- In “Beyond the Secular Binary: Bargaining with God in Modern Constitutions” (International Society of Public Law Blog), Ali Shirvani (Northwest University) observes that “few questions have haunted modern constitutional theory as persistently as the relationship between divine authority and popular sovereignty. While this tension is a global phenomenon present in various religious traditions, it has acquired a particular urgency in the context of the Muslim world, where the role of the sacred in public life remains a central site of political contestation….To understand the future of governance in the Muslim world, we must move beyond asking whether Islam is compatible with democracy and instead examine how societies constitutionally negotiate faith, power, and modern statehood.”
- In “God’s Law, Man’s Rule: Debating Women’s Right to Health from Sacred Texts to the Taliban” (Video—Middle East Studies Association Global Academy), Lutforahman Saeed (Birgham Young University Law School) “discussed women’s right to healthcare in Islamic law, outlining its foundations in the Qur’an, the Prophet’s Sunnah, and the core objectives of Sharia, and examining how these principles compare with the Taliban’s restrictive policies on women’s access to medical education and healthcare services.”