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This fatwa states that among Islamic jurists (fuqaha') there exist two schools of thought as to determining the commencement of Ramadhan and Syawal/Idul Fitri. The first, championed by Imam Syafi'i, is dictated by the relevant time the sun rises and sets and, therefore, the place. The second does not take these points into consideration. The Fatwa Committee states that, in the absence of a 'Qadi Internasional', it is the prerogative of each country's government to stipulate the relevant commencement date.

With regards to determining the commencement date of Zulhijjah/Idul Adha, the fatwa acknowledges that the ulama have reached a consensus that each country has its own time to perform the Idul Adha prayer (shalat).

Mohammad Fadel (Professor of Law, University of Toronto) and Connell Monette (Vice President of Academic Affairs, American Academy Casablanca) organized a PIL Forum Roundtable on the recent publication of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ – Recension of Yahya b. Yahya al-Laythī (d. 234/848) by Mālik b. Anas, distributed through Harvard University Press. This translation is based on the recently published Royal Moroccan Edition of the Muwaṭṭaʾ (Casablanca: Maṭbaʿat al-najāḥ al-jadīda, 2013/1434), and was commissioned by the Moroccan Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs. A team of Moroccan translators, under the supervision of Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette, editors, working over the course of several years, prepared the translation.

Below are the essays contributed to the Roundtable on the ISLAMICLAWblog. Leading scholars which scholars comment on various aspects of the translation; some engage substantively with particular topics or themes in the Muwaṭṭaʾ, others comment on the translation and its style, and some combine elements of both.

Part of the Online Companion for Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī.

This regional regulation prohibits all persons and entities from selling alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of more than five per cent. It makes an exception, however, for three-, four-, and five-star hotels, discotheques, bars, karaoke venues, restaurants, and cafes (art 7). It is also only these venues that may sell beverages with an alcohol content between 20 and 55 per cent (art 8). The regulation also states that, during the month of Ramadhan, alcoholic beverages may not be sold, except in hotels in the evening (art 9(2)). Alcohol retailers may also not sell alcoholic beverages, and alcohol may not be consumed, near places of worship, schools, offices, hospitals, sporting venues, bus terminals, and residential areas (arts 13 and 18).

The applicant was an only child from the deceased's first marriage. The deceased had remarried and had three other children. The deceased also left behind a property in East Jakarta, as well as a pension, having been a state high school teacher. The applicant requested that the court stipulate the passing of her father, and that she was the only beneficiary under her father's will. The applicant, however, in court, requested that the claim be withdrawn as she had neglected to include the names of the other beneficiaries under the will of the deceased. The court acceded to the applicant's request.

The parties were married on 5 May 2012 and had one child, who was currently in the care of the plaintiff. On 26 January 2016, the parties had divorced, after which time they had agreed that their child would remain in the care of the plaintiff. In this instance, the plaintiff, in order to alleviate certain difficulties already encountered while trying to enrol the parties' child for school, had lodged an application to amend certain documents. These included the parties' child's family card (Kartu Keluarga) and national identity number (Nomor Induk Kependudukan).

Despite the defendant's absence, the court, pursuant to art 105(a) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, acceded to the plaintiff's application on the grounds that the parties' child was still underage.

This stipulation seeks to implement the 'Indonesian Political Manifesto as Guidelines rather than State Policy' (Manifesto Politik Republik Indonesia sebagai Garis-garis Besar daripada Haluan Negara) in the fields of mentality/religion/spirituality and culture. Among other things, it stipulates that religious education become part of the curriculum taught in state schools and state universities, with the understanding that students are entitled not to take part in such studies, and to express their objections. It also promotes the construction of houses of worship and religious organisations.

A petition sent to the Ottoman Sultan from Egypt in 1155 AH (1742-3), concerning a dispute between a Muslim and a Christian in the town of Zifta. The Muslim petitioner attempts to enforce the regulation of the Pact of 'Umar that forbids non-Muslims from having houses taller than those of Muslims. Baldwin's commentary on the petition focuses on how the petitioning process relates to the sharīʿa court system in the Ottoman Empire.

This regional regulation is an example of a regulation that, arguably, Islamises public life without making specific reference to Islam or religion (agama). It regulates the sale of alchohol, prohibiting its sale in all places but 3-, 4-, and 5-star hotels, certified restaurants, and pubs and nightclubs (art 5(1)). It prohibits the sale of alcohol near places of worship, schools, hospitals, and residential areas (art 5(2)(b)).

