'Hallaq offers a much-needed corrective to the Orientalist narratives, which do not provide a viable foundation for historical inquiry nor serve as building blocks for new scholarship. In their place, he presents a panoramic account of constitutionalism and the separation of powers, giving readers a fine-grained perspective on the primacy of law in curbing, limiting, and guiding executive authority. Spanning the millennium from the tenth to the eighteenth century, Hallaq not only presents a historical account of constitutional practice but also offers a narrative infused with theoretical inquiry and multidimensional critique. The reader will appreciate the book's explication of a Shari?a-oriented, ulema-led mode of political thought in relation to recent scholarly interventions on the secular adab al-siyasa discourses of good governance in Islamic history.' Hayrettin Yücesoy, author of Disenchanting the Caliphate.