SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In "Can the Taliban Be Convinced to Reverse Course?" (Human Rights Watch, February 12, 2023), John Sifton and Fereshta Abbasi (HRW), commenting on the Taliban's policies regarding women, argue that "[n]o country can function with half its adult population locked up at home." In "Project Illumine — a Qur’an commentary … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
As talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban continue, the US peace envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalizad's proposal circulated to both parties includes "a High Council for Islamic Jurisprudence," to advise ordinary courts as to matters involving the interpretation of Islamic law. Austrian Muslims have planned to sue the Austrian government under the leadership … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
By Marzieh Tofighi Darian Islamic Republic of Iran has designed an elaborate and stringent system of Islamic constitutionalism under its 1979 Constitution. Not only does the Constitution aim at making sharīʿa the main source of legislation,[1] it also establishes a detailed system to ensure the enforcement of its sharīʿa clause. The Constitution has vested the … Continue reading The Duality of State Law and Sharīʿa in the Islamic Republic of Iran
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
South Asia editor Jeff Redding compares the British sharīʿa courts debate to similar debates going on in India. He examines the semantic approach of the current debate, and questions whether this approach fully encompasses the issue. Controversies over non-state Islamic dispute resolution have flared around the globe in the last several years, in sites as diverse as Canada, India, and … Continue reading A Court by Any Other Name: State ‘Courts’ and Sharīʿa Councils
Denmark contributor Niels V. Vinding comments on recent discussions of sharīʿa in Denmark that have arisen on the basis of uninformed media reporting, which has had the consequence of sparking legislation that may have discriminatory effects on Muslims. These developments come in the wake of the Danish documentary Under the Veil of the Mosque, which … Continue reading OPINION :: The Question of Sharīʿa in Denmark
