Ijtihad Network Being Wise and Faithful Muslim in the Contemporary World
International Society of Islamic Legal Studies (ISILS) invites paper proposals for its ninth Islamic Law and Society conference, to be held in Finland, June 6–9, 2018.
Unlike previous conferences, the conference will be open topic—presentations on all aspects of Islamic law, from earliest to most recent times, are welcome.
Important Dates
Abstracts Deadline: July 31, 2017
Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: May 31, 2017
Conference Dates: June 6–9, 2018
Venue: Finland
The conference will be divided into two parts. In the first, which will take place in Helsinki, a keynote address and an invited panel of five speakers will present on “Islamic Law and the Relationship between Ruler and Ruled.” The keynote will be given by Frank Vogel (Cambridge, MA), who will explore Sharia doctrine regarding legal status of the governed. It will be followed by a panel made up of Lena Salaymeh (Tel Aviv), Christian Müller (Paris), Evgenia Kermeli (Ankara), Rob Gleave (Exeter), and Mulki al-Sharmani (Helsinki), who will each present case studies from different periods evidencing the shaping and reconstituting of subjecthood in legal practice.
The second part, which will take place in Tampere over two-and-a-half days, will consist of 20-minute presentations; preference is given to discussions based on primary text analysis or fieldwork. The conference language is English. Abstracts of up to 400 words, clearly presenting and contextualizing the argument, methodology, sources used, and historiographical importance, are due by July 31, 2017; please send to pjbearman@gmail.com. The abstracts, from which twenty will be chosen, will be read by an ISILS committee. Acceptance letters will be sent out by September 1, 2017. Speakers must be ISILS members.
Speakers are expected to attend the entirety of the conference. Lodging, meals, and transportation between Helsinki and Tampere will be covered by our Finnish hosts. Some assistance may be available for help with travel costs, but speakers should work on the assumption that funds for travel to and from the conference will be unavailable.