The regulation also prohibits the consumption of alcohol in:

1. busy public spaces, such as a parties;
2. open places visible to the public;
3. places of worship; and
4. formal and non-formal education institutes (art 6).

On appeal, the Court upheld the decision of the Bireuen Shari'a Court (lower court). The lower court had ruled as lawful a certificate of exchange, pursuant to which land the subject of a trust (wakaf) owned by a madrasah in Meunasah Tunong, was to be exchanged with land owned by Drs. Muhammad Muin (deceased), in Meunasah Teungoh, upon which a new school building was to be built.

The land and structure subject of the dispute belonged to the deceased, and had been devised lawfully to the respondents.

This regional regulation is an example of a regulation that, arguably, Islamises public life without making specific reference to Islam or religion (agama). Pursuant to arts 2 and 3, all persons and entities are prohibited from distributing alcoholic beverages in Jeneponto regency, while all persons are similarly prohibited from consuming alcoholic beverages, except in hotels and places already exempted by the regent. Pursuant to art 4, foreign visitors on personal or government business are also exempted from this prohibition. The regulation specifies that those hotels or places exempted from the prohibition on alcohol must be 2000 metres from residential areas, places of worship, schools, offices, and other places frequented by the public (art 8). Contravention of this regulation carries a maximum penalty of one month imprisonment and/or a fine of IDR 5 million (art 22(1)).

This recapitulation is written based on the indictments and verdicts of cases of khalwat in Sabang, Nangroe Aceh Darussalam between January to February 2017. All information was gathered directly from the official Mahkamah Syar’iyah (sharīʿa court)’s website http://www.ms-aceh.go.id

All seventeen cases were filed on the same day by the same public prosecutor. Even though the indictments of these cases do not specify the details of the events leading to the arrest of the defendants it is likely that these cases refer to the raid of twenty-three young people in Sabang in January 2017. The raid happened after the surrounding neighborhood of the hotels where twenty-three young people stayed the night to celebrate the end of school semester reported them to the Shari’a police. They were apprehended in five different hotels.[1] Out of these twenty-three people, only seventeen of them were formally charged with khalwat and brought to the Mahkamah Syar’iyah (Shari’a court) in Sabang.

[1] Irwan Saputra, "Libur Semester, 11 Pasang Muda-mudi Digaruk WH di Sejumlah Hotel di Sabang - Aceh - BERITAKINI - Media Online," BERITAKINI.CO, December 27, 2016, accessed October 02, 2017, http://www.beritakini.co/news/libur-semester-11-pasang-muda-mudi-digaruk-wh-di-sejumlah-hotel-di-sabang/index.html

This regional regulation states that compulsory study of Diniyah Takmiliayh Awaliyah (DTA) education and Taman Pendidikan Al-Qur'an (TPA - Qur'anic Primary Education) is based on the Pancasila ('five principles' - Indonesian state ideology) and the 1945 Constitution. The regulation states that DTA and TPA are non-formal religious education streams that come under the auspices of the Ministry of Religion (art 3), and are designed for primary school students (art 6(1)). Students are expected to undertake this non-formal form of education for four years, and for at least 18 hours per week (art 6(2)). The regulation states that the purpose of religious education is to make participants understand and practise religious values that have a broad, critical, creative, innovative, and dynamic vision for the purpose of intellectualising the life of a nation that is God-believing, God-mindful, and noble (art 4(1)). Compulsory study of DTA and TPA is intended to provide school children with the ability to understand Islamic teachings, in order that they develop into God-believing, God-mindful, and practising and noble Muslims (art 4(2)).

The curriculum comprises:

1. Qur'anic literacy;
2. study of the Hadith;
3. creed (aqidah);
4. morals (akhlak);
5. legal understanding (fiqih);
6. Islamic cultural history;
7. Arabic; and
8. practical worship (praktek ibadah) (art 14(1)).

This regional regulation makes it compulsory for school children (aged 7 to 15 years) to attend Madrasah Diniyah Awaliyah in order that they develop into God-mindful, charitable, pious Muslims. Madrasah Diniyah Awaliyah is a non-formal educational stream that offers a basic form of Islamic religious education over a four-year period. Its curriculum comprises study of the Qur'an and Hadith, creed (aqidah), legal understanding (fiqh), Islamic cultural history, Arabic, and the practice of worship (ibadah).

This is a reference to the early legal schools of the Ḥijāz and Iraq. Hossein Modarressi cites this reference to argue that the legal legacy of the Family of the Prophet differed in its sources and approaches from these schools.

