SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP
On Islamic Law
- In “A Reflection on Hadith Evidences Regarding the Validity of Official and Ordinary Documents in Islamic Law” (The Quarterly Journal of Islamic Law Research 25, no. 3 (2024)), Yazdan Taherabadi (Department of Jurisprudence and Criminal Law, Higher Institute of Jurisprudence and Islamic Studies, Qom, Iran) “addresses the tension between traditional Islamic jurisprudence and contemporary legal practices concerning the use of documents as evidence. Traditionally, Islamic law has relied on methods such as the judge’s knowledge, evidence [Bayyinah], confession, oath, and casting lots to prove claims. However, with the increasing reliance on official documents in modern legal systems, including those in Islamic countries, a new approach has emerged that often places documents above other forms of evidence.”
- In “Analyzing the Role of Blockchain in Realizing Islamic Banking with a Perspective on the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran” (The Quarterly Journal of Islamic Law Research 25, no. 3 (2024)), Kheirollah Parvin (Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran) and others “seek[] to explore whether blockchain can offer a viable solution to the challenges faced by Islamic banking, such as governance issues, lack of transparency, and adherence to Sharia principles,” concluding “that blockchain technology is compatible with the ethical and Sharia principles underlying Islamic banking.”
On Islam and Data Science
- In “Exploring the predictive power of artificial neural networks in linking global Islamic indices with a local Islamic index” (Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 11 (2024)), Zakaria Boulanouar (Department of Economics and Finance, College of Business and Economics, & National Water and Energy Center, The United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE) and others “analyze the correlations and information flow between a local Sharia-compliant index and global Sharia-compliant indices using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models, shedding light on the integration of international and national Sharia-compliant markets.”
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:
- Pan Iranist was a newspaper associated with the Pan-Iranist Party, an Iranian nationalist political party founded in the mid-20th century. The newspaper served as a platform for promoting Pan-Iranism, an ideology that sought to unite all Persian-speaking and culturally Iranian peoples across the broader region, including those in areas beyond Iran’s borders, such as parts of Afghanistan, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
PIL & Harvard Calendar:
- Workshop: Library Resources for Scholars of Islamic Studies, Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University, November 8, 2024.
- Islamic Law Speaker Series: “Islamic Apocalyptic Jurisprudence: End-Times Law in Sunnī and Shīʿī Discourses” by Ali Rod Khadem, Program in Islamic Law, November 12, 2024.
- Islamic Law Speaker Series: “On Theocratic Criminal Law: The Rule of Religion and Punishment in Iran,” Bahman Khodadadi, Program in Islamic Law, December 10, 2024.
- Call for Submissions: Journal of Islamic Law Special Issue, January 13, 2025.
- Islamic Law Speaker Series: “The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa (Princeton University Press, 2024),” Malika Zeghal, Program in Islamic Law, February 11, 2025.
- Islamic Law Speaker Series: “The Genealogy of the Death Penalty for Apostasy and Blasphemy in Islam” by Mohsen Kadivar, Program in Islamic Law, March 11, 2025.
- Islamic Law Speaker Series: “A Cultural History of the Arabic Book: Digital Explorations of Writerly Practices and Text Reuse” by Sarah Savant, Program in Islamic Law, April 8, 2025.
Calendar:
- Panel: “The Legacies of Anti-colonial Struggle in Algeria: A Panel Honoring the Life and Activism of Elaine Mokhtefi,” UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies, November 8, 2024.
- Conference: “Perspectives on the Development of Islamic Law: Philosophy of Law & Islamic Medical Ethics,” Humbold University, Berlin, November 8-9, 2024.
- Conference: 2024 CILIS Islamic Studies Postgraduate Conference, Melbourne Law School, November 12, 2024.
- Position opening: University assistant predoctoral researcher, University of Vienna, November 14, 2024.
- Lecture: Fall 2024 Lester Lecture: “Polyvalence, Ambiguity and the Politics of Islamic Studies” with Dr. Marion Katz, University of Colorado Boulder, November 14, 2024.
- Position opening: Associate/Full Professor – Islamic/Middle Eastern Studies, UMass Amherst, November 15, 2024.
- EUME Berliner Seminar: “Law, Litigation, and Politics of Legitimization: On the Possibilities and Limits of Palestinian Legal Action in Israel” by Suhad Bishara, November 20, 2024.
- Book Roundtable: “Order and Disorder in the Ottoman Empire,” UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies, November 22, 2024.
- Fellowship: Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization, 2025-2026, Yale Law School (Deadline: November 30, 2024).
- Conference: 12th Global Islamic Microfinance Forum, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, December 2-4, 2024.
- Fellowship: M. C. Lang Fellowship in Book History, Bibliography, and Humanities Teaching with Historical Sources, Rare Book School, 2025-2026, December 9, 2024.
- Conference: Law, colonialism and gender in the Muslim world, December 19-20, 2024.
- Hurst Summer Institute 2025, University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, January 15, 2025.
- EUME Berliner Seminar: “The Politics of Choice: The 2003 Entry Law to Israel, the Phenomenology of Singlehood and Love Across Borders Among Palestinians” by Towibah Majdub, January 22, 2025.
- Fellowship: The University Center for Human Values in Law and Normative Thinking 2025-26, Princeton University, January 22, 2025.
- Call for Editors: Law & Society Review, 2025-2026, February 1, 2025.
- Call for Editors: Book Review Editor for Law & Society Review, 2025-2026, February 1, 2025.
- Workshop: Annual Comparative Law Work-in-Progress Workshop, May 1-3, 2025 (Call for Papers deadline: February 5, 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: Law, Culture, and Humanities 27th Annual Conference, Georgetown University, June 17-18, 2025 (Call for Papers deadline: January 31, 2025).
- Conference: MESA 2025, Westin Downtown, Washington DC, November 22-25, 2025.
- Position opening: Senior Lecturer in Law, History, and Society, Vanderbilt University, 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.