ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- ” [L]ow-income Somali Muslims in Minnesota have been targeted by shady home sellers edging their way into the community — by exploiting a principle of Islam meant to protect the poor.” “The seller claims there’s no interest payment because no banks are involved. But no banks also mean no appraisals, allowing the seller to inflate prices with no questions asked on the condition of the home.”
- “Afghanistan’s Taliban formally codified a long set of rules governing morality . . . ranging from requiring women to cover their faces and men to grow beards to banning car drivers from playing music, the Justice Ministry said.” 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.”
- “Deep inequality between men and women is a longstanding norm in the north of Niger’s Tillabery region, but the local Islamic State affiliate’s actions are worsening the divide. The militant group enforces strict gender rules, hampering women’s livelihoods and restricting their participation in civic life.”
CASES AND FATWĀS
- “The Afghan Taliban government has imposed a ban on Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), declaring the sport to be un-Islamic.. . . The decision followed an investigation by the Ministry Minister of Preaching and Guidance, Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Evil, and the Afghan police, which assessed MMA in the context of Islamic and Sharia laws.”
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: 2024 American Society of Comparative Law Annual Meeting, Texas A&M University School of Law, October 17-19, 2024 (Call for Submissions: October 15, 2024).
- Conference: Law, colonialism and gender in the Muslim world, December 19-20, 2024.
- Conference: Eleventh Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies, Queen Mary University, UK, May 8-10, 2025 (Paper proposals: October 31, 2024; Panel proposals: November 30, 2024).
- Conference: Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, May 22-25, 2025 (Registration: January 3, 2025).
- 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.