Islamic Law in the News Roundup

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ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS

  • The hijāb controversy in India, occasioned by a university administration refusing to admit some Muslim students wearing the Islamic veil, has been ongoing, with a court case regarding the matter still pending before Indian courts.  The Karnataka government, the Indian state in which the controversy has taken place, has so far insisted that the Indian judiciary should define whether the wearing of hijāb is an essential practice under Islamic law.
  • A nine-judge panel at the Federal Court of Malaysia ruled that Selangor, a Malaysian state, cannot grant sharī’a courts the power to review the rulings of Islamic authorities, as that power is to be retained by the civil courts.  The ruling, in relevant part, stated: “[S]imply put, if the vires of any fatwa or the conduct of the Fatwa Committee is challenged purely on the basis of constitutional or statutory compliance, then it is a matter for the Civil Courts.”
  • Following the ruling of the Federal Court of Malaysia, the Shariah Lawyers Association of Malaysia has called for the Malaysian Constitution to be amended to grant sharī’a courts the power to exercise judicial review.
  • The Saudi crown prince‘s bid to attract more tourists to Saudi Arabia has resulted in a relative relaxation of laws governing Islamic dress, abandoning the abaya (loose-fitting, full-length robe) rule, as long as women wear “decent and respectful” clothes.
  • The ḥalāl meat market in Russia has been growing, in part because Russia is home to around 25 million Muslims – the largest Muslim population in Europe.
  • Irshad Ahmad Ijaz, a prominent muftī from Karachi, Pakistan, recently stated that “digital currency should be justified under certain conditions and the government should play a positive role in this regard so that the confusion of the youth could be removed.”
  • Sustain Digital Trading, which aims to create a digital trading platform that is compatible with Islamic law, listed on the Dubai Next Platform.

ON COVID-19 AND ISLAMIC LAW

  • In an effort to fight vaccine hesitancy in an autonomous Muslim region in the Philippines called Barmm, health department officials stated: “We also wish to assure the Islamic community that Covid-19 vaccine is certified by the Philippine Halal Certification Board as ‘Halal’ or permissible to the Islam faith.”

UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES

PIL & Harvard Calendar:

Global Calendar:

  • Webinar: AMECYS Friday Digital Author Series: Dr. Hedi Viterbo, Associate Professor of Law, March 11, 2022.
  • Social Media Internship Opportunity: The Muslim Women’s Giving Circle (MWGC). Deadline: March 15, 2022.
  • Position opening: Staff Attorney, The Center for Constitutional Rights. Deadline: March 18, 2022.
  • Research Associate: The Evolution of Islamic Societies (c.600-1600 CE): Algorithmic Analysis into Social History. Deadline: March 31, 2022.
  • Webinar: AMECYS Friday Digital Author Series: Mr. Shivan Fazil and Dr. Bahar Baser, April 8, 2022.
  • Persian Language Summer School by Aspirantum, Yerevan (Armenia), July 3, 2022 – August 27, 2022. Deadline: April 21, 2022.
  • Call for Applications: 2022 Temple Bar Scholarship. Deadline: April 30, 2022.
  • Postdoctoral position opening: Christian-Muslim communication, University of Konstanz. Deadline: April 2022.
  • Call for Applications: The MESA Global Academy 2022-2023. Deadline: May 1, 2022.
  • Conference: Clinical Legal Education, May 9-13, 2022.
  • Webinar: AMECYS Friday Digital Author Series: Dr. Rania Kassab Sweis, Associate Professor of Anthropology, May 13, 2022.
  • Workshop: Intertextuality in Islamic and Jewish Law, June 21-23, 2022, University of Muenster.
  • Society of Legal Scholars, 113th Annual Conference, King’s College London, September 6-9, 2022.
  • Conference: American Society for Legal History 2022, November 10-12, 2022.
  • Position opening: Assistant Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of Tennessee, Fall 2022. Deadline: until an appointment is made.
  • Position opening: Columbia University, The Department of Art History and Archaeology Barbara Stoler Miller Assistant Professor, Indian and South Asian Art History. Deadline: until an appointment is made.
  • Call for Applications: Interdisciplinary Scholars of Places, Movement and Cultural Practices Professor, New York University Abu Dhabi. Deadline: until the position is filled.
  • Research Project: Historian/Researcher – Tudor Period/Elizabethan Era, and the Ottoman Empire during the Suleiman the Magnificent Period. Deadline: until the position is filled.
  • Call for Submissions: The UCLA School of Law’s Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law (JINEL).
  • Call for Manuscripts: Advances in the Study of Islam, Edinburgh University Press.
  • Request for Open Submissions: AALS 2023 Annual Meeting, January 4-7, 2023. Submission deadlines vary.

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