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Winter 2025 | Wednesday 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Islamic Law and the Modern State

JMH385H1 S

Graduate

The Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations (History)
St. George
Room: SS Room Information available on ACORN
Nada Moumtaz

What happens to the shariʿa when it is applied by modern nation-states? This course introduces students to the way states, with Muslim majorities and minorities, from Canada to Malaysia, passing by Nigeria, Palestine, Iran, and Pakistan approach, accommodate, or apply Islamic law. We also discuss the way Muslims, lay and scholarly, talk about, practice, and follow Islamic law under modern states. Based on an examination of law in practice, we will be able to theorize modern transformations of the shariʿa and provincialize the modern state and its legal regime.