Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami · 2 Comments

Britain to Recognize Sharia-Compliant Wills

An interesting story about The Law Society’s decision to recognize the legitimacy of Islamic law by permitting solicitors to draft wills that are compliant with principles of Islamic law. A bit:

Under ground-breaking guidance, produced by The Law Society, High Street solicitors will be able to write Islamic wills that deny women an equal share of inheritances and exclude unbelievers altogether.

The documents, which would be recognised by Britain’s courts, will also prevent children born out of wedlock – and even those who have been adopted – from being counted as legitimate heirs.

Anyone married in a church, or in a civil ceremony, could be excluded from succession under Sharia principles, which recognise only Muslim weddings for inheritance purposes.

Nicholas Fluck, president of The Law Society, said the guidance would promote “good practice” in applying Islamic principles in the British legal system.

The story reports that some of the existing Islamic law tribunals also “have powers to set contracts between parties, mainly in commercial disputes, but also to deal with issues such as domestic violence, family disputes and inheritance battles.”

It may be that The Law Society will eventually make the same decision with respect to private parties who wish to engage in commercial transactions that conform to Islamic law, or who wish to avoid commercial transactions with those who hold what are taken to be religiously objectionable views. Interesting that the reception to similar claims in this country has been rather different.

UPDATE: See Frank Cranmer’s comment for various clarifications.

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Movsesian on Dworkin

For those interested, my review of Ronald Dworkin’s last work, Religion without God, appears in the current edition of Religion and Human Rights. The link is here; subscription required, I’m afraid!

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Quote for the Day

On the crisis in Ukraine, from the Washington Post‘s Robert Samuelson:

“We’re relearning an old lesson: History, culture, geography, religion and pride often trump economics.”

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Hitchcock, “Muslim Spain Reconsidered”

This February, Edinburgh University Press published Muslim Spain Reconsidered: From 711 to 1502 by Richard Hitchcock (University of Exeter). Muslim Spain The publisher’s description follows.

What made Muslim Spain a unique and successful society? By adopting a multidisciplinary approach within a chronological framework, Richard Hitchcock explores the nature of Muslim Spain’s powerful legacy in the formation of modern Spain, whilst constantly keeping in view the shifting social patterns caused by the changing balance between town and country, constant military activity and concerns about their environment.

You will learn about the main historical developments in al-Andalus, such as the eventual establishment of Islam, the splendour of the Caliphate, the disintegration of central authority, the invasions from North Africa and the ongoing struggle to retain independence when confronted with the increasingly powerful Kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. You will also find wide-ranging discussions of inter-faith relations and the intellectual currents created by Spain’s unique synthesis of pluralism and external influences.

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Meshal, “Sharia and the Making of the Modern Egyptian”

This January, the American University in Cairo Press published Sharia and the Making of the Modern Egyptian: Islamic Law and Custom in the Courts of Sharia 2Ottoman Cairo by Reem A. Meshal (Louisiana State University).  The publisher’s description follows.

In this book, the author examines sijills, the official documents of the Ottoman Islamic courts, to understand how sharia law, society and the early-modern economy of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Ottoman Cairo related to the practice of custom in determining rulings. In the sixteenth century, a new legal and cultural orthodoxy fostered the development of an early-modern Islam that broke new ground, giving rise to a new concept of the citizen and his role. Contrary to the prevailing scholarly view, this work adopts the position that local custom began to diminish and decline as a source of authority.

These issues resonate today, several centuries later, in the continuing discussions of individual rights in relation to Islamic law.