Doha: A groundbreaking book by Georgetown University in Qatar Associate Professor Sohaira Siddiqui is challenging long-held views on the impact of colonialism on Islamic law. Titled Islamic Law on Trial: Contesting Colonial Power in British India (University of California Press, 2025), the book uncovers how Muslim judges, jurists, and lawyers in British India resisted, reshaped, and sustained Islamic legal traditions within colonial constraints.
Drawing on extensive research across archives in India and the UK, Siddiqui documents how Islamic law was gradually displaced yet managed to survive in new forms. She situates this struggle against the backdrop of the East India Company’s expansion, the 1857 uprising, and the British attempt to dominate Indian courts. “It’s not a story of destruction,” Siddiqui explains. “Islamic law is arguably the most resilient legal system in human history, existing continuously since the 7th century.”
Her analysis reveals that many debates Muslims faced under colonial rule—around authority, justice, and identity—continue to echo in today’s contexts of political and cultural domination. By engaging with Arabic, English, and Urdu sources, Siddiqui reconstructs overlooked voices and legal arguments, providing a fresh lens on Anglo-Muhammadan law.
The book has already been praised by leading scholars as a “monumental” and “transformative” contribution to Islamic legal history. It is being adopted in classrooms from Yale and Princeton to universities in Qatar. Siddiqui says her goal is to help students and readers alike see history as a tool for renewal and justice, inspiring new narratives for a more equitable future.
