SHARIAsource

University of Utah, College of Law

The evolution of legal traditions in the Middle East will be examined, analyzed and discussed through the lens of multi-disciplinary readings reflecting the law, history, culture, human rights, and contemporary political dilemmas.

This document is a beyānnāme, or declaration, sent by the Ottoman reʾīsül-kuttāb (chief scribe) to Britain's ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, justifying the Ottoman declaration of war on Russia by explaining Russia's violation of treaty obligations. The document gives insight into eighteenth-century Ottoman attitudes to international law and its relationship with Islamic law. Its use of the phrase naḳż-ı ʿahd (breaking the treaty), which has its origins in a specifically Qurʾānic context illustrates one way in which war was legitimized within the Ottoman Empire. Other phrases used in the beyānnāme demonstrate how Ottoman legal plurality functioned within a martial context. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Nauru, based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Nauru's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Palau (Beluu er a Belau), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Palau's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Jamhuri-ye Islami-ye Afghanistan), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Afghanistan’s Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) is the principal source for legislation.

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Latvia's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status.

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Slovak Republic (Slovenska republika), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Slovakia's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of the Philippines (Republika ng Pilipinas), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under the Philippines' Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has some legal status. 

Chapters on nominate contracts (endowment, sales, options, barter/ mu‘āwaḍa, hire and lease, partnerships -shirka, muzāra‘a, musāqāt, muḍāraba-, reward/ju‘āla, deposit, fungible and non-fungible loan, agency, financial and personal guaranty, assignment, settlement, pledge, gift), shuf‘a, wills, inheritance, marriage and divorce, mahr, and alimony took almost all of its substance from prominent Shi’i fiqh treatises. Other chapters (classification of properties, easement, usufruct, general rules of obligations and contracts, nationality, registration of civil status, domicile, engagement, guardianship, and evidence) are mainly influenced by Swiss and French Civil Codes and Swiss Code of Obligations.