Offers a vital contribution towards the development of a well-informed, coherent, explicit long-term foreign policy towards the Muslim world. The relationship between 'Islam and the West' has become a central issue in international relations. Recently, an overwhelmingly negative view of sharia has developed in the West, in response to reported events, notably in Iran and Saudi Arabia, to terrorist attacks by Islamists, and also encouraged by certain Western opinion leaders. A range of misconceptions about what sharia actually means and how it relates to national law in Muslim countries, both in theory and practice, has contributed to foreign policies that are confrontational rather than pragmatic. This Research and Policy Note identifies key features, problems and approaches of sharia-based law and links them to foreign policy. This is a vital contribution towards the development of a well-informed, coherent, explicit long-term foreign policy towards the Muslim world. Since strengthening the Rule of Law, including human rights, should be an element of such policy, this worl addresses the relationship between sharia and the Rule of Law.

Richard A. Debs analyzes the classical Islamic law of property based on the Shari'ah, traces its historic development in Egypt, and describes its integration as a source of law within the modern format of a civil code. He focuses specifically on Egypt, a country in the Islamic world that drew upon its society's own vigorous legal system as it formed its modern laws. He also touches on issues that are common to all such societies that have adopted, either by choice or by necessity, Western legal systems. Egypt's unique synthesis of Western and traditional elements is the outcome of an effort to respond to national goals and requirements. Its traditional law, the Shari'ah, is the fundamental law of all Islamic societies, and Debs's analysis of Egypt's experience demonstrates how Islamic jurisprudence can be sophisticated, coherent, rational, and effective, developed over centuries to serve the needs of societies that flourished under the rule of law.

"Islamic Law and International Law is a comprehensive examination of differences and similarities between the Islamic legal tradition and international law, especially in the context of dispute settlement. Sharia embraces a unique logic and culture of justice--based on nonconfrontational dispute resolution--as taught by the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad. This book explains how the creeds of Islamic dispute resolution shape the Islamic milieu's views of international law. Is the Islamic legal tradition ab initio incompatible with international law, and how do states of the Islamic milieu view international courts, mediation, and arbitration? Islamic law constitutes an important part of the domestic legal system in many states of the Islamic milieu--Islamic law states--displacing secular law in state governance and affecting these states' contemporary international dealings. The book analyzes constitutional and subconstitutional laws in Islamic law states. The answer to the "Islamic law-international law nexus puzzle" lies in the diversity of how secular laws and religious laws fuse in domestic legal systems across the Islamic milieu. These states are not Islamic to the same degree or in the same way. Thus, different international conflict management methods appeal to different states, depending on each one's domestic legal system. The main claim of the book is that in many instances the Islamic legal tradition points in one direction while Western-based, secularized international law points in another direction. This conflict is partially softened by the reality that the Islamic legal tradition itself has elements fundamentally compatible with modern international law. Islamic legal tradition, international law, sharia settlement, peaceful dispute resolution"--

This research - undertaken from a comparative perspective with a view to identifying any patterns followed by Islamic countries in making declarations and reservations to the main international human rights treaties - measures and analyzes to what extent Sharia affects the ratification and implementation of human rights norms by Muslim States. An analysis of the various roles of Sharia reveals different approaches in the use of Islamic considerations by Muslim States. At an international level, Sharia has always been used upon the ratification of international human rights treaties to limit the scope of the State's engagement. Internally, however, some recent examples of legislative amendments and judicial activities demonstrate that Sharia is and can be used to achieve a better translation of human rights norms into domestic practice.

A comprehensive guide to Islamic legal scholarship, this Handbook offers a direct and accessible introduction to Islamic law and the academic debates within the field. Topics include textual sources and authority, institutions, substantive legal areas, Islamic legal philosophy, and Islamic law in the Muslim World and in Muslim minority countries.

The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, through the British mandate and the establishment of the state of Israel, created a reality in which no Muslim legislator existed in the country. Thus, the chief judge—Qadi al Qudat, due to the dire need for reforms in the Sharia' family law and in order to minimize the intervention of the non-Muslim—Israeli legislator in the divine family law, took it upon himself to initiate the reforms. As such, this experience is considered the world-wide pioneerand unique in its scope. The reforms were done in accordance with the Islamic rules of renewal and are derived from the Islamic jurisprudence—sharia' itself. This process was done in two tracks: first, decisions of the High Court of Appeals would be followed by the lower courts as binding precedents. Second, the president of the High Sharia' court issued judicial decrees guidelines to the lower courts, driven by the Maslaha - the public interest - in various matters of Islamic law such as promoting women status, children's rights and the preservation of Islamic sites and cemeteries sanctity.

A study on the Islamic ADR institutions in England through the lens of Comparative Law and Geopolitics.

In both the West and throughout the Muslim world, Islamic family law is a highly and hotly debated topic. In the Muslim World, the discussions at the heart of these debates are often primarily concerned with the extent to which classical Islamic family law should be implemented in the national legal system, and the impact this has on society. Family Law in Islam highlights these discussions by looking at public debates and legal practice. Using a range of contemporary examples, from polygamy to informal marriage (zawaj 'urfi), and from divorce with mutual agreement (khul') to judicial divorce (tatliq), this wide-ranging and penetrating volume explores the impact of Islamic law on individuals, families and society alike from Morocco to Egypt and from Syria to Iran. It thus contains material of vital importance for researchers of Islamic Law, Politics and Society in the Middle East and North Africa."

Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity offers a comprehensive analysis of the issues associated with the theory and practice of constitutionalism in Islamic countries. This collection of essays is written by leading constitutional and comparative law scholars and constitutional practitioners and essays provide readers with an overview of the constitutional developments in countries in the Islamic world, an understanding of the potential and actual impact of Islam and Sharia on the notion of modern constitutionalism, and insight into the ways in which "Western" ideals may be reconciled with Islamic tradition.