DID ISLAMIC LAW CAUSE ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION TO DECLINE?

The question of why Islamic civilization declined, and the theories proposed to provide an answer to that question constitute a significant topic of discussion within the field of Islamic studies. This paper focuses on one of the theories advanced to deal with this important question, a theory which claims that ‘the all-embracing Islamic law was the cause behind Islamic civilization’s decline and its inability to revive’. In an effort to scrutinize the integrity of this theory, the present work analyzes relevant literature. This paper finds out that such a theory relies heavily certain assumptions of the 18th-19th century orientalists, which received many criticisms. Most importantly, it argues that such a theory is self-contradictory because if it was Islamic law that caused the decline of Islamic civilization, it must have not allowed it to rise in the first place.