Islamic Law in the News Roundup

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS

• A bill aimed to enforce mandatory hijab laws more strictly passed through the Iranian legislature and is pending before the Guardian Council.
• Clerics and jurists in Iran have been considering using artificial intelligence in issuing fatwās, on which one scholar commented that while AI could not replace scholars, it could still help to expedite the issuance of fatwās.
• “Pakistani authorities have resumed issuing ID cards to transgender people after a four-month pause and following an Islamic court’s controversial ruling that gutted a law aimed at protecting trans rights.”
• The Taliban is considering adopting a more enhanced surveillance system throughout the country, on which one spokesperson commented that, if adopted, the system would be utilized within the confines of sharī’a, and would not, for example, record conversations taking place in private settings. 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.”
• The Sultan of Pahang, Malaysia, recently stated: “I hope that more efforts will be implemented from time to time to empower shariah courts and other Islamic religious institutions.” He added that “the shariah courts must use their discretion wisely and always be fair to all parties, especially in family matters and shariah criminal cases.”

CASES AND FATWĀS

• “The UAE Council for Fatwa […] announced the details and agenda of its Second International Conference, which will take place on the 7th and 8th of November 2023 in Abu Dhabi, under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Chairmanship of Abdullah bin Bayyah, Chairman of the UAE Council for Fatwa, under the title, ‘Towards Sharīʿa Conceptualisation of Scientific Developments: Civilisational Methodology, Real-World Applications, and Ethics of Sustainability.'”
• The Supreme Islamic Council in Gambia issued a fatwā condemning anti-femal genital mutilation activisits: “The Fatwa and Moon Sighting Committee of the Gambia Supreme Islamic Council is pleased to issue a fatwa to all Muslims in The Gambia regarding the legality of female circumcision (in Islam). In this regard, the Committee would like to clarify that female circumcision is not just a merely inherited custom as falsely claimed by those who are not conversant with the Islamic Law.”

UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

PIL & Harvard Calendar:

• Student work opportunity: Research assistant, Widener Library, Harvard University.
• Book talk: Nathan Thrall’s “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama” – A Book talk with Kenneth Roth, CMES, Harvard University, October 23, 2023.
• Talk: “Chasing Floods: the Ottoman Introduction of Rice in the Balkan Peninsula” by Aleksandar Shopov, CMES, Harvard University, November 15, 2023.
• Seminar: “Revisiting History: Nurullah Shushtari on Shī’ī Historiography, Taqiyya & The Pre-Savafid Era” by Shahrad Shahvand, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, Harvard University, November 16, 2023.
• Talk: “The ‘Khitat’ of al-Maqrizi: Narrating History on the Tempo of ‘Kharab’” by Nasser Rabat, CMES, Harvard University, November 28, 2023.
• Talk: “Locusts of Power” by Samuel Dolbee, CMES, Harvard University, November 29, 2023.
• Seminar: “Ineffability and Adequation: Symmetries between ‘Ayn al-Quḍāt Hamadānī’s Theory of Language, Ontology and Mystical Epistemology” by Nicholas Boylston, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, Harvard University, November 30, 2023.

Global Calendar:

• Position opening: Associate or Full Indigenous and/or Black Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, October 10, 2023.
• Call for Papers: Symposium on Copyright in Islamic Legal Tradition, ISAR Research Center, Istanbul, October 15, 2023.
• Call for Papers: American Oriental Society’s 234th Meeting, October 15, 2023.
• Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Cyrenaica on the eve of the Islamic conquest through epigraphy and numismatics, October 18, 2023.
• Fall 2023 Works-in-Progress Workshop: Comparative Constitutional Law in the Global South, Columbia Law School, October 20-21, 2023.
• Call for Papers: Law and Society Association Annual Meeting Unsettling Territories: Tradition and Revolution in Law and Society, October 24, 2023.
• Research Fellowship: Crown Center for Middle East Studies 2024, Brandeis University, October 27, 2023.
• Fellowship: The American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT), 2024-25, November 1, 2023.
• Position opening: Assistant Professor in Early Modern / Modern Islam, The Department of Religious Studies at Northwestern University, November 1, 2023.
• Conference: MESA’s 57th Annual Meeting, Montréal, Québec, Canada, November 2-5, 2023.
• Position opening: Assistant Professor in Islamic Southeast Asia, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at UC Berkeley, November 10, 2023.
• Position opening: Assistant Professor in South Asian Cultural Studies, The Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University, November 15, 2023.
• Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): The emirate of the Banū Tellīs in the 15th c. CE, November 22, 2023.
• Call for Papers: Annual Conference of the British Association for Islamic Studies, December 14, 2023.
• Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Shedding light on some Islamic sites and buildings in Cyrenaica, December 20, 2023.
• Position opening: Adjunct Lecturer in Modern Middle East, Babson College.
• 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.
• Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): The jurisprudential corpus and the history of Ibadism in medieval Libya: additions and difficulties, January 24, 2024.
• Position opening: Postdoctoral opportunity in History of Islam/Arabic Studies, Leiden University, February 1, 2024.
• Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Looking for Libya in Coptic-Arabic historiographical sources, February 21, 2024.
• Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Partnership for Heritage. Documentation and heritage management for the protection of the Nafousa Mountains, April 17, 2024.
• Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Between Ṭarābulus and Aṭrābulus. The journey of the toponym and difficulties in determining its form, May 22, 2024.
• Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Surveying and documentation of the archaeological city of Barca (Al-Marj), June 26, 2024.
• Symposium on Copyright in Islamic Legal Tradition, Istanbul, June 28-29, 2024.
• Search for Editor: International Journal of Middle East Studies, until an appointment is made.
• MEM Fellowship for Graduate Students of Color.
• Scholarship: Islamic Scholarship Fund CAMBA Law Scholarship 2023.
• Internship opportunity: The Executive Office of the President, White House, various deadlines.
• Position opening: Academic mentor and field researcher in Iraq, Cordoba Peace Institute-Geneva (CPI) & ETH Zurich, rolling basis.
• Position opening: Academic mentor for researcher in Mogadishu, Cordoba Peace Institute-Geneva (CPI) & ETH Zurich.
• Position opening: Assistant Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of Tennessee, Fall 2022. Deadline: until an appointment is made.
• Position opening: Postdoc at the Center for Social Concerns and the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion at the University of Notre Dame, July – September 2023. 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.
• Position opening: Associate Director, Center for Religious and Spiritual Life and Muslim Chaplain, Macalester College.
• Call for Papers: Special Section – Lifewriting Annual and Islam.