ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- In response to the U.S. Supreme Court‘s recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson overruling Roe v. Wade, the precedent that had recognized a constitutional right to abortion, American Muslims have voiced a diverse array of opinions, some viewing the recent decision as an infringement of their religious freedoms as Muslims. Some scholars have already argued that abortion bans, in certain cases, contravene Islamic law and as a result violate American Muslims’ religious freedom. For more content and context on debates around the right to abortion and how Islamic has featured in these debates, consult our Resource Roundup: Abortion and Islamic Law.
- As Malaysia is considering substituting blood money for mandatory death sentences, some Islamic scholars have stated that “more studies are needed over the proposal of ‘diyat’ to be considered as a substitute for the mandatory death sentence.”
- “A Nigerian court on Thursday will hear a challenge against sharia law in the mostly Muslim northern state of Kano, in a case that is set to reignite debate on the place of religious laws in a country whose constitution is neutral on religion.”
- Nearly 34% of Moroccans have expressed interest in an overhaul of the country’s existing inheritance laws, demanding that women be subject to the same rules as men.
- Experts have drawn attention to how “[f]inancial service firms wishing to burnish their ESG offerings and promote sustainability with their clients may want to look into Islamic finance opportunities.”
- The Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that a Muslim girl of age 16 was eligible to marry the person of her choice.
- In mid-May, the town council of Grenoble (France) approved to allow the wearing of burkinis in its pools, which has generated backlash from certain political actors.
- “The human rights wing of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly condemned discriminatory acts against Indian Muslims.”
- India has continued to be pressured by foreign governments concerning the statements of a spokesperson from the ruling party against the Prophet which many Muslims in and outside of India regarded to be blasphemous.
- South Korean companies have increasingly turned their attention to the halal food market – valued at nearly $4 trillion.
- “Iraj Fazel, head of the Iranian association of surgeons, has called on the judiciary not to sanction the amputation of fingers to punish thieves.”
- “Former Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar University, Mabrouk Attia, [has] fac[ed] strong condemnation for comments made about a recent murder victim, Nayera Ashraf.”
- Commenting on the recent character Ms Marvel, a “strong, authentic female Muslim character” in the new Marvel movies, as well as other Muslim characters such as Nakia, some commentators likened them to the people in their own social circles, one likening Nakia to “the hijab-wearing girl you know is going to change the world, even as, behind her back, people question why a strong intelligent woman like her would choose to cover her hair.”
- In response to the Taliban‘s move to ban girls from attending school until a plan is drawn up according to their interpretation of Islamic law, the UN Security Council placed two Afghan education ministers on its sanctions list. For more content and context on the recent developments in Afghanistan, consult our Editor-in-Chief, Professor Intisar Rabb’s “Resource Roundup: Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Islamic Law.“
ON COVID-19 AND ISLAMIC LAW
- “Saudi Arabia has lifted a mask mandate for indoor spaces even as COVID-19 infection numbers steadily climb past 1,000 new cases a day after reaching double-digit lows just two months ago” even though “[m]asks will still be required at Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, where pilgrims gather for worship, according to the new rules.”
UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
Global Calendar:
- Webinar: “Turning Arab: Identity and Islam in the Middle Eastern countryside, 1000 – 1500” by Yossef Rapoport, University of Bonn, June 27, 2022.
- AMECYS Book Award Announcement (copyright 2020, 2021), June 30, 2022.
- Prize: Biennial Prize for Best Dissertation, Middle East Medievalists (MEM), June 30, 2022.
- Position opening: Visual Resources Librarian for Islamic Art and Architecture, Harvard College Library, July 8, 2022.
- Call for Contributions: Special-Edition Journal, Pakistan, July 15, 2022.
- Call for Papers: The Perspective of the Countryside in the Medieval Arab-Islamic World, August 1, 2022.
- Position opening: Associate Director and Chief Curator, The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, August 31, 2022.
- Society of Legal Scholars, 113th Annual Conference, King’s College London, September 6-9, 2022.
- Conference: Materiality, Rituals and the Senses in Shi‘i Islam, Georgia, October 19-21, 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.