Last week, US constitutional law professor and SHARIAsource Senior Scholar Asifa Quraishi-Landes wrote about the mid-term elections, asking whether American-Muslim voters should be guided by sharīʿa or the public good, or both? Quraishi-Landes was also one of the “thought leaders and change-makers” who was invited to speak at the 2018 Muslim Public Affairs Council Convention … Continue reading Islamic Law Scholars’ Round Up: Nov 12th
Recent Scholarship: Fadel on Human Rights
The Atlantic Council think tank recently published a report called The Islamic Tradition and the Human Rights Discourse—"a collection of thought provoking articles that aim to elevate the conversation on Islam and human rights beyond the confines of 'compatibility.'" One of the articles was written by SHARIAsource Senior Scholar Mohammad Fadel: "Life, Liberty, and the … Continue reading Recent Scholarship: Fadel on Human Rights
Recent Scholarship: Akhter v. Khan
In August, the SHARIAsourceBlog featured a roundtable discussion on the Akhter v. Khan case, concerning the legal status of Islamic marriages and divorces under UK law. The London School of Economics' "Religion and Global Society" blog also posted a commentary on the case, written by Alistair Jones, which questioned the role of the government in … Continue reading Recent Scholarship: Akhter v. Khan
In the News: Islamic Veils in France
Two weeks ago, the UN Human Rights Committee (which oversees compliance with the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) declared that France’s ban on full-face veils violates freedom of religion. According to the 2010 French law, “No one may, in a public space, wear any article of clothing intended to conceal the face.” … Continue reading In the News: Islamic Veils in France
Recent Scholarship: Analysis of European Court of Human Rights Free Speech Ruling
Last week, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Austria had the right to convict a woman for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The woman had argued that the Austrian government had violated her freedom of speech under the 1953 European Convention on Human Rights, but the Strasbourg-based court found that the Austrian court had … Continue reading Recent Scholarship: Analysis of European Court of Human Rights Free Speech Ruling
In the News: Paternity Lawsuits and DNA Testing in Egypt
Last month, Equal Times (a Brussels-based news site) published an article discussing the increase in paternity lawsuits and calls for DNA testing in Egypt. The Egyptian government estimates there are 75,000 paternity cases that are slowly making their way through the family court system. According to the article, the judges in these paternity cases have … Continue reading In the News: Paternity Lawsuits and DNA Testing in Egypt
Islamic Law Scholars’ Round Up: Oct 29th
Former Islamic Legal Studies Program Visiting Fellow Hauwa Ibrahim was selected as one of the 2018 Top Women of Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. In addition, SHARIAsource Senior Scholar Clark Lombardi was a panelist at a Swiss foreign ministry event on conflict resolution involving armed Islamist groups.
Recent Scholarship: Cheema and Abbasi on Islamic Family Law in Pakistan
Shahbaz Ahmad Cheema and SHARIAsource South Asia Editor Zubair Abbasi have written a paper on the role of the 150-year-old Lahore High Court—which has jurisdiction over Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab—in developing progressive Islamic family law in the country. "Contribution of the Lahore High Court in the Development of Islamic Family Law in Pakistan" … Continue reading Recent Scholarship: Cheema and Abbasi on Islamic Family Law in Pakistan
In the News: Islamic Courts in Greek Thrace
Last month, National Geographic published a photo essay on a Muslim minority community (known as Pomaks) who live in northeastern Greece, in a small, remote region called Western Thrace. What makes this region unique is that it is the only place in the European Union that has Islamic courts that are recognized by the national … Continue reading In the News: Islamic Courts in Greek Thrace
Harvard Worldwide Week Event: SHARIAsource Book Talk :: From Slaves to Prisoners of War
On October 22nd, Professor Will Smiley of the University of New Hampshire spoke to a group of twenty-three students, professors, and scholars on his new book From Slaves to Prisoners of War: The Ottoman Empire, Russia, and International Law (Oxford University Press, 2018). The book takes a look at the independent evolution of a recognizable … Continue reading Harvard Worldwide Week Event: SHARIAsource Book Talk :: From Slaves to Prisoners of War