Copyright in Islamic Law is the first work in English to systematically discuss the ideas of intellectual property and copyright from an Islamic perspective. The author, Dr Mohamed Ali Ahdash, builds a framework from within Shari'a law to address the concepts of intellectual property and copyright. In so doing, he adopts the classical usul al-fiqh approach by firstly defining the key terms associated with the field, namely: right (haqq), ownership (milkiyya), wealth (mal) and utility (manfa'a). Dr Ahdash then analyses how these terms are used in the Qur'an and in the Hadith, before looking at how the secondary sources of analogy (qiyas), public interest (maslaha), custom ('urf) and legal maxims (qawa'id fiqhiyya) can be applied to copyright. The result of this study is a framework wherein the concept of copyright is defined and understood in an Islamic manner. This gives a consistent approach from which specific rulings can be derived. Copyright in Islamic Law is both a ground-breaking study in Shari'a law and a valuable contribution to the ongoing debates on copyright in general.

Western scholars consider aspects of Islamic legal concepts and practices. The 11 articles are presented in sections on Islamic jurisprudence, the influence of Islamic law on European legal systems, and Islamic law in contemporary Muslim states. Requires no background in either law or Islamic studie

The relationship between Islamic law and international human rights law has been the subject of considerable, and heated, debate in recent years. The usual starting point has been to test one system by the standards of the other, asking is Islamic law 'compatible' with international human rights standards, or vice versa. This approach quickly ends in acrimony and accusations of misunderstanding. By overlaying one set of norms on another we overlook the deeply contextual nature of how legal rules operate in a society, and meaningful comparison and discussion is impossible. In this volume, leading experts in Islamic law and international human rights law attempt to deepen the understanding of human rights and Islam, paving the way for a more meaningful debate. Focusing on central areas of controversy, such as freedom of speech and religion, gender equality, and minority rights, the authors examine the contextual nature of how Islamic law and international human rights law are legitimately formed, interpreted, and applied within a community. They examine how these fundamental interests are recognized and protected within the law, and what restrictions are placed on the freedoms associated with them. By examining how each system recognizes and limits fundamental freedoms, this volume clears the ground for exploring the relationship between Islamic law and international human rights law on a sounder footing. In doing so it offers a challenging and distinctive contribution to the literature on the subject, and will be an invaluable reference for students, academics, and policy-makers engaged in the legal and religious debates surrounding Islam and the West.

Islamic Law in Modern Courts provides an easily accessible introduction to Islamic law written specifically for law students and legal professionals, and designed to be taught not only by Islamic law specialists, but also by those working in related fields such as law and religion or comparative legal systems. Framed as a casebook, the text uses translations of judicial decisions involving real-world legal disputes to present a picture of Islamic law as it is actually applied in the contemporary world. The casebook draws on material from a variety of countries but focuses primarily on two jurisdictions. Cases from Indonesia exemplify the law of the majority Sunni branch of Islam, while cases from Iraq reflect the influence of both Sunni and Shi’a law. The casebook begins with a brief introduction to the religion of Islam and the sources, methods, and historical development of Islamic law. Four substantive law chapters cover the main subjects over which Islamic law continues to exert significant influence. These include inheritance law, the law of marriage and divorce, Islamic finance and charitable foundations, and Islamic criminal law. A final chapter examines constitutional adjudication of issues related to Islamic law. Key Features: Examines Islamic law as state law that is enforced by national courts but with roots in and ongoing connections with the rich classical tradition. Designed for use by both experts in Islamic law as well as faculty who have an interest in Islamic law but lack extensive background in the subject. Cases are accompanied by commentary that explains and situates the doctrine applied in the decision and suggests questions for classroom discussion. The five substantive law chapters are self-contained units that permit instructors to design a course that focuses on subject areas of particular interest.

This volume presents ten leading scholars' writings on contemporary Islamic law and Muslim thought. The essays examine a range of issues, from modern Muslim discourses on justice, natural law, and the common good, to democracy, the social contract, and "the authority of the preeminent jurist." Changes in how Shari'a has been understood over the centuries are explored, as well as how it has been applied in both Sunni and Shi'i Islam. Debates on the nature, interpretation, reform, and application of Shari'a lie at the core of all Islamist revivalist ideologies and movements of the past two centuries. The demand for the implementation of Shari'a is one of the hallmarks of Islamic fundamentalism, and Shari'a has become one of the most controversial and politicized concepts in Muslim-majority countries today. This is one of the first books to examine how Muslims understand and apply Shari'a in contemporary societies.

This book explores the relationship between custom and Islamic law and seeks to uncover the role of custom in the construction of legal rulings. On a deeper level, however, it deals with the perennial problem of change and continuity in the Islamic legal tradition (or any tradition for that matter).

This book explores the legal dimension of the Islamic State, an aspect which has hitherto been neglected in the literature. ISIS’ dystopian experience, intended as a short-lived territorial and political governance, has been analyzed from multiple points of view, including the geopolitical, social and religious ones. However, its legal dimension has never been properly dealt with in a comprehensive way, assuming as a point of reference both the Islamic and the Western legal tradition. This book analyzes ISIS as the expression of a potential though never fully realized legal order. The book does not describe ISIS’ possible classifications according to the standards and the criteria of international law, such as its possible statehood or proto-statehood, issues that are however touched upon. Rather, it analyzes ISIS’ own legal awareness, based on the group’s literary materials, which show a considerable amount of juridical work. Such material, mainly propagandistic in its nature, is essential in understanding which kind of legal order ISIS aimed at establishing. The book will be of interest to students and academics in the fields of Law, International Relations, Political Sciences, Terrorism Studies, Religion and Middle Eastern Studies.