Marion Holmes Katz 
Body of Text [PDF ebook] 
The Emergence of the Sunnī Law of Ritual Purity

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Comprehensiveness of the Law
The Historical Background
Methodological Developments
The Case of Islamic Law
Approach to the Sources

1. Qur’anic Rules of Purity and the Covenantal Community

The Biblical Example
The Qur’anic Material: Surat al-Ma’ida
Patterns within the Qur’an
Conclusions

2. Interpreting the Qur’anic Text

The Problem
'When You Rise to Pray’
'Wipe Your Heads and Your Feet . . . ’
'If You Have Touched Women . . . ’
Conclusion: Revealed Text and Personal Example in the Law of Purity

3. 'Cancelers of Wudu’ and the Boundaries of the Body

Wudu from Cooked Food
Wudu from Touching the Genitals
Blood and Other Bodily Issues
Conclusions

4. Substantive Impurity and the Boundaries of Society

The Fluidity of the Law
Women, Nonbelievers, and the Dead
Children of Adam
Purity and Gender
Conclusions

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Marion Holmes Katz is Assistant Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College.