By Limeng Sun This post is part of the Digital Islamic Law Lab (DILL) series, in which a Harvard student analyzes a primary source of Islamic law, previously workshopped in the DIL … Continue reading Interpreting Sharī’a in Amina Lawal v. State
1923 Fatwā Refutes the Premises of Pakistan’s Current Blasphemy Law
By Hamzah Raza (A Fatwā Penned by nearly 500 of the Indian Subcontinent’s Most Prominent Scholars, including the Founders of the Deobandi and Barelvi Movements Refutes Modern Pakistani Ulema’s Position … Continue reading 1923 Fatwā Refutes the Premises of Pakistan’s Current Blasphemy Law
Scholarship in “Plain English”: Joseph Lowry on the First Islamic Legal Theory
By Cem Tecimer Abstract: Joseph Lowry argues that, much like other legal systems, Islamic legal systems, since their formative periods, grappled with the question of how to reconcile competing jurisprudential … Continue reading Scholarship in “Plain English”: Joseph Lowry on the First Islamic Legal Theory
Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979 (Pakistan)
By Zainab Samantash Introduction/Summary: This Ordinance was introduced and was part of the then President, General Zia-ul-Haqś Islamization campaign, which aimed to bring the law into conformity with Islamic injunctions. … Continue reading Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979 (Pakistan)
Commentary :: Iran’s New Islamic Penal Code: Have International Criticisms Been Effective for Children and Juvenile Offenders?
Professor Intisar Rabb and Iran editor Marzieh Tofighi Darian analyze changes made to statutes defining juvenile crimes and punishment under Iran's new Islamic Penal Code, passed in 2013. The Code … Continue reading Commentary :: Iran’s New Islamic Penal Code: Have International Criticisms Been Effective for Children and Juvenile Offenders?
The Construction and Failure of Islamic Laws of Evidence in ISIS’s State-Building Project
Guest contributor Mara Revkin outlines the legal infrastructure of ISIS. She argues that the movement's barbarism and apparently wanton acts of terrorism belies a self-contained legal system based on Islamic … Continue reading The Construction and Failure of Islamic Laws of Evidence in ISIS’s State-Building Project
CASE COMMENT: Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court on the Protection of Women Act of 2006: Expansion of Jurisdiction, Expansion of ḥudūd
The Federal Sharia Court (FSC) of Pakistan has used Islamic criminal law (hudud) cases to expand its jurisdiction, in a move that has wide ranging effects for the adjudication of … Continue reading CASE COMMENT: Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court on the Protection of Women Act of 2006: Expansion of Jurisdiction, Expansion of ḥudūd
Apostasy and Blasphemy in Islamic Law
By Jiou Park This post will provide a survey of pre-modern Islamic law regarding apostasy (ridda), blasphemy, and the related concept of unbelief (kufr). The exploration of such concepts will … Continue reading Apostasy and Blasphemy in Islamic Law
Pakistan’s Anti-Rape Laws Bill: Panacea or Posturing?
By Nimra Azmi In March 2015, the Pakistani Senate unanimously passed the Anti-Rape Laws Bill of 2014. (While the Anti-Rape Laws Bill has passed in the upper house, it is … Continue reading Pakistan’s Anti-Rape Laws Bill: Panacea or Posturing?
A Patchwork Pakistani: Gang Rape, Jurisdiction, and the Mukhtar Mai Case
By Nimra Azmi In 1999, Pakistan passed an amendment to the 1997 Anti-Terrorism Act.[1] This Amendment listed gang rape, child molestation, and robbery coupled with rape as terrorist acts under … Continue reading A Patchwork Pakistani: Gang Rape, Jurisdiction, and the Mukhtar Mai Case