Conversion and Law: A Muslim-Christian Comparison

Abstract

What follows is an exercise in theory, nothing more. The theory in question is onē I proposed 30 years ago in a book entitled Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period.¹ There, I maintainēd that quantitative measures of diffusion developed to describe the spread of (primarily material) innovations in the twentieth century could be used to model the pace and intensity of the religious conversion that led to a majority Muslim society in the lands conquered by the Arabs in the seventh century CE. In subsequent publications, I added to or elaborated on the theory in minor ways, but I did not try to apply it outside of Islamic history.² The object of this chapter is to advance a hypothetical application to the early spread of Christianity. My interest here, as in my book, is not in demonstrating the unchallengeable correctnēss or precision of the quantitative method. That will always remain a matter of debate. Rather, I am interested in using the method tentatively and heuristically to pose and possibly answer questions that could not easily be formulated without the hypothesis. In honor of Professor Modarressi’s contributions to the field of Islamic law, the particular question I will address is whether the elaboration of law occurs at a particular stage in the quantitative growth of a faith community.