On its face, the ruling in Molla Sali v. Greece (European Court of Human Rights 2018) was about choice of forum: in an inheritance dispute, could heirs choose to apply Islamic inheriance law or did...Show moreOn its face, the ruling in Molla Sali v. Greece (European Court of Human Rights 2018) was about choice of forum: in an inheritance dispute, could heirs choose to apply Islamic inheriance law or did a will drawn up in accordance with Greek inheritance law govern a Muslim decedent's estate? The case is significant not so much for its outcome, but because it involved features of two legal systems that are relatively unknown among European and American jurists: interpersonal law and Islamic law in the autonomous region of Greece. The Court's reasoning provides detailed insight into how features of these systems may clash with systems of European civil and common law, particularly in the framework of human rights.Show less
Situated at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Spanish Philippines offer historians an intriguing middle ground of connected histories that raises fundamental new questions about... Show moreSituated at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Spanish Philippines offer historians an intriguing middle ground of connected histories that raises fundamental new questions about conventional ethnic, regional and religious identities. This volume adds a new global perspective to the history of the Philippines by juxtaposing Iberian, Chinese and Islamic perspectives. By navigating various underexplored archival resources, senior and junior scholars from Asia, Europe and the Americas explore the diverse cultural, religious, and economic flows that shaped the early modern Philippine milieu. By zooming in from the global to the local, this book offers eleven fascinating Philippine case studies of early modern globalization. Show less
The main challenge of understanding Sharia in the West is its undefined nature. This contradicts the ease with which the term is used in public and political discourse, but also in the legal... Show moreThe main challenge of understanding Sharia in the West is its undefined nature. This contradicts the ease with which the term is used in public and political discourse, but also in the legal domain, which prides itself on its precision in terminology. This article addresses the question: What is the Sharia that Muslims in the West practice? To this end, a model is presented that provides tools to describe the complex inter- action between Sharia, as practiced by Western Muslims, and their Western environ- ment, and elucidates the ongoing dialectic of this interaction. The model further shows how Western Muslims adopt and adapt Sharia by manoeuvring between their specific needs in the Western context and the conditions set by that context. From a Western perspective, the model shows that issues of Sharia are usually discussed in legal terms, while most controversies are not legal but cultural in nature. Show less
This book presents the results of a research about the Islamic courts of Cianjur in West Java, and Bulukumba in South Sulawesi and the role they play in local divorce practices. It addresses... Show moreThis book presents the results of a research about the Islamic courts of Cianjur in West Java, and Bulukumba in South Sulawesi and the role they play in local divorce practices. It addresses questions which not only enhance our understanding of how Islamic courts in Indonesia work, but also of how Islamic courts through their everyday adjudication processes have the potential to transform societal norms based in national family law, Islamic law and customary law. What is the history of the Islamic courts in both districts and what are its consequences for their position in the local community? What role do the Islamic courts play in protecting women’s divorce rights? How do they perform with regard to spousal support, child support and marital property and why? How do the Islamic courts treat women’s and men’s claims? How has Indonesian family law for Muslims developed and what is the role of the Islamic courts in this development? How are Islamic courts positioned in Indonesia’s nation-building project? This book attempts to provide answers to those questions by exploring the Islamic courts’ institutional history in both districts, the development of the substantive law they apply, and the socio-cultural and economic aspects of divorce. Show less
