Islamic Law and the Boundaries of Social Responsibility

Aryeh cohen's essay on "Justice in the City" in this issue of Tikkun—and his remarkable book on the same subject—sent me searching for an analog in the medieval Islamic texts that I study. I was inspired by Cohen's fresh look at rabbinic legal discourse, in which he uncovers profound disquisitions on the nature of obligation and interpersonal relations in an urban context. He manages to connect ancient legal debates on such pedestrian topics as zoning rules and ritual law to issues like homelessness in modern-day Los Angeles. Cohen is not the first to attempt

Rural Muslim jurists expressed a similar vision of obligation as can be found in Rabbinic Judaism, but jurists from medieval Islamic cities focused more on individual rights in the context of a welfare state. This sixteenth-century miniature painting by Matrakçi Nasuh depicts the city of Aleppo in Syria.

"The face of the Other should strike doubt and obligation into any person of conscience," the author writes. Here, protesters from Vancouver march to Ottawa to protest the abduction and murder rates faced by Native women in Canada.

such a connection, and the shortcomings of similar works breed a certain skepticism and cynicism toward the enterprise as a whole. To suggest that rabbinic scholars had the same concerns as those raised by the modern nation-state is embarrassingly anachronistic, if not incredibly naïve. Cohen, however, resists such anachronisms and instead offers a sophisticated method for reading rabbinic texts.

Rather than calling upon the particular conclusions of rabbinic scholars and selectively applying them to a modern context, Cohen focuses his attention on the logic of rabbinic argumentation as a whole. By reconstructing this logic, Cohen calls us to consider the underlying concerns of care, hospitality, and obligation that make legal thought religious. Cohen notes that—especially in the context of a city—rabbinic scholars assumed regular interaction between neighbors and strangers, and, through seemingly inconsequential legal dictates, articulated an ethic of justice predicated on care for the Other. This is a kind of Levinasian view of obligation, though Cohen helpfully guides us so as to appreciate the differences between Levinas and rabbinic notions of obligation. What results is a picture of city life as one of constant care for the neighbor, of questioning one's own level of service, and of a worship of God that reflects an unwavering obligation to His creation. I am jealous of this depiction of a justice-filled citied life, and I desperately want to see it in medieval Islamic texts on similar topics. I do see it, but not in the same way.

Urban/Rural Differences on Community Obligations

When reading Islamic law, one quickly gets an impression of the context in which certain jurists were writing. In texts from tight-knit, rural communities, one gets a sense of obligation similar to that described by Cohen. Citizens are called upon to look after the welfare of their neighbors, and one must stand at the ready to help a stranger in need. Strong members of the community must look after the less fortunate, and everyone contributes to the creation of a just society.

In texts written by citied Muslim jurists, however, one finds almost the opposite. Citied jurists carefully guard individual rights against any encroachment from the state, neighbors, and/or strangers. Especially in the realm of property law, the landowner is protected whenever possible against any wouldbe claimant. Did your vicious dog attack a passerby while on your property? That passerby should be more careful next time. "Undesirables" moving into your neighborhood? Try forming a housing association that keeps them from acquiring land in your area. Neighbors complaining that your fancy new construction project will give you an intimate view into their private grounds? Tell them to build a wall on their property that blocks your view or, better yet, tell them to invest in some nice curtains. The citied jurists consistently champion personal rights, especially the right to do what you want on your personal property...