SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law: In "Religious Courts" (in the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law), Tanja Herklotz (Humboldt University) explores the concept of religious courts, including sharī'a courts, which she defines as "state or non-state dispute settlement fora that base their decisions on religion-based material and procedural laws and whose judges are typically … Continue reading Weekend Scholarship 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
A new Pew Research study found that about 75% of all Muslims in India prefer Islamic dispute settlement mechanisms for inheritance and divorce-related matters.
Ahmadullah, a prominent Muslim cleric from Bangladesh, issued a fatwā stating that using the laughing emoji to mock people is forbidden under Islamic law. Muslim women in Kenya have lobbied the government to ensure that a woman is appointed to the top Kadhi court adjudicating Islamic law matters. A new Pew Research study found that … 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
By Dixie Morrison This post is part of the Digital Islamic Law Lab (DILL) series, in which a Harvard student analyzes a primary source of Islamic law, previously workshopped in the DIL Lab. Case Summary: Shamim Ara v. State of U.P. & Anr. is a family law case decided by the Supreme Court of India in 2002. … Continue reading Shamim Ara and the “Judicialization” of Divorce
For the first session of my graduate seminar “Readings in Islamic Law” this fall, I asked students to read two texts: a hadith on divorce initiated by the wife (al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Khulʿ, story of the wife of Thābit b. Qays) and a legal debate between Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī and al-Dāmaghānī in the eleventh century (from … Continue reading Different genres, different approaches
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
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
By Shaheen Ali and Justin Jones Introduction Ajmal Masroor is one of Britain’s most high-profile imāms. He leads prayers in four London mosques, and has been a high-profile spokesperson and broadcaster for British Muslims. He has been a well-known proponent of reformist Islamic thought, including on issues of family values and laws, and has headed the … Continue reading Muslim marriage and divorce practices in contemporary Britain :: Part 5 :: Ajmal Masroor
