"Reading against the Orientalist model of Islamic intellectual tradition, which was preoccupied with the notions of independence, creativity and progress, this book offers an alternative approach to nineteenth-century Islamic scholarship, focusing on the normative or ideal platform that Muslim scholars like al- Bajuri wished to preserve. The book also serves as a reminder ... that the categorical devaluation of postclassical Islamic scholarship produced by early Orientalist scholars and Muslim reformists alike, does not adequately reflect the Islamic legal, theological, and mystical tradition. A more sympathetic reading of nineteenth-century Islamic scholarship, such as Spevack's, may perhaps open up multiple trajectories of Islamic tradition that will give us a better understanding of the Islamic world today." -- Islamic Law and Society

"Spevack's trailblazing book is a lucid survey and deep analysis of the works and ideas of al-Bajuri. Spevack shows precisely how al-Bajuri served as an 'archetypal' Sunni scholar. In the process, he succeeds in evoking the subtlety, sophistication, and dynamism of the postclassical Islamic traditions of theology, mysticism, and jurisprudence." -- Robert Wisnovsky, McGill University

"Here is a readable and comprehensive introduction to the intellectual production of one of the last giants of the Sunni legal tradition in the nineteenth century. Sensitive to the scholar's strong affiliation with a millennium-long tradition, this introduction will be appreciated by seasoned scholars and newcomers alike." -- Ahmad Atif Ahmad, University of California, Santa Barbara

"Spevack's book is an important corrective to Eurocentric narratives of the nineteenth century that focus solely on Islamic thinkers whose main concern is with European 'modernity' and its challenges while breezily ignoring the continuing tradition of madrasah scholarship in the modern period." -- Khaled El-Rouayheb, Harvard University