Faculty of Sharia and Law, UIN Online News – The Faculty of Sharia and Law at UIN Jakarta held a public lecture titled “Islamic Law and Public Policy in a Modern Muslim State,” featuring Professor Mohammed Fadel from the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, on June 21, 2024.
This public lecture discussed the relationship between Islamic law and public policy in contemporary times, particularly in countries with large Muslim populations. It also covered both classical and modern Islamic law and its relevance to public law.
“In the classical era, fiqh (Islamic law) primarily played a role in the courts, punishing criminals, collecting taxes, and sometimes regulating wars. Back then, these were the primary concerns of society. Today, society’s focus has shifted to issues like gender equality, as women now go to school and work,” said Professor Fadel.
Professor Fadel believes that the expansion of Islamic law into various areas has had a positive impact on the lives of Muslims. He hopes that governments can keep up with these developments, especially in public policymaking.
He also emphasized the importance of teaching Islamic principles to future policymakers so they can integrate these principles with public issues.
“The most important thing is to teach the basic principles of Islamic law in the education system. When they correctly understand the relevance of Islamic law to other laws, they will be more careful in making policies. For integrating Islamic law, I think collaboration between policymakers and scholars is still a reasonable approach,” said the American professor.
Additionally, he stressed that policymakers should protect and not infringe on the rights of minority communities. Even in countries with a Muslim majority, policies should not burden those with different beliefs.
(Nadhira Rahmah/Fauziah M./Raihan Lail/Faadhila Idris)
