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JOHN RICHARD BOWEN, Islam, Law and Equality in Indonesia. An Anthropology of Public Reasoning. Cambridge (UK) and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. XVI, 289 pages, ill., general tables, maps, £ 18.99. ISBN 0-521-53189-6
In the search for an essentialized "true" Islam, Islamic legal trends were, in the past, frequently portrayed in a black or white manner. All too often, the main concern was the daily practice of Muslims, asking whether it could be considered "legal" in respect of an abstract notion of Islamic legal standards. In Indonesian Islamic studies, such an approach can be observed ever since the 19th century when scholars such as Solomon Keyzer (1823-1868), LWC van den Berg (1845-1927), Carel F Winter (1799-1859), and Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) established the field.
Today's research on Islam in Indonesia requires a more complex and sophisticated approach, based on an inner understanding of the dynamics of Indonesian society, and respectful of the object of study. With his book Islam, Law and Equality in Indonesia John R. Bowen deserves to be considered one of the pioneers of such an...