ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- “[T]he U.N. special envoy Roza Otunbayeva reportedly confirmed that ‘anecdotal evidence’ about [Afghan] girls being permitted to attend Islamic schools was mounting, [along with] worried about whether the girls would be able to study modern subjects in the madrassas and that a generation of Afghan girls were falling behind.”
- In response, “[a] Taliban official sa[id that] Afghan girls of all ages are allowed to study in Islamic religious schools that are traditionally boys-only.” 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.”
- “Iranian police [recently] closed a major bookshop in the centre of the capital Tehran for allowing unveiled women to enter the premises without a compulsory headscarf, a newspaper reported.”
- “Hours after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced there would be no restrictions on hijab (head scarf) in educational institutions in Karnataka [India], Union minister Giriraj Singh said: ‘This is not merely lifting of the ban on hijab but the establishment of Sharia law in the state.'”
- “On December 16, Saudi Arabia’s highly anticipated Civil Transactions Law came into effect, and expected to have a favourable impact on the business environment.”
- “Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIPk) director, Harith Fadzilah Abdul Halim, warned that Muslim men [in Malaysia] in the state could still face legal action for the offence of enticing married women under the state’s Syariah criminal law,” after a court invalidated an arguably similar penal code provision as unconstitutional.
- “A member of the Saudi advisory Shoura Council has proposed amending the kingdom’s anti-drug law to allow abolishing flogging as a form of punishment, a Saudi news portal has reported.” For more content and context on harsh interpretations and applications of Islamic criminal law, consult our Editor-in-Chief, Professor Intisar Rabb’s “Resource Roundup: Islamic Criminal Law.” For more news blurbs relating to harsh applications of Islamic criminal law, consult our “Islamic Criminal Law in the News Roundup.”
- “Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad [of Malaysia] […] said that the bill to limit the sale of cigarettes has been passed and he is in no position to make it haram by Islamic law: ‘I am not a mufti to make cigarettes haram.'”
CASES AND FATWĀS
- “The High Court [of Malaysia stated that it] will hear a Muslim convert’s application to quash a shariah appeals court order which struck out his appeal [to renounce Islam] for failure to comply with the rules of service.”
- “The contentious issue of crab consumption in Islamic law, due to the creature’s existence in both terrestrial and aquatic spheres, known as ‘al-hayawan al-barma’i,’ has sparked a wide-ranging debate among different Islamic schools of thought.”
UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
PIL & Harvard Calendar:
- Student work opportunity: Research assistant, Widener Library, Harvard University.
Global Calendar:
- Fellowship September 2024-May 2025: Crown Center for Middle East, Brandeis University, January 1, 2024.
- Panel on Islamic Law and Constitutionalism: AALS 2024 Meeting, January 4, 2024.
- Request for Open Submissions: AALS 2023 Annual Meeting, January 4-7, 2023. Submission deadlines vary.
- International Conference: Islamic Theology: Uniting Diverse Voices, ISTAC-IIUM, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 18-19, 2024.
- 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.
- Fellowship: Kamel Center at Yale Law School, 2024-2025, January 31, 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.
- Book award: The Sharmin & Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran & Persian Gulf Studies at Princeton University, April 1, 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.
- 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.
- Call for Papers: Special Section – Lifewriting Annual and Islam.
- Call for Manuscripts: Advances in the Study of Islam, Edinburgh University Press.