Institute For Middle East Studies

Some fourteen hundred years after the Prophet Muhammad first articulated God's law--the shari'a--its earthly interpreters are still arguing about what it means. In Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law, legal historian and human rights attorney Sadakat Kadri argues that many people in the West harbor hazy or wrong ideas about Islamic law. Searching for the facts behind the myths, he traces the turbulent journey of Islam's foundation and expansion and shows how the Prophet's teachings evolved gradually into concepts of justice.