The polyvalent Qur’anic text lends itself to multiple interpretations, dependingupon one’s presuppositions and premises. In fact, Q. 3:7 distinguishesbetween muḥkam (explicit, categorical) and mutashābih (metaphorical, allegorical,symbolic) verses. As such, this device provides a way for reinterpretingverses that outwardly appear to be problematic – be it in the area ofgender equality, minority rights, religious freedom, or...Read More

Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni is a distinguished human rights advocate with anastounding career and publication record that exceeds seventy books (authoredand edited) and 260 articles. The Sharī‘a and Islamic Criminal Justice is yetanother rigorous contribution that should enrich and broaden the scope of thecriminal law debate in the Islamic legal system and its relevance to internationalhumanitarian...Read More

David Vishanoff’s The Formation of Islamic Hermeneutics is a significantcontribution to the study of Islamic legal theory and legal hermeneutics. Vishanoff’smain objective is to examine how Sunni legal hermeneutics becamea systematic and institutional discipline. For this purpose, he strives to restorethe reception and development of al-Shafi‘i’s (d. 820) legal hermeneutics during the pre-classical period (ninth...Read More

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, some advocated a turn toward “tradition,”thereby raising fears that women would be pushed out of the public arena despitetheir active participation and would even lose those gains made underprevious governments. The debates around gender parity vs. complementaritythat were stirred up were not new, but they did manage to...Read More