The Islamic Law of Plagues and Pandemics, in History Alongside the well-known Justinian Plague and the Black Plague in medieval Europe came plagues and pandemics in the medieval Islamic world. Less well known, plagues in Islamic law and history come with a trove of writings, both medieval and modern, that reveal much about their effects on individuals and public health, on economics and Islamic law. We invited leading scholars of plagues in Islamic law and history, plus some advanced students, to explore some of these themes in a new Roundtable on Plagues and Pandemics in Islamic History on the Islamic Law Blog.

CONTENT: Fatwā on Fasting during COVID-19
One objective of the SHARIAsource Portal is to archive contemporary primary sources in support of research on salient topics. As the month of Ramadan has started, many religious leaders have issued statements and fatwās responding to questions around fasting during COVID-19. For example, Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei issued a fatwā on the legality of fasting during COVID-19.

CONTEXT: Mapping COVID-19 Fatwās
In an effort led by Professor Adnan A. Zulfiqar, SHARIAsource editor and Associate Professor of Law at Rutgers University, we have collected over 50 fatwās that have been issued over the past month. We mapped the fatwās according to their country of issuance, and the extent to which they follow a new trend of fatwā-by-video, in hopes of generating new scholarship around timely developments.

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