ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- “In Brunei Darussalam, the Syariah Courts have already taken steps towards digitalisation through the e-Syariah system, and AI technology has the potential to further strengthen such efforts. The potential of AI technology in strengthening the Syariah judiciary was highlighted by Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office (Security and Law) Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Sufian bin Haji Sabtu.”
- “State-owned Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines will roll out Shariah-compliant financing for local government units (LGUs) starting next year.”
- In India, “Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently threatened to introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in all the States governed by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance before 2029.” However, some alleged that “the UCC has diluted the inheritance rights of Hindu and Muslim women alike.”
- “The new leader of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina [was] elected on October 10. The reis-ul-ulema’s role is not only important for Muslims in the country itself, but could inspire Muslims across Europe.”
- In Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said, “Muslims must embrace new fields of knowledge, including artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and digitalisation, while remaining firmly rooted in faith, ethics and Islamic values.”
- “Oman’s state-controlled OQ Gas Networks (OQGN) hope to raise $1 billion from global capital markets to diversify its funding sources. The funding will be through the issuance of sukuk – Islamic bonds – and is planned to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, the company said in a filing on the Muscat Stock Exchange.”
- “The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) and Bank Al-Maghrib (Central Bank of Morocco) have signed two preliminary agreements to strengthen cooperation in banking supervision and Islamic finance, as well as interlink payment and financial messaging systems.”
CASES AND FATWĀS
- In Malaysia, “The government has approved in principle a proposal to strengthen the country’s Syariah Courts, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.” 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.
- “Bahrain’s most senior Shia religious authority, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, issued a sweeping rejection of the ruling establishment’s recent decisions, declaring them void under Islamic law and asserting that believers will respond with a single, unified voice.”
- In Singapore, “The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) introduced amendments to the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966 (AMLA) for First Reading in Parliament.” The “Amendments seek to establish governance of Singapore College of Islamic Studies (SCIS), enhance processes for Muslim marriages and divorces.”
- “The Texas Supreme Court has rejected a Houston businessman’s attempt to secure recognition in Texas of a “secret” Sharia divorce obtained in Pakistan, holding that his estranged wife was not given adequate notice or a meaningful opportunity to participate before the divorce was finalised.”
- “Two years after The Gambia gained independence, a complex marriage dispute involving religion, conversion, inheritance and competing legal traditions exposed a gap in the country’s young legal system and prompted the government to introduce legislation allowing courts to dissolve marriages in special circumstances. The case… became part of a wider debate over interfaith marriages and the relationship between Islamic, customary and secular law in post-independence Gambia.”
- “The International Criminal Court (ICC) unsealed four arrest warrants against senior Taliban figures, accusing them of persecuting women and girls in Afghanistan, acts that the Court’s prosecutors say constitute crimes against humanity.” “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) rejected arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against four senior IEA leaders, saying Afghanistan does not recognize the court or its decisions.” 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.”
- In Pakistan, “The Supreme Court has ruled that a family court cannot convert a woman’s plea for dissolution of marriage on statutory grounds into a decree of khula without her clear and voluntary consent, holding that such a conversion can unlawfully deprive her of her right to dower.”
- In India, “The Kerala High Court has held that a Waqf Tribunal possesses the power to permit parties to deliver interrogatories under Order XI of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) as it is deemed as a civil court under Section 83(5) of the Waqf Act, 1995.”
- “Those convicted of murder will face imprisonment of 15 to 20 years in cases where the victim’s heirs waive their right to qisas (retribution), under amendments to the UAE’s Crimes and Penalties Law.”
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
- Conference: Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 21–24, 2026
- Conference: The Institutional Embedding of Shiʿi Imams: Kinship, Caliphs, Courts and Companions (700-900), University of Leiden, January 13–15, 2027
- Conference: Rupture or Continuity in Sharīʿa: (De)Colonizing Sharīʿa? International Conference, Centre for Islamic Studies (ISAM), Istanbul, Turkey, June 9–11, 2027
Opportunities:
- Position Opening: Assistant or Associate Professor, History, University of California at Berkeley, October 15, 2026
- Position Opening: Assistant Professor in the Pre-Modern History of the Islamicate Middle East or Central Asia, University of Chicago, October 19, 2026
- Position Opening: Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, October 21, 2026