Issues in Islamic Law and Ethics: Questions of Life and Death *

From the Rushdie affair to the controversy over the veil in France and the sentencing of a Nigerian woman to death by stoning, Islamic Law has been portrayed in the West as archaic, barbaric, and inflexible. In this course we will provide an introduction to Islamic Law and its continuing relevance to millions of Muslims in the twenty-first century. Concepts of legal authority, cultural influence, and the varieties of legal interpretation will be examined in an Islamic context. We will examine the origins and development of Islamic law during the pre-modern period before focusing on contemporary issues that have attracted attention in recent years. (RELI 0150) 3 hrs. sem.