Commentarial Ocean

Posted on by

By Mahmood Kooria The postclassical commentarial literature of Islamic law, once ignored for being repetitive and inauthentic, now has been receiving considerable scholarly attention. Through the processes of canonization, codification, regionalization, synthesis and transregional connections; forms such as core texts, commentaries, supercommentaries, autocommentaries, glosses, translations and summaries; and contents such as substantive laws, contextual selections … Continue reading Commentarial Ocean

Islam and Data Science Roundup

Posted on by

In "The Dilemma of Ethics in Advertising in Pakistan: An Islamic Perspective"  (International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management & Applied Sciences and Technologies, 2021), Hassan Ali Maan and Wajiha Raziha Rizvi (Beaconhouse National University Pakistan), using data aggregated from 250 students at three universities in Pakistan, discuss the youth's perception of advertising, Western influence, and … Continue reading Islam and Data Science Roundup

Late Ottoman Beiruti Waqfs: Closeness to God (Qurba) and Charity for the Family

Posted on by

By Nada Moumtaz In my book, God’s Property: Islam, Charity, and the Modern State, I seek to explain the contours of the contemporary waqf revival in Beirut against a longue durée of waqf reform since the mid-nineteenth century, starting with the Ottoman foundation of a Waqf Ministry in 1826 through French Mandatory (1920-1943) and postcolonial … Continue reading Late Ottoman Beiruti Waqfs: Closeness to God (Qurba) and Charity for the Family

Calling All Waqf Haters

Posted on by

By Nada Moumtaz Waqf (Islamic endowment), and its study, cannot leave a scholar of Islam unmoved, it would seem. For those not working on waqf, its complex legal technicalities instigate dread and “boredom of the heart.” Its accounting documents and the economic history they tell evoke the dryness of “counting beans,” as a colleague once … Continue reading Calling All Waqf Haters

A “Jabri” madhhab of the early modern Sudan?

Posted on by

By Kristina L. Richardson Given the centuries of exposure to northern African Islamic thought like Khārijism, Ibāḍism, and Mālikism, could sub-Saharan Muslims have established an indigenous, perhaps syncretic, Islamic legal school? 17th-century Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi claimed as much, though we may have to take his descriptions with a grain of salt. Between August 1672 … Continue reading A “Jabri” madhhab of the early modern Sudan?

Ibāḍism in the Medieval Sahel

Posted on by

By Kristina L. Richardson For centuries the Sunnī Mālikī madhhab has predominated among Muslims of northern and western Africa, but before the 12th century, Shīʿī, Khārijī, and Ibāḍī legal schools vied for dominance.[1] Merchants living under the Ibāḍī Rustamids (779-909, capital in Tāhart) and in independent Khārijī states in the western Maghrib, such as the … Continue reading Ibāḍism in the Medieval Sahel

Toni Morrison, John Ralph Willis, and Black Muslim History

Posted on by and

By Kristina L. Richardson Allow me to share a factoid about Toni Morrison’s (1931-2019) little known connection to Islamic historians. She grew up in Lorain, Ohio, with her younger cousin John Ralph Willis (1938-2007), who carried the name of their grandfather, a violinist named John Solomon Willis. The cousins forged separate paths as adults, only … Continue reading Toni Morrison, John Ralph Willis, and Black Muslim History

Islamic Legal Canons as Memes

Posted on by and

By Intisar Rabb 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 a short post, also by Intisar Rabb: “Methods and Meaning in Islamic Law: Introduction." Introduction* We’ve all … Continue reading Islamic Legal Canons as Memes

Islam and Data Science Roundup

Posted on by

In "Cell-based influenza vaccine: current production, halal status assessment, and recommendations towards Islamic-compliant manufacturing" (Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (2020)) Nurul Nadiah Zulkarnain (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) and others "review[] and recommend[] some alternatives appropriate for manufacturing cell-based influenza vaccine which comply with Islamic laws and consumers’ needs." "Based on 21 cases derived from media reports and face-to-face … Continue reading Islam and Data Science Roundup

The continuum approach: Multiple legal solutions to run a diverse empire

Posted on by

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