All entries for Thursday 15 December 2016

Modern Challenges to Islamic Law: Shaheen Sardar Ali’s Tribute to the Dihliz

By Madiha Shekhani

‘At the dihliz one is offered multiple panoramic visions dotted on the horizons beyond one’s immediate proximity’ (Ali, 2016, p.2)

Within the current political climate Islam faces several multifaceted challenges – it can best be described as a highly charged, contested, and misunderstood concept. Interpretations and prescriptions of the Islamic legal systems have become a major point of contention not only within Muslim communities, but other circles as well. Talks of the compatibility of competing interpretations, compatibility with the ‘modern’ world order, and the legal tradition’s equation with democracy, human rights, gender, development, etc. have become quite common. On the one hand, Islam as a source of a legal system has been objectively critiqued, whereas on the other, it has been victimized by dogmatism from both ends of the ideological spectrum.

Conversations on the topic often fall short when the Islamic legal system, its history, and prescriptions are viewed as unified or monolithic entities, which are static in nature and somehow disconnected from other histories, cultures, and identities. To understand fully the depth, plurality, flexibility and, most importantly, the shortcomings of system, it must be viewed in its entirety. The contemporary encounters of Muslims and non-Muslims with Islamic traditions is quite varied, and Modern Challenges to Islamic Law is Shaheen Sardar Ali’s ode to this diversity of interpretation and experience.

Shaheen Ali is one of the highly celebrated female scholars from Pakistan. Honored with prestigious awards on both national and international platforms -- such as the Aizaz-i-Fazilat, a renowned Presidential Award in 1992 and the British Muslims Annual Honors in 2002 -- she remains at the top of her field. As one of the 100 most influential women in Pakistan (according to The Women Power 100), she has not only contributed to research and academia, but has been an active figure within the government, and has chaired projects dedicated to betterment of women’s status in society.

Currently a vital part of the Warwick School of Law, she has been widely published and her work has contributed to crucial research areas such as Islamic law and jurisprudence, human rights, and women and children’s rights. Modern Challenges is yet another prized contribution she has made to the field of study.

Her work benefits from the years of experience she has had as a researcher, practitioner and a Muslim woman who has witnessed first-hand the multiplicity of Islamic traditions, and the internal and external challenges that it faces. In her words the book ‘aims to bring to the fore the diversity within Muslim communities, and the various cultural and linguistic lenses through which they perceive and experience their religious traditions’ (Ali 2016, pg. 2).

She begins and ends her book with the very impactful metaphor of the dihliz, loosely translated to denote a threshold or an in-between space. The metaphor is used to introduce the reader to the intellectual stance that underlies the book. As per my understanding, the point of vision from the dihliz is such that it enables one to best understand various intersections. It is a position where one is far enough, yet not entirely disconnected, from the structure to best appreciate how it has been constructed – the various foundations it stands upon, the pillars that hold it up, the aesthetic ways in which it has been embellished, and the disconnects and cracks in the system.

In her work Professor Ali has the same modus operandi, whereby she reiterates that there are several different views and practices none of which must be dismissed, so the entire structure can be understood and appreciated. Specifically being positioned at the dihliz or the passage way allows her to balance in a way where she presents her view ‘without apology, or dismissal of others’ viewpoints’ (Ali 2016, pg. 3). The multi-disciplinary and inter-cultural stance that she adopts is particularly impressive for it helps one realize that a field as variegated as Islamic law can best be understood when positioned at the dihliz, ‘where one is simultaneously inside and outside broader frameworks’ (Ali 2016, pg. 2).

She interacts with several facets of the legal system, both in theory and in practice, the paradoxes that lie within them, and how they have responded to internal and external challenges. Modern Challenges explores a broad range of themes under this framework such as Sharia, Islamic finance, the effects of colonialism on the legal traditions, and most interestingly the phenomenon of the internet fatwa.

Constantly cautious of the fact that the Islamic legal traditions are anything but linear, the basic premise of the book is that ‘Islamic law and sharia are inherently dynamic, sensitive and susceptible to changing needs… highlighting its plurality and its inbuilt transformative process (pg. 10). By explaining some facets of Islamic law in such a manner, Modern Challenges could help one understand how certain stringent presumptions regarding the archaic nature of Islamic legal systems, their incompatibility with democracy and social development have emerged. Her work lends voice to objective critiques and deconstructions of such dogmatic perceptions.

The pertinence of her book goes strides beyond the immediate topics that she addresses. The stance upon which her work is predicated must be appreciated for it could be the key to understanding several the complex debates today, and countering rampant dogmatisms. Respect for, and incorporation of competing views is a much needed practice not just within academia, but largely so within society. Her approachable way of writing gives many a chance to be inspired, and to wonder whether we too must position ourselves at the dihliz of the conundrums we attempt to solve.

The book was formally launched at the University of Warwick on the 14^th of November 2016. The launch was led by an equally impressive cohort of panelists: Prof. William Twining, Professor Abdul Paliwala and Dr. Ziba Mir-Hosseini, chaired by Professor Shirin Rai.

Source:

Ali, Shaheen Sardar. Modern Challenges to Islamic Law. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Print.

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