ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS According to data from India's Darul Qaza, or Islamic arbitration center, more divorces have been sought through khula, whereby the woman petitions a judge for divorce and surrenders hew dowry, rather than through triple talaq, whereby the husband unilaterally divorces his wife. "Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (Markazudawa), [an Islamic organization operating … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In response to the Supreme Court's overruling of Roe v. Wade, some Muslim American lawyers have argued that restrictive abortion laws infringe on Muslims' religious liberty, as many of the restrictive abortion laws in several states contravene Islam's understanding of abortion and its permissibility in certain contexts. Relatedly, some Muslims … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In response to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson overruling Roe v. Wade, the precedent that had recognized a constitutional right to abortion, American Muslims have voiced a diverse array of opinions, some viewing the recent decision as an infringement of their religious freedoms as Muslims. … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In "Navigating Colonial Law in a 'Sea of Islands'" (Law & Social Inquiry Online (December 3, 2021)), Renisa Mawani (University of British Columbia) reviews Nurfadzilah Yahaya's Fluid Jurisdictions: Colonial Laws and Arabs in Southeast Asia (Cornell University Press, 2020). In "Rumi without Islam: the cultural appropriation of Rumi" (Bayt Al … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
By Petra Sijpesteijn (Leiden University) This essay is part of the Islamic Law Blog’s Roundtable on Islamic Legal History & Historiography, edited by Intisar Rabb (Editor-in-Chief) and Mariam Sheibani (Lead Blog Editor), and introduced with a list of further readings in the short post by Intisar Rabb: “Methods and Meaning in Islamic Law: Introduction." Two … Continue reading The continuum approach: Multiple legal solutions to run a diverse empire
By Omar Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar 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 Lab. Summary Qalqashandī’s rendering in Ṣubḥ al-Aʿshā of an earlier decree for the appointment of a Ḥanbalī judge provides important insights into the quadripartite … Continue reading Jurisdiction over Germination
Response #1: Blurred Boundaries; Muddied Waters or Multiculturalism Gone Astray? Some Reflections on "The Independent Review into the Application of Sharia Law in England and Wales" By Shaheen Sardar Ali Professor of Law, University of Warwick "The independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales" [1] was presented to the UK … Continue reading SYMPOSIUM :: On “The Independent Review into the Application of Sharia Law in England and Wales” by the UK Home Office
Guest contributor Hadeer Soliman counters Baroness Cox's statement proposing Amernment 219(C) to the Policing and Crime Bill. This bill "would require celebrants of religious marriages to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the marriage complies with the marriage laws of England and Wales. Baroness Cox, a cross-bench member of the UK House of Lords, recently proposed … Continue reading Gender Issues Are a National Problem, Not Just a Muslim Problem: A Response to Baroness Cox’s Statement
South Asia editor Zubair Abbasi surveys the influence of England’s Privy Council – also known as the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council – on awqāf (Islamic endowments, or trusts). As the highest court of appeal in the British Empire, "[t]he Privy Council contributed towards the development of several legal principles in Islamic endowment law," in attempts to standardize law throughout the colonies. Its jurisprudence in turn … Continue reading The Long Shadow of England’s Privy Council Cast on the Islamic Law of Trusts in British India
Law No. 22 of 1999 on Regional Autonomy stipulates that the Indonesian national government acknowledges the Special Region status of the Province of Aceh and grants the provincial government of Aceh the right to include precepts of ‘syariat’ (or Islam) in its local regulations. The Law also grants the Ulama (Islamic religious leaders) a role in the implementation of … Continue reading Qanun of Aceh, No. 14 of 2003 on Khalwat (Close Proximity)
