This month, Farrar, Straus & Giroux publishes Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari’a Law From the Deserts of Ancient Arabia to the Streets of the Modern Muslim World, by Sadakat Kadri, a lawyer and journalist.  Kadri attempts to clarify prevailing misunderstandings over Shari’a and its application both in the ancient and modern worlds.  Above all, Kadri illustrates that Shari’a is far from monolithic; rather, its application today and throughout time has been varied and a matter of debate.  While Shari’a has occasionally been considered synonymous with harshness, Kadri reveals its essential ethic of compassion and equity—one not reducible to simplistic generalization.

Please read the New York Times review of Heaven on Earth here.  Please listen to the author’s interview on NPR’s Fresh Air here.  The publisher’s description follows the jump. Read more