- In “The Roots And Persistence Of Terengganu’s Hardline Approach To Islamic Law” (Eurasia Review), Mohd Faizal Musa (ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute) observes that “the Muslim populace of [Terengganu, Malaysia] remains unwavering in their demand for the full implementation of Islamic law…[so] that any incoming government must acknowledge and conform to the socio-political, Malay-Islamic cultural, and historically unique context of Terengganu,” and argues that “the state’s distinctive historical trajectory has cultivated a conviction among its Muslim community that the shariah can, and ought to, be implemented—given that even under British colonial rule, it was selectively applied.”
- In “Security, Water and Gardens: Constructing Socio-Legal and Theoretical Contexts for the Qur’anic Covenant” (Comparative Islamic Studies), Ulrika Mårtensson (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) “analyses the Qur’anic concept of ‘faith’ in relation to verses about ‘water’ and ‘gardens.’…Two arguments are developed. (1) ‘Faith’ in the Qur’an connotes the ‘security’ of water and food that God promises humans and obligates them to implement among themselves. (2) Research into Biblical Covenant, ancient Arab history and agriculture, and early Islamic law on sharecropping contracts, suggests that the Qur’an could reflect both ancient farming conditions and legal change during the Prophet’s time, which strengthened farm workers’ rights.” [login required]