Dr. Wael Hallaq, author of Sharī'a: Theory, Practice, Transformations (Cambridge University Press) delivers a three-part lecture series on “What is Sharia?” The series explores three aspects of the Sharia that shed light on the fields of knowledge and practice from which comparative and critical
insights are drawn. This is an exercise in developing comparative law-cum-culture into a critique of modern modes of being.
The third lecture introduces the main constitutional features of Islamic governance, taken from the viewpoint of structural history. It intends to map out the functioning of legislative, judicial, and executive powers, and discuss their relationships
to each other. This will in turn provide the basis for a critique of
the constitutional problems we face today across liberal democracies and those governments modeled after them.