Islamic Criminal Law and Procedure Author:Matthew Lippman, Sean McConville, Mordechai Yerushalmi The body of Islamic law, or Shari'a, is central to the understanding of Islamic society and the current conflict between fundamentalism and modernism in the Islamic world. While acknowledging the regional differences in the local characteristics of the Shari'a, this work provides a straightforward introduction to procedure and punishment, discus... more »sing the major concepts, principles, and practices. The establishment of the Shari'a signified a progressive step in the development of legal practice as it modified the Islamic customs of retaliation and blood revenge. Nevertheless, Islamic law differs from common and civil codes due to its religious and virtually unchangeable nature.« less