In "Faith Among Black Americans," (Pew Research Center, 2021), Besheer Mohamed and his colleagues discuss the findings of a survey involving more than 8,600 Black American adults, according to which "3% belong to non-Christian faiths, the most common of which is Islam." In another recent study entitled "Large Majority of the Public Views Prosecution of … Continue reading Islam and Data Science Roundup
As Somalia continues to debate over what to include in its new constitution and when to hold a referendum on it, women's rights have emerged as a divisive point of discussion among the country's politicians. A former member of the Central Bank of Nigeria has urged the institution to establish a special tribunal to resolve … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
The Kerala High Court (India) recently overturned a decades-long precedent that had prohibited Muslim women from divorcing their husbands without judicial intervention. In its new decision, the Court noted that judicial intervention was warranted only in faskh cases that involved the intervention of an Islamic judge, thereby recognizing the right of Muslim women to dissolve … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
A California Court of Appeals refused to apply Iranian law in a case involving a plaintiff whose work in Iran exposed him to high levels of asbestos, reasoning that Iranian law reflects religious ideology instead of economic interest. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board issued a statement urging Muslims in India to adhere to Islamic … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
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Dar-al-Aftah of Pakistan, in consultation with other Islamic scholars, announced in its fatwā that the COVID-19 vaccine is permissible under Islamic law. AstraZeneca recently responded to concerns from the Muslim world and especially from Indonesia that its COVID-19 vaccine contains ingredients whose consumption is prohibited by Islam, stating that the vaccine does not contain any … Continue reading COVID-19 and Islamic Law Roundup
The Halal Guys filed suit against the Halal Girls, accusing the competing ḥalāl restaurant of trademark infringement. Four alleged white supremacists who are accused of anti-Muslim violence, among other charges, can face charges based on the Anti-Riot Act of 1968, a federal appeals court ruled. Iran's Expediency Council, tasked with settling disagreements between the parliament … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
The rejected plan for the Muslim call to prayer to be broadcast via loudspeakers from Peterborough's (UK) mosque will be reconsidered, after it was revealed that the city council website had published a different application on its website when it announced the rejection. 14-year-old volleyball player Najah Aqeel, who had been denied from competing in … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
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As companies continue to develop vaccines against COVID-19, questions about whether these vaccines contain pork-derived ingredients continue to occupy the minds of many Muslims. Salman Waqar from the British Islamic Medical Association stated that "[t]he ḥalāl aspect of it [the Pfizer vaccine] has been noted by several scholars, from Sunnī and Shī'a backgrounds in the … Continue reading COVID-19 and Islamic Law Roundup
Following the beheading of Samuel Paty, a French teacher of civics, for showing caricatures of the Prophet in class during a discussion on French secularism or laicité, French teachers reported finding conversations around the issue to be increasingly difficult and volatile. Japanese Muslims expressed their frustration with the difficulty to find burial facilities and locations … Continue reading Islamic Law in the News Roundup
In her book review for Reading Religion (November 19, 2020) of Tamir Moustafa’s (Simon Fraser University) Constituting Religion: Islam, Liberal Rights, and the Malaysian State (Cambridge University Press, 2018), Nurfadzilah Yahaya (National University of Singapore) argues that the book showcases how Islamic law is utilized by the country’s political elites “in the service of Malay … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship Roundup
