ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- “Indonesia has extended the deadline for all cosmetics to be halal certified or clearly marked as non-halal by two years.”
- “Malaysia has retained its position as the world’s most developed Islamic finance market for the 14th consecutive year.” For more content and context on Islamic law in Malaysia, consult our Editor-in-Chief Professor Intisar Rabb’s "Legislation and Regulation of Islamic Law in Malaysia" and its appended resource roundup.
- In Egypt, “The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Al-Azhar University, one of the world's oldest institutions of Islamic learning, held a joint seminar on 12 and 13 October at the Faculty of Islamic and Arabic Studies, women's branch, in Alexandria, to explore the commonalities between the principles of international humanitarian law (IHL) and Islamic law.”
- “M.C. Mayin Haji, the newly appointed chairperson of the Kerala State Waqf Board, has termed the Centre's insistence on including two non-Muslim members on State Waqf Boards ‘anti-Muslim’ move.”
- “A viral family dispute in Nyamira has reignited debates over the financial and emotional costs of polygamy in Kenya, highlighting the legal framework and the need for planning in multi-wife households.”
CASES, FATWĀS, LEGISLATION ON ISLAMIC LAW
- In Illinois, “La Salle County Board members voted 13-12 at their Oct. 8 meeting to pass a resolution prohibiting the application of foreign or religious law in county proceedings, after a long debate over Sharia law.”
- In Arizona, “members of the Fountain Hills Town Council, the majority ruled no direction on regulations on Sharia law.”
- “A fatwa against buying olive products from settlers was issued by the grand mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories and head of the Supreme Fatwa Council, Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, in response to the rise of settler attacks on the olive industry.”
- In Iran, “Yousef Dehghani, a healthcare worker and one of those arrested during the January 2026 protests in Qorveh, has been sentenced to one year in prison, a two-year suspended prison term, two years of internal exile, 31 lashes, and a fine.” For more news blurbs relating to harsh applications of Islamic criminal law, consult our “Islamic Criminal Law in the News Roundup.”
- *“Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court set aside the death sentence imposed on Sri Lankan migrant worker Anojan Sivarasa after his lawyers argued successfully—among other legal points—that his original confession to insulting the Prophet Muhammad was ‘ambiguous’.”
- *“A horrific domestic murder case unfolded in Saudi Arabia when a woman was convicted of shooting her mother dead and attempting to kill her sister. The woman, who is a Saudi national, was executed on Sunday, October 18, 'in view of the heinous nature of the crime and the fact that her actions constituted a prohibited act and a grave offence, one of the gravest major sins and a severe act of filial disobedience', the country's Ministry of Interior said in a statement.”
- In India, “A marriage dissolved through khula has led to an unusual legal outcome in Palakkad. Ottapalam Family Court directed a woman to return 11 sovereigns of gold to her former husband. These include mahr, a mandatory gift from the groom to the bride as part of the marriage contract.”
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Harvard/PIL Events:
- Workshop: Carina Dreyer. “What Makes a Scholastic Discipline?” Middle East Beyond the Borders, November 2, 2026
Global Events:
- Seminar: “Muslim Legal Practitioners in Australia: Identity, Inclusion and the Legal Profession,” Monash University Moot Court, November 12, 2026
- Conference: Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 21–24, 2026
- Conference: The Institutional Embedding of Shiʿi Imams: Kinship, Caliphs, Courts and Companions (700-900), University of Leiden, January 13–15, 2027
- Conference: Rupture or Continuity in Sharīʿa: (De)Colonizing Sharīʿa? International Conference, Centre for Islamic Studies (ISAM), Istanbul, Turkey, June 9–11, 2027
Harvard/PIL Opportunities:
Global Opportunities:
- Position Opening: Tenure-track/Tenured Professor of the History of the Modern Middle East, Cornell University, November 15, 2026
- Call for Papers: St. Andrews Early Modern Postgraduate Workshop, January 8, 2027
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