By Salah-Dean Satouri* When Western commentators engage with Islamic law, they frequently focus on its most severe punishments, such as amputation for theft and stoning for adultery.[1] These penalties, known … Continue reading Can the severity of ḥudūd punishments be adjusted to align with modern liberal values?
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In "Advancing Women's Social and Political Rights Through a Reinterpretation of Islamic Law: Ayatollah Jannaati's View of Female Political Authority in Shiite Islam" (Digest of … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
By John Burden* Primary Source: Rana Yasif, “First Wife’s Consent for Second Marriage Challenged: Petition Challenges Section 9 of Muslim Family Law Ordinance in Shariat Court,” Express Tribune, May 25, … Continue reading Must a Wife’s Consent be Obtained to Contract a Second Marriage? Sharīʿa in Pakistan
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
