ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- “A major challenge of Canada‘s ban on adoptions from several Muslim countries is set to play out in the Federal Court — a move some legal observers say wouldn’t be necessary if the government wasn’t upholding what they call a “discriminatory” policy. . . . In 2013, Canada suddenly put a stop to adoptions from Pakistan, arguing Shariah law doesn’t allow for birth ties between a parent and child to be severed and that the Islamic principle of guardianship (kafala) could no longer be recognized as the basis for adoption.”
- “Mansoor Ahmad Hamza, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Education, stated in an interview with national radio and television on Monday, that the ministry has removed lessons that were contrary to Islamic Sharia law from the educational curriculum and replaced them with content consistent with Sharia law.”
- The United Nations recently announced that “the Taliban government in impoverished Afghanistan had recently forced hundreds of females out of their jobs for allegedly not adhering to Islamic law requirements imposed on women nationwide.” 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.”
- “Saudi Arabia launched […] its first administrative enforcement court with jurisdiction over government entities and officials in a bid to boost investor confidence, a Saudi judicial organisation said.”
- “The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) [in India] reiterated the significance of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, against the backdrop of controversies over Muslim places of worship, and stated this law had ‘closed doors’ for changing the nature of places of worship.”
- “Authorities [in Malaysia] have charged [two filmmakers] under strict blasphemy laws, specifically ‘deliberately intended to hurt other people’s religious feelings by uttering words and placing objects in the person’s sight.'” The film is “about a 15-year-old Muslim girl who questions her Islamic faith and explores other faiths.” 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.”
CASES AND FATWĀS
- A purported fatwā barring Muslims from voting for minority candidates in Pakistan‘s upcoming general elections in February went viral on social media.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
*** Fellowship: Program in Islamic Law –Library of Congress Research Fellowship Application, 2024-2025, February 15, 2024 ***
PIL & Harvard Calendar:
- Student work opportunity: Research assistant, Widener Library, Harvard University.
- Fellowship: The Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World, Harvard Law School, 2024-2025, February 15, 2024.
- Roundtable: Islamic Land Law, Program in Islamic Law, Harvard Law School, February 21, 2024.
- SHARIAsource Lab :: Hackathon: Arabic OCR Community Scribes, Program in Islamic Law, March 2, 2024.
- Islamic Law Speaker Series: “The Rise of Critical Islam: 10th-13th Century Legal Debate” with Youcef L. Soufi, Program in Islamic Law, March 5, 2024.
- Islamic Law Speaker Series: “The Transition of Ottoman Land Law: Theory and Practice between 16th-18th Centuries” with Fatma Gul Karagoz, Program in Islamic Law, April 9, 2024.
- Islamic Law Speaker Series: “The Umayyad Empire” with Andrew Marsham, Program in Islamic Law, May 14, 2024.
Global Calendar:
- Position opening: Professor in History of Islamic Art and Architecture, American University in Cairo, January 30, 2024.
- Call for Papers: Artificial Intelligence: Applications, Academic and Practical Legal Implications, Kuwait International Law School, January 30, 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.
- Summer School: Persian in Yerevan with ASPIRANTUM, February 1, 2024.
- Fellowship: UCHV Fellows in Law and Normative Thinking for Academic Year 2024-25, Princeton University, February 2, 2024.
- Call for Nominations: Islamic Law and Society CRN of the Law and Society Association, February 9, 2024.
- Call for Papers: MESA 2024, February 15, 2024.
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Looking for Libya in Coptic-Arabic historiographical sources, February 21, 2024.
- Fellowship: Anthony Lester Fellowships, 2024-2025, Bard College, February 28, 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.
- Call for Papers: De Jure: Jurnal Hukum dan Syar’iah, June 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.