Panel on the History and Development of Islamic Law at the NY City Bar

HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC LAW
The Origins and Elements of Sunni and Shi’a Jurisprudence

WHEN: Monday, November 6, 2006; 6:30 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: New York City Bar Association (42 West 44th Street)

The New York City Bar Association will present what may very well be the most distinguished panel of academic Islamic law scholars ever assembled for the public in the Western Hemisphere. And they will meet for a sweeping discussion of Islamic Law at the House of the Association, 42 West 44th Street, on Monday, November 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) is a cornerstone of Islamic studies, both civil and religious. Starting with the Quran itself, law and theology are intrinsically intertwined for both the Sunni and Shi’a schools of legal study. To further this understanding, and to help examine the subject in a modern context, panelists will also discuss the origins and elements of the 1,400-year-old Sunni-Shi’a schism that still so forcefully divides the Islamic world.

This is a free public program. For more information, please contact Robert E. Michael, Robert E. Michael & Associates PLLC, 950 Third Ave., Suite 2500, NY, NY 10022, Tel: 212-758-4606, rema@walrus.com

MODERATOR:

ROBERT E. MICHAEL, Chair, Committee on Foreign and Comparative Law.

SPEAKERS:

BERNARD K. FREAMON, Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School, Director of the Law School’s Program for the Study of Law in the Middle East in Cairo. Topic: Formation of the early precepts of Islamic Law, from the revelation of the Quran through the defeat of the Rationalists.

MARK D. WELTON (LT. COL., RET.), Professor of International and Comparative Law, United States Military Academy, West Point. Topic: The development of Islamic Law from the end of the Classical Period to the present.

ROY P. MOTTAHEDEH, Gurney Professor of History, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University. Topic: The origins of Shi’a Islam and the major differences from Sunni jurisprudence.

BERNARD HAYKEL, Professor of Islamic Law and Middle Eastern History, Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University. Topic: Developments and changes in modern Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with a particular emphasis on the role of the Zaydi School of non-Twelver Shi’ites.

Sponsored by: Committee on Foreign and Comparative Law, Robert E. Michael, Chair