Journal of Conflict and Security Law Advance Access originally published online on May 27, 2009
Journal of Conflict and Security Law 2009 14(1):115-144; doi:10.1093/jcsl/krp011
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Resurrecting Siyar through Fatwas? (Re) Constructing ‘Islamic International Law’ in a Post–(Iraq) Invasion World
* Professor of Law, University of Warwick; Professor II, University of Oslo, Norway; and Member of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Formerly, Professor of Law, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
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Abstract |
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This article seeks to explore the impact of the Iraq war on Siyar or ‘Islamic international law’ from a range of Muslim perspectives by raising some critical questions and addressing these through the lens of a selection of Fatwas solicited by Muslims from a range of countries and continents, on the Iraq war and its implications for popular understandings of Siyar and Jihad. This article suggests that the Iraq war presents an opportunity to revisit and potentially revive historical Siyar pronouncements of a dichotomous world, i.e. dar-al-harb and dar-al-Islam. I argue that in so doing, this discourse has invigorated the notions of a universal Ummah within the normative framework of Siyar hitherto marginalized by ascendancy of the nation state, international organizations and contemporary Muslim state practice. Finally, I argue that a wider Internet access to Muslim communities in the global South has facilitated a modified institution of ifta to reflect popular understandings of Siyar and Jihad and influence its reformulation in the backdrop of the Iraq war.
This article draws upon some of my earlier research on the subject including: Shaheen Ali, ‘Religious Pluralism, Human Rights and Muslim Citizenship in Europe: Some Preliminary Reflections on an Evolving Methodology for Consensus’, in T. Leonon and J. Goldschmidt (eds), Religious Pluralism and Human Rights in Europe (2007) 57–79; Shaheen Ali, ‘The Twain Doth Meet! A Preliminary Exploration of the Theory and Practice of as-Siyar and International Law in the Contemporary World’, in J. Rehman and S. Breau (eds), Religion, Human Rights and International Law: A Critical Examination of Islamic State Practices (2007) 95–136; Shaheen Ali and Javaid Rehman, ‘The Concept of Jihad in Islamic International Law’, (2005) 10 Journal of Peace and Security Law 321, 343. I am grateful to Mamman Lawan, Ayesha Shahid, Amila Jayamaha and Shahbaz Cheema for their research assistance in writing this article and my colleagues Prof. Javaid Rehman, Dr. Andrew Williams and Dr. Barbara Roberson for their incisive comments on earlier drafts of this article. I would also like to record my appreciation for constructive feedback provided by Prof. An-Na’im and participants of the conference on ‘Islam and the Secular State’ in honour of Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im held in Leuven, Belgium, 30–31 January 2009, where this paper was presented.