THE CONTEMPORARY postnormal world is posing for Muslims ever strange ethical, financial, and medical dilemmas for which modern jurists are expected to provide a suitable theological response. Yet even with an encyclopedic knowledge of Islamic law, the task facing them is daunting. In the real world this level of complexity has led to chaos in fatwa issuance with many scholars voicing concern at the direction to which things are moving and calling for the process to be regulated. This book critiques fatwa issuance in the modern context and calls for application of a synthesized approach using the mechanism of collective ijtihad to formulate rulings and overcome current weaknesses. It carefully examines central juristic concepts and puts forward consultative ijtihad as a viable alternative to the controversial classical ijma' approach which may be difficult to realize in the contemporary world. The author argues that fatwas become questionable when jurists, out of their depth, fail to grasp concepts which only engagement with specialists can fully elucidate, or give way to top down financial and/or political pressure from the executives of institutions employing them. Matters are compounded by the face of fatwas having undergone a radical transformation in modern times with online programs and social media often a go-to source for Muslims. The author exposes the world of modern fatwa pronouncements – packaged, supplied and broadcast in a matter of minutes, under a mentality of one-fatwa-fits-all. In a bid for much needed reform he calls for a reassessment of current institutional practices contending that Muslim societies need not be vulnerable to the demands of a media driven, technocratic age, with rapid shifts in ethical norms, but that, in the interests of a healthy functioning society, issue fatwas cognizant of the wider modern context, specialist knowledge, as well as the cultural diversity that exists in the common Ummatic identity.

The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (AJISS), established in 1984, is a quarterly, double blind peer-reviewed and interdisciplinary journal, published by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), and distributed worldwide. The journal showcases a wide variety of scholarly research on all facets of Islam and the Muslim world including subjects such as anthropology, history, philosophy and metaphysics, politics, psychology, religious law, and traditional Islam.

Among traditionally educated scholars in the Islamic world there is much disagreement on the crises that afflict modern Muslim societies and how best to deal with them, and the debates have grown more urgent since 9/11. Through an analysis of the work of Muhammad Rashid Rida and Yusuf al-Qaradawi in the Arab Middle East and a number of scholars belonging to the Deobandi orientation in colonial and contemporary South Asia, this book examines some of the most important issues facing the Muslim world since the late nineteenth century. These include the challenges to the binding claims of a long-established scholarly consensus, evolving conceptions of the common good, and discourses on religious education, the legal rights of women, social and economic justice and violence and terrorism. This wide-ranging study by a leading scholar provides the depth and the comparative perspective necessary for an understanding of the ferment that characterizes contemporary Islam.

A world expert's introduction to the controversial subject of Islamic law Providing a comprehensive and accessible examination of Shari’ah Law, this well considered introduction examines the sources, characteristic features, and schools of thought of a system often stereotyped for its severity in the West. In a progressive and graduated fashion, Mohammad Hashim Kamali discusses topics ranging from juristic disagreement to independent reasoning. Also broaching more advanced topics such as the principle of legality and the role and place of Shari’ah-oriented policy, Kamali controversially questions whether Islam is as much of a law-based religion as it has often been made out to be. Complete with a bibliography and glossary, and both a general index and an index of Arabic quotations, this wide-ranging exploration will prove an indispensable resource for Islamic students and scholars, and an informative guide to a complex topic for the general reader.

How and to what extent have Islamic legal scholars and Middle Eastern lawmakers, as well as Middle Eastern Muslim physicians and patients, grappled with the complex bioethical, legal, and social issues that are raised in the process of attempting to conceive life in the face of infertility? This path-breaking volume explores the influence of Islamic attitudes on Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) and reveals the variations in both the Islamic jurisprudence and the cultural responses to ARTs.

The Research Handbook on Islamic Law and Society provides an examination of the role of Islamic law as it applies in Muslim and non-Muslim societies through legislation, fatwa, court cases, sermons, media, or scholarly debate. It illuminates the intersection of social, political, economic and cultural factors that inform Islamic Law across a number of jurisdictions. Chapters evaluate when and how actors and institutions have turned to Islamic law to address problems faced by societies in Muslim and, in some cases, Western states.

In October 1999, Abdurrahman Wahid, almost blind and recovering from a nearfatal stroke, was elected as Indonesia's fourth president. Referred to as 'Indonesia's surprising new president' by the Economist, the man who had commanded the highest respect of his fellow countrymen for his lifetime devotion to public service, liberal democracy and tolerant Islam, was impeached in humiliating and controversial circumstances less than two years later. Wise to some, insolent to others, Abdurrahman's mercurial style of leadership constantly confounded critics and ultimately caused him to be widely misunderstood by both domestic and international observers. For the first time, biographer Greg Barton delves beneath the surface and gives us a unique insight into the man and his world drawn from his long relationship with Gus Dur - including being at his side during the final extraordinary months of the presidency. Those interested in the drama of modern Indonesian politics will find this book provides a fascinating and invaluable account of the enigmatic Gus Dur.

In this authorised biography, much of which is based on unique first hand observation, Greg Barton introduces readers to Abdurrahman Wahid - the Indonesian president for 21 tumultuous months from 1999 to late 2001.

No corporation is enthusiastic about paying tax, yet Islamic banks in Indonesia voluntarily pay corporate zakat. Why? The book analyzes corporate zakat norms and practices in Indonesia by investigating how Muslim jurists have interpreted sharīʿa of zakat and how these have been imposed through the legislative and regulatory framework. It also presents original case studies based on sociolegal field research on the reception of the new obligations in the Islamic banks that choose to pay – and choose not to pay – what is effectively a new tax. The book argues that the dynamics of sharīʿa interpretation, imposition, and compliance in Indonesia are too complex to be defined using the binaries of the religious versus the secular, public versus private, or tradition versus modernity. The corporate zakat context has revitalized the existing governance strategy in Islamic legal tradition and created a shared Islamic law vision between Islam and the state. Consequently, this fusion generates a mixed legal and religious consciousness toward corporate zakat. Addressing broader discussions on Islamic law and modernity, the book will be of interest to academics working on Asian and Comparative Law, sociolegal studies, anthropology of Indonesia, business studies of the Islamic world, Islamic/sharīʿa economics, Islamic law and politics, Islamic legal studies, Muslim society and Islam in Southeast Asia.

Islamic Ethics and the Genome Question is one of the very first academic works, which examine the field of genomics from an Islamic perspective. This twelve-chapter volume presents the results from a pioneering seminar held in 2017 at the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics, College of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, in Qatar. The contributors to this volume, coming from different disciplines and specializations, approached the key ethical questions raised by the emerging field of genomics, viz. the Genome Question (GQ), from various angles and perspectives. Their shared thesis is that the breadth and depth of both the GQ and the Islamic tradition necessitate going beyond just producing quick answers in response to immediate questions. In order to accommodate the complexity and wide scope of the GQ, the volume included critical analyses of the ethical discourse on genomics, from outside the Islamic tradition. Within the Islamic tradition, the contributing authors explored how the QG can be better explored by involving insights from various disciplines including Quran exegesis, Islamic jurisprudence, philosophy and theology. Besides its interest for researchers and students specialized in ethics, bioethics and Islamic studies, this volume will be a source of important information for geneticists, genomicists and social scientists who are interested in the ethical discourse about genomics in the Muslim world. Contributors include Arzoo Ahmed, Abbas Amir, Saadia Bendenia, Mohammed Ghaly, Mutaz al-Khatib, Amara Naceur, Aasim I. Padela, Ayman Shabana, Trevor Stammers, Mehrunisha Suleman and Hub Zwart.