ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- As Iran is headed to snap elections following the death of its president, pundits have noted how the “Vali-e Faqih, or the watchman of Islamic law specialists (presently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) is the preeminent pioneer, and has sacred power over” the state.
- “Harvard Law School visiting fellow Afrooz Maghzi share[d] insights on women’s struggles for equality and democracy in her home country” Iran with Harvard Law Today.
- “Tajikistan [is] set to outlaw Islamic hijab after years of unofficial ban.”
- “City law firms [in London] have been urged to stop hosting work socials at the pub over fears they exclude Muslim staff.”
- “Prof. Muhammad Abubakar-Walid [of Nigeria], an Islamic cleric, has urged pilgrims to streamline their faith and guard against anything that would nullify their hajj.”
- “Under the Taliban government’s austere interpretation of Islamic law, the ‘mahram’ practice long rooted in Afghan society has become compulsory[,]” whereby “women have been barred from going on long trips, travelling by plane or entering government buildings unless they are accompanied by a man.”
- A U.N. diplomat, commenting on the Taliban‘s strict application of gender segregation in public spaces, recently stated: “Islam never says that women should not go to school, and Islam never says that women should not go to work. Which (version of) Islam and which Quran says that? It’s not found in there[.]” 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.”
CASES AND FATWĀS
- “A local leadership of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala has issued a fatwa to its women cadre prohibiting them from attending roadshows[.]”
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
PIL & Harvard Calendar:
- Call for Applications: Harvard Medieval Studies Undergraduate Research Fellows Program, June 20, 2024.
Calendar:
- Leiden Yemeni Studies Lecture Series: Mapping the Past, Imagining the Future: Heritage Politics in Ḥūthī Yemen, June 24, 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.
- Workshop: ASLH Early Career Virtual Workshop, June 30, 2024.
- Call for Papers: The XI Islamic Legal Studies Conference, University of Muenster, June 30, 2024.
- Symposium: Knowledge in the Islamic Court: Evidence, Proof, Procedure Symposium – May 14-15, 2025 (Rabat, Morocco), June 30, 2024.
- Prize: Best dissertation, Middle East Medievalists, June 30, 2024.
- Call for Papers: De Jure: Jurnal Hukum dan Syar’iah, June 2024.
- Call for Papers: Law, colonialism and gender in the Muslim world, July 1, 2024 (Conference: December 19-20, 2024).
- Call for Proposals: Hot Topics Program, 2025 Association of American Law Schools Meeting, October 14, 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.