SHARIAsource

SHARIAsource SHARIAsource is a flagship research venture of the Program in Islamic Law at Harvard Law School. We are not a religious organization or an advocacy group.

Its continuing mission is to organize the world’s information on Islamic law in a way that is accessible and useful, using data science tools and methods. SHARIAsource is a flagship research venture of the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. Its continuing mission is to organize the world’s information on Islamic law in a way that is accessible and useful, using data science. Work

ing with a global team of editors, we provide a portal to house primary sources of Islamic law (beta.SHARIAsource.com), a scholarly forum for the people who critically analyze them (islamiclaw.blog), and a journal to provide a research home to long-form analysis that informs academic and public discourse about Islamic law (journalofislamiclaw.com). Our events and other programs at PIL serve generally interested readers through a blog, newsletter, and special events. SHARIAsource adheres to common principles of academic engagement including attention to diverse perspectives, peer-reviewed analysis, and the free and open exchange of ideas. SHARIAsource was developed with support from the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, from the Luce and MacArthur Foundations, and from the John Templeton Foundation.

Weekend Scholarship RoundupSCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In Regulative Verses of the Qurʾan (Brill Academic Publish...
09/04/2026

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In Regulative Verses of the Qurʾan (Brill Academic Publishers), Karen Bauer (Institute of Ismaili Studies), Seyed Mohammad Ghari S. Fatemi (AMI and Mofid University), Robert Gleave (University of Exeter), and Devin J. Stewart (Emory University) illustrate how “regulative verses of the Qurʾan offers a comprehensive study of how Islamic law emerged from scriptural interpretation, by exploring the nature of law in the Qurʾan itself and in Islamic thought, including in the foundational yet often overlooked genre of aḥkām al-Qurʾān....

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In Regulative Verses of the Qurʾan (Brill Academic Publishers), Karen Bauer (Institute of Ismaili Studies), Seyed Mohammad Ghari S. Fatemi (AMI and Mofid Universi…

Islamic Law in the News RoundupISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In the US, “Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed dre...
08/31/2026

Islamic Law in the News Roundup

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In the US, “Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed drew a wave of criticism from conservative commentators Monday night after comparing Islamic Sharia law to Catholic canon law during a contentious interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters.” In the United Kingdom, “The Ayaan Institute, an independent think tank, has launched a “Stop Hate Against Halal” campaign in response to a far-right propaganda push to demonise halal meat and fuel anti-Muslim hatred — aiming to dismantle the conspiracy theories behind calls to ban it, including those made by Restore Britain MP Rupert Lowe.”...

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In the US, “Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed drew a wave of criticism from conservative commentators Monday night after comparing Islamic Sharia law to Cath…

Weekend Scholarship RoundupSCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In “Underage Marriage: Legal and Social Practice in Muslim...
08/28/2026

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In “Underage Marriage: Legal and Social Practice in Muslim Jurisdictions” (Arab Law Quarterly), Dörthe Engelcke (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law), Dominik Krell (University of Oxford) and Nadjma Yassari (Swiss Institute of Comparative Law) discuss “the social phenomenon of underage and early marriages on its legal framework, on family policies and on the reforms of the legal age of marriage that have occurred in selected Muslim jurisdictions....

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In “Underage Marriage: Legal and Social Practice in Muslim Jurisdictions” (Arab Law Quarterly), Dörthe Engelcke (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Internat…

Thank you, Ilyass Amharar!Many thanks to Ilyass Amharar for joining us as guest blog editor in August. In case you misse...
08/27/2026

Thank you, Ilyass Amharar!

Many thanks to Ilyass Amharar for joining us as guest blog editor in August. In case you missed his essays, here they are: Early Contacts Between Mālikism and Ashʿarism: Rethinking a Narrative of Separation Kairouan, Baghdad, Fez: The Early Networks of Mālikī Ashʿarism in the Maghrib Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī, Ashʿarism, and the Politics of a Phrase: A Case Study in Historiographical Anachronism The Commentators’ Answer to the Controversial Sentence of the Risāla: How the Mālikī Tradition Read Fawqa ʿArshihī al-Majīd bi-Dhātih

Many thanks to Ilyass Amharar for joining us as guest blog editor in August. In case you missed his essays, here they are: Early Contacts Between Mālikism and Ashʿarism: Rethinking a Narrative of S…

The Commentators’ Answer to the Controversial Sentence of the Risāla: How the Mālikī Tradition Read Fawqa ʿArshihī al-Ma...
08/27/2026

The Commentators’ Answer to the Controversial Sentence of the Risāla: How the Mālikī Tradition Read Fawqa ʿArshihī al-Majīd bi-Dhātih

By Ilyass Amharar Where the Previous Essay Left Off The previous essay set out the grammatical anatomy of the phrase fawqa ʿarshihi al-majīd bi-dhātih (and that He is above His glorious Throne by His essence) in the theological preamble to Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī’s (d. 386/996) Risāla (Treatise). The essay reached a deliberately narrow conclusion.[1] Of the readings the Arabic admits, only one produces a theological difficulty....

