Everything from reviews of recent publications and cases to reflections on the book-writing and tenure process for scholars in Islamic law. Junior and senior scholars known in the field of Islamic legal studies are invited to become guest editors of the blog for one-month terms. The posts do not undergo editorial review, and offer room for these scholars to content and context on Islamic law, and more.
Thank you, Bahman Khodadadi, for joining us as guest blog editor in May. In case you missed his essays, here they are: The Ascendancy of Fixed Islamic Corporal Punishments in … Continue reading Thank you, Bahman Khodadadi!
By Bahman Khodadadi As Muslim jurist Mohsen Kadivar observes, in traditional fiqh (Islamic law), certain punishments prescribed by sharīʿa can be carried out “by any adult Muslim (mukallaf) based on … Continue reading God’s Wish or Mortal Error? The Iranian State’s Blessing for Vigilantism
By Bahman Khodadadi As I noted in my previous essay, with the rise of Shīʿī theocracy in 1979, the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran embarked on a “sharīʿatization” project. … Continue reading Navigating Legal Impasses: Maṣlaḥa, State Decrees, and Shīʿī Jurisprudence in Post-Revolutionary Iran
By Bahman Khodadadi With the emergence of Shīʿī theocracy in 1979, the newly established state, the Islamic Republic of Iran, set in motion a “sharīʿatization” project. As part of this … Continue reading The Ascendancy of Fixed Islamic Corporal Punishments in Shīʿī Theocracy
Dr. Bahman Khodadadi is the PIL–LC Research Fellow at the Program in Islamic Law at Harvard Law School and the Library of Congress for the 2024–2025 academic year. Prior to … Continue reading Welcome to our May Guest Blogger: Bahman Khodadadi
Thank you, Muhammad al-Marakeby, for joining us as guest blog editor in December. In case you missed his essays, here they are: “Egypt is Empty of Rulers”: The Development of … Continue reading Thank you, Muhammad al-Marakeby!
By Muhammad al-Marakeby Recently, Youshaa Patel, in his seminal study on tashabbuh (imitation), critiqued academics for overlooking the importance of embodied practices in shaping Muslim religiosity. He argues that contemporary … Continue reading Defining Femininity between Local and Global Islam: A Manuscript on Henna Application for Men
By Muhammad al-Marakeby This essay aims to explore the concepts of taqlīd (following the legal opinions of earlier jurists) and ijtihād (independent legal reasoning) during the Ottoman period. Although numerous … Continue reading Is Independent Legal Reasoning Incompatible with Following Earlier Jurists? Rethinking the Claim of Jurists’ Disloyalty to Taqlīd
By Muhammad al-Marakeby The use and validity of family endowments (waqf ahlī) have been a contentious issue since the nineteenth century. Many argue that family endowment was often used as … Continue reading Men Can Be Excluded, Women Cannot: Family Endowments and the Preferential Treatment of Women in Khalīl’s Mukhtaṣar
By Muhammad al-Marakeby The literature on the history of Islamic political theory generally supports a narrative of submission and allegiance to rulers, even if they have seized power by force. … Continue reading “Egypt is Empty of Rulers”: The Development of Jamāʿat al-Muslimīn Theory Among Later Mālikīs
