 |
In Memoriam: Professor Roy Parviz Mottahedeh Following the passing of our dear friend, colleague, and mentor, Professor Roy Parviz Mottahedeh on July 30, 2024, a memorial service was held on October 25th at Harvard’s Memorial Church. There, family, faculty, students, and members of the broader community from all over the world gathered in remembrance and celebration of his legacy and numerous accomplishments. Ten speakers remarked on his scholarly and personal contributions, recalling his passion for advancing the understanding of Islamic history, culture, and law. In September, the Islamic Law Blog published a series also in remembrance and celebration of Professor Mottahedeh’s legacy and scholarship. We shared a condolence message, pointed to the introduction to a festschrift published in his honor the year after his retirement, a tabula gratulatoria from friend and colleagues, and his bibliography of works. We invite you to join us in celebrating Professor Mottahedeh’s life and legacy by reading about his journey and works, and the many books that he has left to educate and inspire us all as well as future generations.
|
 |
CONTENT: Islamic Criminal Law in Iran One aim of SHARIAsource is to provide access to primary and secondary sources of Islamic law to support research on salient issues of Islamic law and history. We recently added excerpts from primary sources that pertain to Islamic criminal law in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The first is the Decision of the Unity of Procedure of the General Board of the Supreme Court (Opinion Number 834) which mandates “that when a court imposes a sentence of imprisonment exceeding the minimum penalty established by law, the court must provide a justification based on the clauses of this article or other relevant legal provisions. The philosophy underlying this law aims to mitigate the severity of imprisonment sentences, thereby establishing the minimum prescribed punishment as the baseline for sentencing.” The second is a General Administration of Uniformity of Judicial Decisions and Publication of Deliberations and Opinions of the General Board (Opinion Number 835) issued by the Supreme Court, which “addresses the punishment for perjury, establishing a legal obligation for investigators regarding witness testimony. This provision emphasizes the necessity of enforcing penalties for violations committed by witnesses, thereby underscoring the duty of investigators to interpret the law with the intent of uncovering the legislative purpose.” These sources join others on the topic on our portal, including the Iranian Islamic Penal Code of 2013 and the Iranian Criminal Procedure Code 2014. Explore them all today!
|
 |
CONTEXT: Fellow Spotlight Our Fellow Spotlight series features interviews with current and previous Program Fellows, highlighting their work with the Program in Islamic Law, their path getting here, and the road going forward. This month we featured our current PIL-LC Research Fellow, Dr. Bahman Khodadadi! He specializes in Islamic law and Middle Eastern Studies, with a particular focus on Shīʿī Islamic jurisprudence and his current research interests span Iranian studies, sociology of law, Islamic legal history, criminal law theory, and the politico-juridical dynamics within Islamic jurisprudence, particularly within the Shīʿī tradition. He completed his PhD at the University of Münster in 2021. Khodadadi’s academic achievements have garnered recognition, including the prestigious “Harry Westermann Award” for the best doctoral dissertation at the University of Münster, along with two DAAD awards in 2016 and 2023. Prior to his time at PIL, he served as a research associate at the Abdallah S. Kamel Center at Yale Law School from 2023 to 2024. His first monograph, On Theocratic Criminal Law: The Rule of Religion and Punishment in Iran (Oxford University Press, 2024), was just published and explores the roots and structures of the criminal law system of the world’s most prominent constitutional theocracy, the Islamic Republic of Iran. To find out more about his path to becoming a scholar, his work during his time at Harvard, and what he likes to do for fun, visit our blog and register for his upcoming book talk!
|