This source is part of the Online Companion to Hossein Modarressi, Text and Interpretation: Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and His Legacy in Islamic Law (Harvard University Press, 2022).

Biography of Mālikī jurist and theologian Abū ʿUmar Yūsuf b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Barr (368/978–463/1071), known as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr.

This source is part of the Online Companion to the print edition al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī (Harvard Series in Islamic Law), edited and translated by Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette (PIL/HUP, 2019).

In preambular statement (a), this regional regulation states that alcoholic beverages can endanger physical and mental health, threaten the lives of the future generations of the nation, disturb security, peace and public order, and become a driving factor in the occurrence of acts of violence and criminality, as well as other undesirable conduct that is contrary to the philosophy of Gorontalo province: 'Adat bersendikan Syara, Syara bersendikan Kitabullah' ('custom found upon Islamic law, Islamic law found upon the Qur'an').

While the regulation does not place a blanket prohibition on alcohol, it does prohibit the importation, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages with an ethanol content exceeding 55 per cent (art 12(1)), and prohibits all persons from bringing alcoholic beverages into Gorontalo province from overseas (art 13(1)). It also prohibits the sale of alcohol in a variety of places, including near places of worship, schools, residential areas, and hospitals (art 14(1)), as well as its consumption in public (art 15).

Ṣubḥ al-`a’shā fī sinā’at al-inshā is a late medieval chancery educational book, intending to educate aspiring Mamlūk officials. The text contains several examples of correspondences and contracts that Qalqashandī finds exemplary.  This particular text renders a Sultanic decree of appointment to a Ḥanbalī judge, and outlines various points that the Sultan expects the judge to adjudicate according to his school’s rulings.

The appellant sought to challenge the decision of the Langsa Shari'a Court (lower court), which had granted the respondent a revocable divorce (talak satu raj'i), but also ordered the respondent to pay to the appellant IDR 5 million for iddah (100-day period after divorce has been granted), IDR 2 million for mut'ah (divorce compensation) and IDR 1 million for kiswah (clothing). The lower court also granted the appellant custody of their two children, and ordered the respondent to pay IDR 1 million per month in child maintenance until the children had become of age. In regards to the parties' joint assets, the lower court ordered the parties to split on a 50/50 basis their house, two motorcycles, as well as a debt of IDR 94,033,368 owed to Bank BPD Aceh.

The Court concurred with the lower court's judgment, but increased the amounts of money made payable to the appellant, based on the respondent's income as a school teacher and food seller. The Court also removed the obligation on the respondent to pay kiswah as it was not included in the appellant's initial counterclaim, and was already included in the revised iddah payment.

The Court concurred with the lower court in its dismissal of other elements of the appellant's counterclaim with regards to another parcel of land and a separate debt the appellant claimed was a joint-debt of the parties.

The parties were married on 22 July 2008. They lived in the plaintiff’s grandmother’s home for five years and had one child (aged 6). Initially, the marriage was harmonious. By 2012, however, they had begun to quarrel regularly. One of the main causes of dispute was which school their child should attend.

Problems escalated in February 2013, and the plaintiff left the defendant and the matrimonial home to live with her parents. The parties remained separated for two years during which time they communicated, but the defendant did not provide the plaintiff with any financial support. In 2015, the plaintiff sought a divorce on the grounds that the parties' differences were irreconcilable. Pre-trial mediation had also proved to be unsuccessful.

The court found that the purpose of marriage, as envisaged by art 1 of Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage, in conjunction with art 3 and art 77(1) and (2) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, being a happy and harmonious home life, was no longer feasible. Therefore, there were sufficient reasons, pursuant to art 39(2) of Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage, in conjunction with art 19(f) and (b) of Government Regulation No. 9 of 1975, and art 116(f) and (b) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, to grant the plaintiff an irrevocable divorce (talak satu ba'in sughra).

This regional regulation makes provision for Qur'anic education in West Sumatra. It states that the purpose of Qur'anic education is to develop the potential in students to become God-believing and God-mindful, intelligent, qualified human beings, literate in the Qur'an, noble, and able to understand and comprehend, as well as put into practice, the contents of the Qur'an (art 3). Qur'anic education is designed for Muslim students at all stages in their education (arts 4 and 5). The regulation, at art 13, also sets out the required levels of competency for students depending on their level of schooling, and requires prospective brides and bridegrooms to be able to read the Qur'an (art 14).