Islamic Law in the News Roundup

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS “Texas Governor Greg Abbott has instructed the developers behind EPIC City, a proposed new Islamic-themed town near Josephine that includes parts of Collin and Hunt Counties, to confirm “within seven days that they are immediately ceasing any construction of their illegal project. . . . The proposal has sparked controversy with accusations the center wants to… CONTINUE READING

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In Islamic Law in Saudi Arabia (Leiden: Brill, 2025), Dominik Krell (Oxford University) “provides an in-depth exploration of the Saudi judiciary in the 21st century. Drawing on interviews with leading members of the Saudi judiciary, seldom-seen legal literature and court judgments, the author addresses two main questions: First, what is the Saudi jurists’ understanding of… CONTINUE READING

::Roundtable:: ChatGPT and the Marjaʿ

By Zahra Takhshid In the Oscar winning movie A Separation, Raziyeh, the caregiver of Nader’s father, picks up the phone from the convenience of Nader’s home and calls her marjaʿ taqlīd’s[1] … Continue reading ::Roundtable:: ChatGPT and the Marjaʿ

Islamic Law in the News Roundup

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS “Syria‘s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa . . . reinstated the post of Grand Mufti and established a new Supreme Fatwa Council, according to a decree released by the Syrian presidency. Under Presidential Decree No. 8 of 2025, prominent cleric Sheikh Osama al-Rifa’i was appointed as Grand Mufti of Syria and named head of the newly-created council,… CONTINUE READING

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In “The Position of Female Instrumentary Witnesses in the Creation of Notarial Deeds from the Perspective of Islamic Law” (Journal of Lifestyle & SDG’s Review 5, no. 3 (2025)), Basri Effendi and others “aim[] to investigate the position of female instrument witnesses in the creation of notarial deeds from the perspective of Islamic law.”

::Roundtable:: Augmented Learning: Generative Artificial Intelligence and Islamic Inheritance Law

By Zubair Abbasi This essay evaluates the potential of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) models—ChatGPT-4, Gemini, Co-Pilot, and DeepSeek—to apply the principles of Islamic inheritance law. Using a GenAI Evaluation Scale … Continue reading ::Roundtable:: Augmented Learning: Generative Artificial Intelligence and Islamic Inheritance Law

Islamic Law in the News Roundup

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS “UNICEF call[ed] on the Taliban to lift ban on girls’ education as new school year begins in Afghanistan.” For more content and context on the recent developments in Afghanistan, consult our Editor-in-Chief, Professor Intisar Rabb’s “Resource Roundup: Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Islamic Law.”  In Afghanistan, “[a] woman and a man were publicly flogged in Ghazni province after… CONTINUE READING

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In “Inheritance Rights of Women in Islamic Family Law: Comparative Analysis Across Jurisdictions” (Journal of Islamic Family Law 1, no. 1 (2025)), Dwi Rayhan Sunandar Putra (Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon) “aims to provide a comparative analysis of women’s inheritance rights under Islamic family law across various Islamic jurisdictions. A purposive sampling technique is employed, aiming to… CONTINUE READING

::Roundtable:: From Manuscripts to Digital Corpus: Structuring Islamic Data Sources for the Future of AI Jurisprudence

By Ezieddin Elmahjub Introduction Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, is poised to revolutionize how we approach and interact with Islamic jurisprudence. However, the varied … Continue reading ::Roundtable:: From Manuscripts to Digital Corpus: Structuring Islamic Data Sources for the Future of AI Jurisprudence

Islamic Law in the News Roundup

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS “Iranians [have] voic[ed] renewed criticism over the strict enforcement of Ramadan regulations—which ban public eating and drinking—reinforced by authorities’ threats of harsh punishment.” “Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said Tehran will not seek permission from any country for its nuclear activities, while rejecting allegations that it is pursuing nuclear weapons. . . .… CONTINUE READING