By Delfina Serrano-Ruano (National High Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Spain) Reading the Muwaṭṭa’ on the eve of the Almohad invasion of the Far Maghrib and Al-Andalus: The interplay of law and theology in the Muwaṭṭaʾ’s literary tradition. Introduction At the moment, I am particularly interested in observing the relationship between law and theology in … Continue reading :: Muwaṭṭaʾ Roundtable :: Debates on free will and predestination in the 12th century Islamic West: Abū Bakr Ibn al-ʿArabī’s (468/1076- 542/1147 or 543/1148) Kitāb al-Qabas fī Sharḥ Muwaṭṭaʾ Mālik Ibn Anas
:: Muwaṭṭaʾ Roundtable :: Zakāt, Wealth Tax and Extreme Inequality
By Mahmoud El-Gamal (Rice University) In Book 16 of the Muwaṭṭaʾ, nestled between Chapter 9 regarding alms taxes on merchandise and money and Chapter 11 regarding alms taxes on livestock (the two main forms of wealth in Arabia), we read in Chapter 10, Report 699 a text that condemns hoarding. The report’s representation of hoarded … Continue reading :: Muwaṭṭaʾ Roundtable :: Zakāt, Wealth Tax and Extreme Inequality
:: Muwaṭṭaʾ Roundtable :: Who Are We Writing for When We Translate Classical Texts?
By Marion Katz (New York University) Perhaps more than any other genre of academic writing, translations of primary sources raise questions about audience and purpose. In a Venn diagram of potential audiences for our scholarly output, our fellow subject specialists would usually occupy (for better or worse) the central position. It is true that in … Continue reading :: Muwaṭṭaʾ Roundtable :: Who Are We Writing for When We Translate Classical Texts?
:: Muwaṭṭaʾ Roundtable :: Al-Shāfiʿī’s Recension of Mālik’s Muwaṭṭaʾ
By Ahmed El Shamsy (The University of Chicago) The peripatetic Meccan jurist Muḥammad b. Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820) studied with Mālik in Medina as a precocious youth. He reportedly memorized Mālik’s book, the Muwaṭṭaʾ, and then turned up at Mālik’s doorstep, demanding to study the text with its author personally and refusing to take no for … Continue reading :: Muwaṭṭaʾ Roundtable :: Al-Shāfiʿī’s Recension of Mālik’s Muwaṭṭaʾ
Secularism and Nigeria’s Colonial Legacy
By Rabiat Akande The secularism debate remains the most vexed issue in Nigeria’s constitutional discourse. This debate centers on the question: Is Nigeria a ‘secular’ state? The first position in the debate, the ‘secularist’ position, answers the question in the positive. “Yes,” this position affirms, Nigeria is a ‘secular’ state. In the view of the … Continue reading Secularism and Nigeria’s Colonial Legacy
Muslim marriage and divorce practices in contemporary Britain :: Part 7 :: Conclusions and further observations
By Shaheen Ali and Justin Jones A number of recent academic studies dealing with the marriage and divorce practices of British Muslims have picked up on a number of themes that are hinted at by the speakers quoted throughout this blog: unregistered marriages, Islamic divorces, and shari‘ah councils, to name a few. However, despite their rigour, … Continue reading Muslim marriage and divorce practices in contemporary Britain :: Part 7 :: Conclusions and further observations
Teaching Islamic law through primary sources
In the fall quarter of 2019, I am teaching a graduate seminar titled “Readings in Islamic Law” at the University of Chicago. In this blog post and the three that follow I will describe the theoretical and practical considerations that have influenced the design of the course and talk about some of the readings I … Continue reading Teaching Islamic law through primary sources
Law, Narrative, and the Case of Fāṭima’s Chores
Wives’ exemption from domestic labor is among the recuperable elements of classical fiqh most widely cited in modern literature on gender and Islamic law. Indeed, as I’ve found while researching the topic, it has featured in responses to orientalist stereotypes of Islamic law’s supposed oppression of women since at least the late nineteenth century. In … Continue reading Law, Narrative, and the Case of Fāṭima’s Chores
Welcome to our December Guest Bloggers: Marion Katz and Ahmed El Shamsy!
We are delighted to introduce our two guest bloggers for the month of December: Marion Katz, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at NYU, and Ahmed El Shamsy, Associate Professor of Islamic Thought at the University of Chicago. Marion Holmes Katz is a Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at NYU, where she … Continue reading Welcome to our December Guest Bloggers: Marion Katz and Ahmed El Shamsy!
Muslim marriage and divorce practices in contemporary Britain :: Part 6 :: Bana Gora
By Shaheen Ali and Justin Jones Introduction Bana Gora is Chief Executive Officer of the Muslim Women’s Council, an organization established in 2009 to represent the views of Muslim women across the UK. Her expertise is in matters of social policy and engagement with marginalized communities in particular, and at present she is involved in the … Continue reading Muslim marriage and divorce practices in contemporary Britain :: Part 6 :: Bana Gora