Islamic Law Speaker Series: Hedayat Heikal

On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 12:00-1:00PM US EST via Zoom, Dr. Hedayat Heikal will speak about inheritance and personal status laws in Syria, Egypt, and Tunisia in a presentation titled “Inheritance versus Personal Status: Shifting National Strategies in Syria, Egypt, and Tunisia”. Heikal will argue that demands for equality in inheritance among similarly situated male and female heirs have taken a confessionalist turn.  Whether by legislation in Syria or through court battles in Egypt, non-Muslim citizens of both countries have begun to achieve equality in inheritance among male and female heirs by yanking inheritance away from the jurisdiction of Islamic default rules and defining it as a matter of personal status that ought to be distinct for their communities.  This talk explores how and why this turn is happening and contrasts it to recent developments in Tunisia where equality of inheritance for all citizens is the subject of more open contestation.

Registration required.