This paper studies the trends in the interpretation of Islamic Law in India with particular reference to the Fatawa literature of Deoband. It relates mainly to two important concepts in the interpretation of Islamic law: bid'ah and ijtihad. The introduction gives the historical background of the fatawa literature and analyzes the concepts of bid'ah and ijtihad, postulating working definitions for these concepts. The first chapter summarizes and the second analyses the arguments in the relevant fatawa. The study concludes that the relevant inventions and new social practices were not considered bid'ah and that the reasoning in these fatawa was based on analogies made to similar previous cases in fiqh literature. Such interpretations adhered strictly to the letter of the law.

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