Roundtable on Knowledge in the Islamic Court

On April 16th at 12pm EST, the Roundtable on Knowledge in the Islamic Court was held via Zoom, marking the concluding event in the ISLAMICLAWblog essay series. The discussion brought together scholars to examine how Islamic courts construct and evaluate truth in practice. Key themes included what counts as valid proof in Islamic judicial settings, how judges navigate competing claims, and how evolving technologies reshape evidentiary standards. The conversation also raised broader questions about how Islamic law can be understood when attention is centered on its adjudicative procedures, as well as what defines an “Islamic” court or judge in the first place. Through five case studies, participants reflected on the role of evidence, proof, and legal procedure in shaping judicial reasoning. Focusing primarily on modern and contemporary contexts, the presentations highlighted how rapid social and technological change continues to transform conceptions of proof within Islamic legal systems. Convened […]

ILSS: Sherman Jackson

On Tuesday, April 7, 2026, from 12:30–1:30 PM US EST, Professor Sherman Jackson (University of Southern California) gave a talk on his publication The Islamic Secular (Oxford University Press, 2023). […]

ILSS: Ihsan Yilmaz

On Tuesday, March 10, 2026, from 12:30–1:30 PM US EST via Zoom, Professor Ihsan Yilmaz (Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization, Deakin University) discussed his monograph Sharia as Informal […]

ILSS: Sohaira Siddiqui

On Tuesday, February 10, 2026, from 12:30–1:30 PM US EST, Professor Sohaira Siddiqui (Georgetown University in Qatar) introduced her latest monograph, Islamic Law on Trial: Contesting Colonial Power in British […]

ILSS: Rami Koujah

On Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at 12:30-1:30PM US EST via Zoom, Dr. Rami Koujah (Harvard Law School) presented “The Invention of Islamic Legal Personhood: From Artifact to Ontology,” a chapter from his forthcoming book, Islamic Legal Personhood: […]

ILSS: Sarah Savant

On Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at 12:30-1:30PM US EST via Zoom, Professor Sarah Savant (Aga Khan University) presented “A Cultural History of the Arabic Book: Digital Explorations of Writerly Practices […]

ILSS: Mohsen Kadivar

On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at 12:30-1:30PM US EST via Zoom, Professor Mohsen Kadivar (Duke University) presented “The Genealogy of the Death Penalty for Apostasy and Blasphemy in Islam.” This […]

ILSS: Malika Zeghal

On Tuesday, February 11, 2025, at 12:30-1:30PM US EST, Professor Malika Zeghal (Harvard University) presented The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East and North […]

ILSS: Bahman Khodadadi

On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 12:30-1:30PM US EST, Dr. Bahman Khodadadi (Harvard Law School) presented On Theocratic Criminal Law: The Rule of Religion and Punishment in Iran (Oxford University […]

ILSS: Ali Rod Khadem

On Tuesday, November 12, 2024, from 12:30 to 1:30 PM US EST, Professor Ali Rod Khadem (Suffolk University) presented “Islamic Apocalyptic Jurisprudence: End-Times Law in Sunnī and Shīʿī Discourses” (Islamic […]