By Emma Westhoff* According to the traditional Islamic concept of milk kinship, the act of breastfeeding creates a familial relationship between a woman and the child she is nursing. This … Continue reading Fatwā on Human Milk Banks: The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In "Taking Old Ladies’ Homes: A Comparative Exploration of Eminent Domain in Islamic Law" (Harvard Law Review 138, no. 3 (2025)), the editors of the … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
By Summar Khan* Introduction Practicing religion in the face of religious persecution is not a new phenomenon for Muslims. In the early days of Islam, new Muslims were often subject … Continue reading How Muslims Have Altered their Religious Practices in the Face of Oppression
By Robert Shepard* Introduction The prohibition of ribā (ربا(, or usury, is one of the most critical principles shaping financial transactions in Muslim-majority countries. Rooted in Qurʾānic injunctions and classical … Continue reading Navigating the Prohibition of Ribā in the Modern Islamic World
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In "Criminal Offense of Abortion Due to Rape from the Perspective of Islamic Criminal Law" (Syiah Kuala Law Journal 8, no. 3 (2024)), Dahlan Almas … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
By John Burden* During the ninth and tenth centuries, four eponymous schools of Islamic jurisprudence (madhāhib, s. madhhab) emerged as leaders in the Sunnī world: the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī and … Continue reading What Made the Founders of the Four Major Islamic Madhāhib so Influential?
By Emma Westhoff* My research question addressed whether coffee has ever been considered an intoxicant (khamr) in Islamic jurisprudence and thus prohibited for consumption by Muslims. I began by addressing … Continue reading Coffee as an Intoxicant in Islamic Law
For the month of January, we will be publishing a series of essays written by students from the Fall 2024 “Islamic Law Lab” course at Harvard Law School, convened by … Continue reading Islamic Law and ChatGPT: Student Essays from the Islamic Law Lab
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In a recent issue of Religion (December 17, 2024), Clinton Bennett (State University of New York at New Paltz, USA) reviews Malika Zeghal's (Harvard University) … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In a recent issue of the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (60, no. 1 (2024)), Tobias Scheunchen (PhD candidate, University of Chicago) … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
