An incubator for Harvard student work on Islamic law throughout an academic term, under the supervision of Professor Intisar Rabb at Harvard Law School. Students spend a semester doing a dive deep into a subject of their choice based on new or historical cases, fatwās, or other sources of law. They place the content in context, sometimes with the assistance of machines. We post the results.
Case Summary Shamim Ara v. State of U.P. & Anr. is a family law case decided by the Supreme Court of India in 2002. In 1979, petitioner Shamim Ara filed … Continue reading Shamim Ara and the “Judicialization” of Divorce
In 1983 at its Third Islamic Summit Conference, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation founded the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (“IIFA”).[1] Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the IIFA is tasked with … Continue reading Does Islamic Law Support Human Cloning?
By Cem Tecimer Summary and context: In 1924, Turkey abolished the Ottoman Caliphate through a statute numbered 431, or Law No. 431. The construction of the statute was somewhat ambiguous … Continue reading Commentary :: Did Republican Turkey Really Abolish the Ottoman Caliphate? The Curious Case of Law No. 431
By Cem Tecimer Professor Kim Lane Scheppele has convincingly drawn attention to the fact that most legal scholarship on citations of foreign law by supreme or constitutional courts tends to … Continue reading Commentary :: Kadijustiz in Turkish Constitutional Adjudication: Islamic Law as an Aversive Model?
By Cem Tecimer In 1926, the young Turkish Republic abandoned its codified Islamic personal status law and replaced it with the secular Swiss Civil Code.[1] The new republican government, replacing … Continue reading Commentary :: Religious Accommodation in an Assertively Secular Legal System: Mahr and the Turkish Case
There was a request for a preliminary ruling on Regulation No 1099/2009 by the Dutch-Language Court of First Instance in Brussels, Belgium, to the Advocate General of the EU Court … Continue reading The Islamic Festival of Sacrifice: A Temporal Difficulty?
This commentary, by Waskito Jati, criticizes the prevailing opinion that non-Muslims who have been lashed in public after violating Islamic criminal law in Aceh have voluntarily surrendered to Islamic law after … Continue reading Commentary :: The Myth of Voluntary Surrendering to Islamic Law: An Analysis of the Lashing of Non-Muslims Under the Acehnese Islamic Criminal Law
This commentary, by Waskito Jati, discusses the formation of the new sharīʿa court (mahkamah syar’iyah) following the granting of the special region status to the province of Aceh, Indonesia, in 1999. … Continue reading Commentary :: The Authority and Jurisdiction of the Acehnese Mahkamah Syar’iyah Within the Indonesian Justice System
This post, by Waskito Jati, examines the litigation process and sentencing regime for a new type of moral crime in Aceh: khalwat (when an unmarried man and woman are secluded). This … Continue reading Commentary :: Arbitrariness and the Burden of Proof in New Acehnese Cases of “Moral Crimes”
The distinction between state law and religious law remains administratively murky in many countries. Student editor Waskito Jati illustrates how a current case in Aceh, Indonesia, exemplifies the legal ambiguities. … Continue reading Commentary :: The Prosecution of an Unregistered Married Couple Under the Aceh Islamic Criminal Justice System
