maxims derived from the five leading maxims or might be unrelated. This paper seeks to analyze those maxims, other than the leading maxims, which are related to Islamic finance and to understand their roles and applications in the Islamic banking and finance industry.