By Christian Mauder This is part three in a series of four posts on legal culture at the late Mamlūk court. As the rulers of a vast realm in which Islam was the dominant religion, many members of the military elite of the Mamlūk Sultanate (1250–1517) seem to have considered knowledge about Islamic legal norms … Continue reading Enjoying the Law: Legal Riddling at the Mamlūk Court
By Christian Mauder This is part two in a series of four posts on legal culture at the late Mamlūk court. As former slave soldiers (mamlūks) of non-Muslim origin, many members of the military elite of the Mamlūk Sultanate did not acquire a natural familiarity with Islamic legal norms in their childhood and youth. Many … Continue reading Studying Islamic Law in the Mamlūk Barracks
ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS Islamic fintech, or iFintech, witnessed considerable growth recently, with Malaysia described as "the most robust ecosystem supporting the industry." Online and mobile-first fintech companies, sometimes called "neobanks," are increasingly offering sharī'a-compliant services, in a move to accommodate the needs of their Muslim clientele. While many Afghans continue to fear the … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In "Experiencing ‘nikah Captivity’ in the West: Gendered Conflicts over Ending Muslim Marriages" (Journal of Muslims in Europe, online, September 16, 2021), Anika Liversage (The Danish Center for Social Science Research), based on a series of interviews with Muslim women, finds that second-generation Muslims in Denmark are more easily able … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
By Christian Mauder This is part one in a series of four posts on legal culture at the late Mamlūk court. Many students of Islamic history are fascinated by the unusual polity that ruled Egypt, Syria, and neighboring regions from about 1250 to 1517 CE. This political entity was dominated by a small elite group … Continue reading Legal Diversity at the Late Mamlūk Court
Leading scholars of Islamic law, including Editor-in-Chief, Professor Intisar Rabb, were invited by the University of Bergen for a roundtable on "the use and usefulness of the concepts of canonization and codification in Islamic legal studies." The panels on canonization and codification, respectively, were held online and can be accessed here. "Sharia Law in the … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
The United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Taliban's subsequent takeover of the country has brought, once again, Islam and Islamic law to the fore in recent news coverage, reports, and analyses. This renewed attention to Islamic law is in part due to the fact that the Taliban identifies itself as a Muslim military organization … Continue reading Resource Roundup: Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Islamic Law
By Omar Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar This is a summary of the lecture by Prof. Christian Mueller entitled “Sijills and Transformations of Qāḍī Documents in Islamic Law” delivered at 12 noon (EST), 6 pm (Münster) 7 pm (Istanbul) via Zoom. Professor Müller offered this month what he himself termed as a reflection on Ottoman sijills “from the … Continue reading Monthly Lectures on Islamic Legal Genres: “Sijills and Transformations of Qāḍī Documents in Islamic Law” by Prof. Christian Mueller
Egypt's President Sisi named two new members to the Al-Azhar Council for Senior Scholars, the government institution that is regarded as having final authority to determine whether legislation is compliant with Islamic law. The Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai (IACAD) reported that it received 4,000 fatwā and 2,000 shahāda (declaration of belief … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
By Nurfadzilah Yahaya Powers of attorney form the basis of the second chapter of my book Fluid Jurisdictions: Colonial Law and Arabs in Southeast Asia (Cornell University Press, 2020). The digital collection of these documents produced by the Arab communities in the Straits Settlements (mostly Singapore) in the Koh Seow Chuan Collection in the National … Continue reading Portals to the Future: Translations of Powers of Attorney