By Ilyass Amharar Where the Previous Essay Left Off The previous essay set out the grammatical anatomy of the phrase fawqa ʿarshihi al-majīd bi-dhātih (and that He is above His glorious Throne by H…

Islamic Law in the News RoundupISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In the USA, “Conservative crusader Jake Lang attracted hundreds o...
08/24/2026

Islamic Law in the News Roundup

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In the USA, “Conservative crusader Jake Lang attracted hundreds of protesters Tuesday accusing the city of Dearborn, MI of discriminating against Christians and being run by Islamic Sharia law.” During a meeting with the Secretary-General of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said, “Pakistan is seeking to identify specific products, sectors and international markets to expand its presence in the growing global halal economy.”...

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In the USA, “Conservative crusader Jake Lang attracted hundreds of protesters Tuesday accusing the city of Dearborn, MI of discriminating against Christians and being run by…

Weekend Scholarship RoundupSCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In Islamic Economics and Finance in Action (Brill Academic...
08/21/2026

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In Islamic Economics and Finance in Action (Brill Academic Publishers), Shinsuke Nagaoka (Kyoto University) “provides an in-depth picture of how Islamic finance, which began as a commercial practice half a century ago, has grown globally through the trials and errors of bankers and scholars, with analyses of various controversies within the financial industry and academia (Islamic economics) and its entanglement with the capitalism that Islamic finance has confronted.” …...

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In Islamic Economics and Finance in Action (Brill Academic Publishers), Shinsuke Nagaoka (Kyoto University) “provides an in-depth picture of how Islamic finance, …

Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī, Ashʿarism, and the Politics of a Phrase: A Case Study in Historiographical AnachronismBy Ilya...
08/20/2026

Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī, Ashʿarism, and the Politics of a Phrase: A Case Study in Historiographical Anachronism

By Ilyass Amharar Framing the Question This third essay in our series on the early encounters between Mālikism and Ashʿarism focuses on perhaps the most contested figure in the debate over their historical relationship: Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī (d. 386/996), universally recognized as one of the greatest authorities in the history of the Mālikī legal tradition....

By Ilyass Amharar Framing the Question This third essay in our series on the early encounters between Mālikism and Ashʿarism focuses on perhaps the most contested figure in the debate over their hi…

Islamic Law in the News RoundupISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In India, “The Kerala Government’s free-for-women Priyadarshini b...
08/17/2026

Islamic Law in the News Roundup

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In India, “The Kerala Government’s free-for-women Priyadarshini bus scheme has come under scrutiny over passenger identification and possible misuse… social reformer A.P. Ahmed Master suggested a ban on niqab and burqa on board.” “Malaysia is seeking to elevate its economic partnership with Korea beyond traditional manufacturing and trade by positioning itself as a long-term strategic partner in high-value industries......

ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS In India, “The Kerala Government’s free-for-women Priyadarshini bus scheme has come under scrutiny over passenger identification and possible misuse… social reformer A.P. Ah…

Weekend Scholarship RoundupSCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In "The Moroccan Mellāḥ: Governing Jewish Spaces and the I...
08/14/2026

Weekend Scholarship Roundup

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In "The Moroccan Mellāḥ: Governing Jewish Spaces and the Islamic Secular" (Turkish Journal of Islamic Studies), Rachel M. Scott (Virginia Tech University) "examines the Moroccan institution of the mellāḥ—the walled Jewish quarters established in Fez, Marrakesh, Meknes, and Tetouan from 1438 onward—as a case study for testing Sherman Jackson's distinction between the sharʿī and non-sharʿī ("Islamic Secular") realms in Islamic governance....

SCHOLARSHIP ROUNDUP On Islamic Law In “The Moroccan Mellāḥ: Governing Jewish Spaces and the Islamic Secular” (Turkish Journal of Islamic Studies), Rachel M. Scott (Virginia Tech Univers…

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