The Root of Western Common Law is Islamic Shariah?

This is a well researched article that convincingly attributes some of the developing principles of British Common Law to practices that were common in Islamic Society. I posted it because I have found most of its content hardly referenced, yet the quality of its scholarship superb and the implications of what it is saying relevant to contemporary discussions around East and West, legal influences, and history of legislative difference. It is full of some fascinating tidbits. For example:

"where did we get the idea that contract transfers property ownership by words and not by delivery or that possession is a form of property ownership? Even more importantly, where did we get the idea that every person is entitled to trial by jury? ... The royal English contract protected by the action of debt is identified with the Islamic [su'c']aqd, the English assize of novel disseisin is identified with the Islamic istihqaq, and the English jury is identified with the Islamic lafif. ... Thus, in Glanvill's passage the obligation on the seller to deliver the goods, as well as the obligation on the buyer to deliver the price, both of which arose upon their agreement, was based on the grant of property that took place at that time. ... From this identification of the Islamic istihqaq with the English assize of novel disseisin, it appears that the concept of possession was important in both legal systems for establishing proof of ownership for one party in the absence of proof for the other. ... It appeared in the twelfth century in conjunction with the assize of novel disseisin, which introduced a new concept of possession as a presumption of ownership."


LINK TO DOCUMENT HERE

The Islamic Origins of the Common Law