ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- In Syria, the “new central bank governor, Maysaa Sabreen, said she wants to boost the institution’s independence over monetary policy decisions. . . . Islamic banking complies with sharia, or Islamic law, and bans charging interest as well as investing in prohibited businesses such as trading in alcohol, pork, arms, pornography or gambling.”
- “A young Aussie has reignited a decade-old debate over whether Sharia law should be recognised in Australia and claimed those who want it should leave the country.”
- “Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai urged Muslim leaders . . . to back efforts to make gender apartheid a crime under international law, and called on them to speak out against Afghanistan‘s Taliban over its treatment of women and girls.”
- “A senior Taliban leader has publicly criticized his government’s policy of prohibiting female education in Afghanistan, calling it a “personal choice” rather than an interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.” 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.”
- “Some of the UK‘s biggest pension providers saw record flows into sharia-compliant funds last year following much better returns.”
CASES AND FATWĀS
- In Pakistan, “Jamia Naeemia has issued a fatwa declaring the use of ‘dunki’ (illegal immigration methods) to travel abroad as both unlawful and contrary to Islamic principles.”
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
PIL & Harvard Calendar:
- 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:
- Seminar: “An Eastern Gaze: The Making of an Islamic Archive in Early Modern China” with Dror Weil, Princeton University, January 27, 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.
- Call for Abstracts: Middle East Medievalists, November 22-25 (Deadline: February 5, 2025).
- Lecture: “Law, Ethics, and the History of the Islamic Marriage Contract” with Marion Holmes Katz, University of California Irvine, February 13, 2025.
- Writing Workshop: The American Institute for Maghrib Studies Graduate Student Writing Workshop, February 27-28, 2025 (Application deadline: January 3, 2025).
- Conference: The 2025 Annual Conference of the Humanities and Social Sciences at LUMS, Lahore, April 18-20, 2025.
- Workshop: Annual Comparative Law Work-in-Progress Workshop, May 1-3, 2025 (Call for Papers deadline: February 5, 2024).
- Call for Papers: 39th Annual Middle East History and Theory Conference (MEHAT), University of Chicago, May 2-3, 2025 (Deadline: January 31, 2025).
- 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).
- 2025 Hurst Summer Institute: Legal History, University of Wisconsin Law School, June 15-27, 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).
- Summer Language Intensive Program: Istanbul University Institute for Islamic Studies, July 7 – August 8, 2025.
- Conference: MESA 2025, Westin Downtown, Washington DC, November 22-25, 2025 (Proposal deadline: February 13, 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.