At the end of every year,听Choice听publishes a list of听听that have been reviewed during the previous calendar year. This prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles reviewed by听Choice听and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community.
In reviewing the publication for 鈥淐hoice 2019 Outstanding Academic Title,鈥澨齃. J. Alderink, Emeritus Professor, Concordia College, who was part of the awarding committee said of the publication:
鈥淭his collection appears at an opportune time, a time when the societies that produced Islamic jurisprudence have given way to secular, modern nation-states with their institutions, boundaries, passports, and, above all, coercive power. The book, as a whole, argues against the views that Shari式a is a state function to regulate the behaviour of a populace or that Shari式a is divine law that is uniform across Muslim societies.
In the introduction, Sajoo states that the theme that runs throughout the volume is that Shari式a is 鈥榯he good life as a daily pursuit 鈥 an ongoing human quest to grasp the substance of divine guidance in the conduct of devotional, social, and economic life, including how one relates to the natural environment.鈥 The contributors discuss, among other things, the foundations of Shari式a, ethical theory and practice, spiritual refinement, gender equality, finance, bioethics, and Muslim societies in Ottoman Turkey, democratic Indonesia, and the West. Each essay includes helpful suggestions for further reading. This book opens the way to a new inquiry: Shari式a as the linking of divine will and human good. It makes for excellent reading and thinking.鈥
Choice is a publishing unit, which is part of the American Library Association, dedicated to providing the academic library community with the tools and services it needs, through a variety of resources including听颁丑辞颈肠别听magazine and the听Choice Reviews听database. Founded in 1964, Choice now reaches more than 18,000 librarians, faculty, and key decision makers connecting the three principal groups of the academic library market: librarians, patrons, and content providers.
The list contains approximately ten percent of some 6,000 literary works reviewed in听Choice听each year.听Choice听editors base their selections on the reviewer鈥檚 evaluation of the work, the editor鈥檚 knowledge of the field, and the reviewer鈥檚 record. In awarding Outstanding Academic Titles, the editors apply the following criteria to reviewed titles:
- overall excellence in presentation and scholarship
- importance relative to other literature in the field
- distinction as a first treatment of a given subject in book or electronic form
- originality or uniqueness of treatment
- value to undergraduate students
- importance in building undergraduate library collections
The Sharia: History, Ethics and Law听is the fifth publication in 久久久福利国产鈥 Muslim Heritage Series. The publication explores many of the popular myths about the听shari鈥榓听鈥 that it defines Islam, that it is divine in substance, that it contains a code recognised by all Muslims 鈥 by leading scholars from a variety of disciplines. The claims of the modern state as the custodian of the听shari鈥榓听are put into perspective, alongside the vital role of a pluralist civil society. From bioethics, family law and finance to constitutional and human rights issues, this fifth volume in the Muslim Heritage Series looks at how we think about Islam as a lived experience. The series explores themes vital to Islamic civilisation, with titles including听A Companion to Muslim Cultures,听A Companion to Muslim Ethics听and听The Shi鈥榠 World.
