'Morgan Clarke's ethnographically rich account of sharia 'within and outside' the state in Lebanon offers a crucial step forward in articulating current concerns with institutions, ethics, and practices, particularly in the post-Ottoman context, and does so in a particularly clear and generous fashion.' John R. Bowen, author of On British Islam and A New Anthropology of Islam
Introduction; Part I. Contextualising Sharia Discourse in Lebanon: 1. Court, community and state – a legal genealogy; 2. The consequences for civility; 3. Becoming a shaykh; 4. Lessons in the mosque; Part II. Sharia within the State: 5. Introducing the sharia courts; 6. Marriage before God and the state; 7. Bringing a case; 8. Rulings and reconciliation; 9. The judge as tragic hero; 10. The wider world of the sharia; 11. Reform and rebellion; Part III. Sharia outside the State: 12. Becoming an ayatollah; 13. Making law from the bottom up; 14. The limits of authority; Conclusion.