Islamic Law in the News Roundup

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SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP

On Islamic Law

  • In “Women’s Rights and Duties in Classical Legal Literature” (in The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Women (Oxford University Press, 2024)), Mariam Sheibani (Brandeis University) “examines women’s rights and obligations pertaining to marriage, divorce, and inheritance in classical legal literature (8th to 18th century CE). It summarizes the classical doctrines on these topics according to the four Sunni legal schools and the Twelver Shi‘i school. . . .”
  • In “Muslims and Unofficial Islamic Law (Shari’a) Debates in the West” (in Muslim Legal Pluralism in the West (Springer, 2024)), Ihsan Yilmaz (Deakin University, Australia) and Denitsa Pirinova Sokolova-Shipoli (Georgetown University) “examine[] how the Islamic legal tradition accommodates the needs of Western Muslims living in the United States, Europe, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia.”
  • In Women, Households, and the Hereafter in the Qur’an (Oxford University Press, 2024), Dr. Karen Bauer and Dr. Feras Hamza (Institute of Ismaili Studies) “study households and patronage in the Qur’an and . . . show how Qur’anic theology, ethics and law seek to refashion these late antique social structures.”

FIELD GUIDE TO ISLAMIC LAW ONLINE: RECENT SOURCES

The Field Guide to Islamic Law Online is an ever-growing collection of links to hundreds of links to primary sources and archival collections around the world, online.We recently added new resources to this list:

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS

  • “Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim [of Malaysia] . . . said the government is still discussing the tabling of the Mufti (Federal Territories) Bill, amid opposition over the law restricting candidates to follow certain Islamic schools of thoughts.”
  • The Indian police arrested a man for his involvement in the flogging of a couple accused of having an extramarital affair. 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.”
  • “Offa, the UK’s first Sharia-compliant bridge finance fintech company, has launched a buy-to-let (BTL) service.”
  • “Germany, where around a million Syrians reside, has varied and diverse burial regulations, methods, and locations. . . .Various companies and organizations in Germany provide burial services, following Islamic or other methods, handling everything from death to burial. Some cemeteries have sections dedicated to Muslim burials.”
  • Speaking at the 6th edition of the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, Dr. Shawki Allam, Egypt‘s Grand Mufti, stated: “In this interconnected world, akin to a small village, seemingly local incidents can reverberate across its farthest reaches[.]”

CASES AND FATWĀS

  • In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court of India “has reiterated that Muslim women are entitled for alimony from their ex-husbands like non-Muslim women.”
  • In the above judgment, the Supreme Court of India held that “relief under Section 125 CrPC [Code of Criminal Procedure] is a social security measure that operates independently of any Muslim personal law remedies.” “The All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPLB), while calling the verdict as being against the Muslim personal law, has opted for a cautious approach.”
  • A “Sikh man ask[ed] [a] Kuala Lumpur court to declare he has never been Muslim and Sharia won’t apply to him, [but the] Islamic Council step[ped] in to say only Sharia court can decide.”

UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Calendar:

  • Call for Submissions: Pedagogy Files in Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā, September 1, 2024.
  • Call for Papers: “Islamic Law and Social Movements,” 2025 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), September 9, 2024.
  • Call for Proposals: Hot Topics Program, 2025 Association of American Law Schools Meeting, October 14, 2024.
  • Conference: Law, colonialism and gender in the Muslim world, December 19-20, 2024.
  • Conference: MESA 2025, Westin Downtown, Washington DC, November 22-25, 2025.
  • 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.

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