ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- In the US, “Republican lawmakers launch[ed] the Sharia-Free America Caucus, linking opposition to Sharia law with immigration policy, constitutional values, and national identity concerns.”
- “QY Research Inc., a global market research and consulting firm, has announced the release of its latest 2025 report titled “Halal – Global Market Share and Ranking, Overall Sales and Demand Forecast 2026-2032.”
- “A significant re-evaluation within Islamic jurisprudence is challenging long-held interpretations of riba, or interest, particularly concerning modern financial instruments like mortgages and student loans.”
CASES AND FATWĀS
- “Malaysian authorities have raided and shut down a hotel after receiving complaints that it had described itself as a ‘gay friendly’ establishment on its website….Officials said the raid was carried out under the Shariah Criminal Offences Enactment (State of Melaka), amid suspicions that laws relating to sodomy, attempted sodomy, and ‘unnatural sexual relations’ may have been breached.” For more content and context on Islamic law in Malaysia, consult our Editor-in-Chief Professor Intisar Rabb’s “Legislation and Regulation of Islamic Law in Malaysia” and its appended resource roundup.
- In Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari “signed the Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2025 into law, setting the minimum age for marriage at 18 years in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). The new legislation criminalises the solemnisation of marriages where either the boy or girl is underage….However, the legislation faced opposition from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), which declared the bill contrary to Islamic principles.”
- “Afghanistan’s permanent mission in Geneva said on Thursday that a newly issued criminal code by the Taliban entrenches discrimination, institutionalises a clerical class system and violates fundamental principles of human dignity, equality and justice.” In a similar statement, the human rights organization Rawadari argued that the code “legitimises violence against women and children” and “recognises slavery.” 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.”
- “According to publicly available tallies, Saudi Arabia executed hundreds of people in 2025, surpassing all previous annual records. This marked the second consecutive year of record-high executions.”
- “The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has raised $570,000 [for the payment of diya] to support the family of Suleimon Olufemi, to secure his release following his death sentence in Saudi Arabia over the murder of a police officer in 2002.”
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
PIL & Harvard Events:
- Workshop: Arabic TEI (Textual Encoding Initiative), April 2–3, 2026
PIL & Harvard Opportunities:
- Call for Applications: 2026–2027 PIL Research Fellowship, February 13, 2026
Global Events:
- Conference: Faith, Values, and the Rule of Law—An Interdisciplinary Conference, Seton Hall University School of Law, February February 4–5, 2026
- Conference: AI Methodologies and Applications in Middle Eastern and Islamic World Studies, Kuwait University, February 4–5, 2026
- Conference: Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, Amherst, MA, March 19–21, 2026
- Conference: Humanities of AI—Intelligence and Imitation: Mind, Mechanism, Mimesis, Johns Hopkins University, April 24–26, 2026
- Conference: American Society for Premodern Asia Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, April 24–27, 2026
- Conference: Middle East History and Theory Conference (MEHAT), University of Chicago, May 1–2, 2026
- Workshop: The Law and Humanities Workshop for Junior Scholars, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, June 8–9, 2026
- Conference: Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities Annual Conference, Chicago, June 17–18, 2026
- Conference: Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 21–24, 2026
Global Opportunities:
- Call for Applications: Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship, Northwestern University, January 26, 2026
- Call for Submissions: Fusayfsa’, the Smith College student-led Middle East Studies Journal, January 30, 2026
- Call for Papers: Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities Annual Conference, Chicago, January 31, 2026
- Call for Papers: 40th Annual Middle East History and Theory Conference (MEHAT), University of Chicago, January 31, 2026
- Call for Papers: Humanities of AI Workshop—Intelligence and Imitation: Mind, Mechanism, Mimesis, Johns Hopkins University, January 31, 2026
- Call for Papers: Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (MEIS) Graduate Student Virtual Symposium, University of Alberta, February 2, 2026
- Call for Panels: Middle East Medievalists at MESA 2026, February 12, 2026
- Call for Papers: Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, February 17, 2026
- Call for Applications: Kamel Center Senior Postgraduate Fellowship, Yale Law School, February 20, 2026
- Call for Papers: Comparative Law Work-in-Progress Workshop, Princeton University, February 20, 2026
- Call for Applications: Orient-Institut Beirut Residential Postdoctoral Fellowship, March 1, 2026
- Call for Participation: Digital Medieval Studies Institute, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 13, 2026
- Position Opening: Visiting Assistant Professor of Medieval Middle East, Colby College, July 1, 2026
- Call for Participation: Digital Medieval Studies Institute, International Medieval Congress, Leeds, UK, July 10, 2026