Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP

On Islamic Law

• In a recent issue of the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (60, no. 1 (2024)), Tobias Scheunchen (PhD candidate, University of Chicago) reviews Lajos Berkes‘s (Humboldt University) (ed.) Christians and Muslims in Early Islamic Egypt (University of Michigan Press, 2022).
• In a recent issue of Religion (December 17, 2024), Clinton Bennett (State University of New York at New Paltz, USA) reviews Malika Zeghal‘s (Harvard University) The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa (Princeton University Press, 2024).
• In “Implementing and developing Islamic law internationally: challenges in the modern age” (SSRN, December 17, 2024), Imam Sujono (Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam Taruna Surabaya) argues that “efforts are needed for cross-cultural dialogue and reform of Islamic law that is inclusive and adaptive to the global context without ignoring the basic principles of religion.”

On Islam and Data Science

• In “From revelation to modern Islamic finance: Islamic commercial law in the UAE as a case study” (International Journal of Law and Management, September 13, 2024), Ahmed Mansoor Alkhan (ALM College, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK) and M. Kabir Hassan (University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) conduct a case study of Islamic finance in the UAE that “revealed that the introduction and incorporation of fiqhi and Islamic financial principles within the Updated Commercial Transactions law in the UAE was done so in its rudimentary form, indicating that its purpose was to enhance the UAE’s position as a leading global Islamic financial hub – as opposed to the sole purpose of its usage during disputes between counterparties.”

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:

• Bint al-Nil was a pioneering Egyptian magazine founded in 1945 by Doria Shafik, a prominent feminist, writer, and activist. The magazine served as a platform to advocate for women’s rights, particularly focusing on education, political participation, and social reform. It played a significant role in mobilizing women during Egypt’s mid-20th-century push for greater gender equality, including campaigns for women’s suffrage and political representation. Known for its bold and progressive content, Bint al-Nil became a symbol of the feminist movement in Egypt, inspiring generations of women to challenge societal norms and strive for empowerment.

UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

PIL & Harvard Calendar:

• 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:

• 2025 Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, January 7-11, 2025.
• 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.
• BRAIS Prize 2025: Call for Submissions, January 24, 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.
• Writing Workshop: The American Institute for Maghrib Studies Graduate Student Writing Workshop, February 27-28, 2025 (Application deadline: January 3, 2025).
• Workshop: Annual Comparative Law Work-in-Progress Workshop, May 1-3, 2025 (Call for Papers deadline: February 5, 2024).
• Call for Papers: “ Islamic and Jewish Law in the Modern Economy,” University of Villanova School of Law, Villanova, Pennsylvania, May 5-6, 2025 (Abstract submission deadline: January 31, 2025).
• 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).
• LSA 2025 Annual Meeting: Chicago, Illinois from May 22-25, 2025 (Early registration: December 3, 2024; 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: The Middle Ages in the Modern World, London Strand Campus, King’s College London, June 24-26, 2025 (Call for Papers deadline: January 13, 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.