Thank you, Felicitas Opwis for joining us as guest blog editor in September. In case you missed her essays, here they are: The Discursive Tradition of Commentaries (shurūḥ) – Lessons from Matn Abī Shujāʿ The Content of Commentaries The Commentary as Platform for Debate, Change, and Authority Construction The Forms of Commentaries Thank you! Follow … Continue reading Thank you, Felicitas Opwis!
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In "Maldives-Middle East Connections" (Middle East Institute, September 20, 2022), Michael B. Bishku (Augusta University) provides a primer on the Maldives and the country's engagement with the Middle East, noting that "[t]he 1932 Constitution made shari’a (Islamic law) the 'basis of all administrative and political governance,' and its 2008 successor … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
By Felicitas Opwis As my previous posts illustrated, commentaries take different forms in length and scope. The commentator selects which topics and points found in the underlying matn he wants to elaborate, explain, and dispute. There is no linear or chronological development of constant growth and enlargement, but a seemingly random variation in breadth and … Continue reading The Forms of Commentaries
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In "Islamic Law in the globalised world" (Graphic Online, September 9, 2022), Dr. Salah Muhammad Salis (Centre for Islamic Thought and Civilisation) argues that Islamic law and sharī'a refer to different things, defining the latter as "a moral religious system, not a legal system." In "The Transgender Persons (Protection Of … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
By Felicitas Opwis As presented in the previous post, the discursive tradition of commentaries involves extensive intertextuality. This intertextuality is not only a dialogue between matn and sharḥ, but a discourse that engages previous commentaries on the same matn as well as the Shāfiʿī school’s intellectual output more generally. Sometimes, the arguments and positions referenced … Continue reading The Commentary as Platform for Debate, Change, and Authority Construction
ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS "Emilia Justyna Powell, a Notre Dame professor of political science and concurrent professor at The Law School, has won two International Studies Association (ISA) awards for her 2020 book, Islamic Law and International Law: Peaceful Resolution of Disputes." "The Supreme Court [of India ...] continued hearing the batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka High … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In "U.S. Tax Law and Sharia-Compliant Financing Structures" (SSRN, August 13, 2022), Ahmed Altawyan (Saudi Electronic University) "overviews the tax rules for Islamic finance to help lawmakers and policymakers in the United States and other countries develop laws or guidance on sharia-compliant financial activities and transactions. On Islam and Data … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
By Felicitas Opwis In the previous post I mentioned the vibrant commentary tradition on Abū Shujāʿ’s compendium of Shāfiʿī law, which indicates that Muslim scholars deemed it necessary to comment on the past, making it relevant to their present and incorporating whatever changes have occurred or were deemed desirable. It also allows us to gain … Continue reading The Content of Commentaries
