ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- “Zealous officials burned their predecessors’ romance novels. Now, young Muslim women in northern Nigeria publish their erotic books in installments on WhatsApp.”
- In Nigeria, “the Katsina State Hisbah Board (KTSHB), Dandume Division, has arrested several suspects accused of mixing palm oil with water and selling it to unsuspecting customers.”
- In Indonesia, the “Ministry of Hajj and Umrah is strengthening coordination with other government ministries, including the Coordinating Ministry for Legal Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, to prevent illegal Hajj practices.”
CASES AND FATWĀS
- “Ron DeSantis signed HB 1471, legislation strengthening protections against the application of foreign and religious laws—including Sharia law—that violate constitutional rights and establishing new safeguards against terrorist organizations operating in Florida.”
- “The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently held that a Muslim man’s second marriage during the subsistence of his first marriage does not, by itself, constitute the offence of bigamy under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code.”
- “Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani, slammed…projects aiming to legalize civil marriage, warning all the Muslim officials in power to be considered ‘apostates of Islam; if they support the legalization of such marriage in Lebanon.”
- “Undertakers serving the Muslim community of Cape Town [South Africa] have expressed their displeasure after a High Court judgment barred the construction of a mortuary facility at the Mowbray Cemetery.”
- “Pilates is permissible for Muslims as a form of physical exercise, provided it is conducted within Islamic guidelines, a mufti’s office [in Malaysia] has clarified.”
- “President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s approval of a dedicated Islamic finance law on 27 March 2026 marks a decisive inflection point in Uzbekistan’s financial evolution.”
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
PIL & Harvard Events:
- Roundtable: Knowledge in the Islamic Court, Program in Islamic Law, Harvard Law School, April 16, 2026
- Workshop: Middle East Beyond Borders—Djelemory Diabate, “Closing the Sufi Age: Authority, Finality, and Political Theology in Umar al-Futi Tal’s Kitab Rimah,” April 20, 2026
PIL & Harvard Opportunities:
- Award: Alwaleed Bin Talal Undergraduate Thesis Prize, April 17, 2026
- Award: Alwaleed Bin Talal Doctoral Dissertation Prize, May 15, 2026
Global Events:
- 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
- Workshop: Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Graduate Student Workshop, July 25–26, 2026
- Workshop: Archival Abundances and Silences in Islamic Studies, Princeton University, October 2–3, 2026
- Conference: Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 21–24, 2026
Global Opportunities:
- Fellowship: MESA 2026–2027 Global Academy, April 16, 2026
- Language School: Persian Language Summer School, Armenian School of Languages and Cultures, Yerevan, Armenia, May 1, 2026
- Summer School: Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World, Leiden University, May 4, 2026
- Call for Participation: Digital Medieval Studies Institute, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 13, 2026
- Award: Global Dissertation Prize, American Society for Legal History, June 1, 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