This chapter seeks to explore the nature and implications of the codification(s) of Islamic law.

In the scholarship on Islamic law and its history, the codification of Islamic law is often associated with ‘modernity’, legal borrowing and the rise of the nation-state across the Is­lamic world.

The first section examines the idea of a code, as a historical phenomenon and as an ana­lytical concept. Based on this examination, each of the following sections intends to discuss a different aspect of codification. The second section discusses the importance of states and non-jurists in the codification process and raises questions about the association of codifica­tion with ‘modernity’ and the modern period by looking at earlier, pre-modern codification projects that were initiated by rulers and states across the Islamic world. At the same time, the continuity across the ‘pre-modern’/‘modern’ divide draws attention to the semiotics of codification. Importantly, the involvement of states and the creation of legal spheres in which ‘Islamic law’ can be applied invite us to consider the impact these developments had on the very category of ‘Islamic law’. The third section turns to the meaning different actors attributed to codification in the modern period and situates the study of codification in the broader context of legal borrowing (or legal transplants). The forth section looks at the contribution of Islamic legal codification to the localization of ‘Islamic law’. The fifth and concluding section aims to explore how codification altered the public and institutional position of ‘Islamic law’.

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