Islamic law can be understood as both a theoretical and ethical system of organising human society and as a practical governance system in which disputes are resolved through a formal justice system. In a public context, good governance (sometimes termed maslaha) involves the efficient and fair operation of the law in the all-embracing notion of Shari’a in Islamic legal discourse. In this seminar, researchers from different institutional settings and from different disciplinary backgrounds, will present the latest research on the understanding of how justice Is distributed within the Islamic legal tradition and amongst Muslim societies today.
Thursday 19 October
Session 1: 12.30-14.15
Marianne Bøe, Bergen
“Transnational Dynamics of mahr: Governance and lived experiences in Iran and Norway”
Karin Ask, Bergen
“Preventing evil for public good”
Session 2: 14.30-17.00
Monika Lindbekk, Oslo
“Uncodified Hanafi fiqh in Egyptian family courts”
Esther van Eijk, Maastricht
“Practices of personal status law in a shar‘iyya court in Damascus”
Susanne Dahlgren, Helsinki
“The law, spousal rights and social reality: Three judges, three legislative eras in a family court”
Friday 20 October
Session 3: 9.30-12.00
Liv Tønnessen, Bergen
“Criminalizing FGM in Sudan”
Ulrika Mårtensson, Trondheim
“Maslaha and Natural Law Theory in al-Tabari’s madhhab jariri: implications for the history of Islamic legal theory”
Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen, Copenhagen
“The revival of madhhabiyya across the Middle East”
Session 4: 13.00-15.30
Eirik Hovden, Bergen
“The Zaydi imamate between classical Zaydism and neo-traditionist positions. Reception and reuse in matters of succession/the electorate, views on sharīʿa/siyāsa, and the Shīʿī aspect”
Knut S. Vikør, Bergen
“Political leadership among the North African Ibadis”
Rania Maktabi, Oslo/Halden
“Female Citizenship between Faith and Nation after 2011: Pressures to Reform Patriarchal Nationality Laws in Kuwait and Lebanon”
All sessions at the Seminar Room, Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Bergen (Jekteviksbakken 31)