Islamic Law and International Law

This book is a novel contribution to the debates regarding the legitimacy of the international system and it provides a coherent argument for expanding the understanding, recognition, and participation of different legal cultures in the international order. * Cecilia Marcela Bailliet, Professor at the Department of Public & International Law, University of Oslo, Norway, Manchester Journal of Transnational Islamic Law & Practice *
Useful for practitioners, scholars, policy makers, judges, students, and staff at international and non governmental organisations, the book embraces an interdisciplinary approach - situated both with the international law and political science scholarship - and draws on skilfully conducted qualitative and quantitative empirical research in combination with a comprehensive theoretical understanding of the Islamic legal tradition. * Agnes Viktoria Rydberg, PhD Researcher, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London,London, UK, International Community Law Review *
This book belongs on the shelf of Islamic studies scholars and experts in global affairs. * Mahan Mirza, University of Notre Dame, Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law *
It is an excellent endeavor with a highly convincing methodological design. The central idea of the book is brilliant and the empirical chapters which test her hypotheses are by and large convincing. Representing the center piece of Powell's analysis, this is of crucial importance. * Alexander Niedermeier, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Catholic University Eichstaett-Ingolstadt and Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), Review of Economics and Political Science *
In all, the book is not only authentic but also the first of its kind on an issue of contemporary significance. It enriches the reader's understanding of Islamic law by collating data from a considerably large cluster of Sharia compliant domestic legal systems. It will undoubtedly appeal to students and academics of Islamic and international law as well as those tasked with legislation and policy making in Muslim states. * Bushra Khan, International Islamic University, Islamabad, RSIL Law Review V1 2020 *
Taken as a whole, there is no recent book that so skillfully and systematically interlaces national religious and secular law in the Islamic context with important choices states make in the international legal system. Powell is one of the few Western scholars who demonstrates that the label "Islamic law" is about as simplistic as "Western law." This book successfully connects the legal and especially the constitutional variation within Islamic law states with international law in a satisfying way. It is a significant contribution to understanding the uneven participation of states in the international legal system. * Beth A. Simmons, American Journal of International Law *
This work is one of the most important books on Islam and International relations published in the last two decades. It can be said that it is an innovative work that has been written based on interviews and the collection of new data to examine the legal characterizes of Islamic states and their approach on international law. * Islamic Studies Center of Iranian Parliament *
This is one of the most important books on Islam and international relations published in the last two decades. It is a key book for our time that will be of immense interest to IR scholars, international law experts, as well as policy makers and jurists that deal with Islamic states. I cannot recommend it too highly. It provides crucial insights and knowledge that can only be ignored at our collective peril. * Center for Strategic Studies *
This offers not only an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship between ILS and international law's practice and institutions, but also a methodology for future studies on comparative international law. In that sense, it is a commendable and successful undertaking. * International Studies Review *
Brave. Informed. Self-aware. Intensely curious, yet on a quest. These descriptors capture Emilia Powell's ambitious and illuminating study of Islamic law and international law. [This book] is careful, innovative, well-written, deeply informative, and a significant contribution to demystifying a large part of the world. Powell is a social scientist at heart, but her larger objective is to help Western readers appreciate admirable features of Islamic law, and to find common ground. She does find common ground, and Powell is right that Western law needs to bend if international law is going to be inclusive and legitimate in the eyes of different peoples. Her book charts a path towards this goal. * Karen J. Alter, Governance *
This book is a careful, innovative, well written, and deeply informative contribution that demystifies a large part of the world. * The Journal of Peace Research *
This is one of the most important books on Islam and international relations published in the last two decades. It is a highly original study based on face-to-face interviews and the collection of new data to investigate the characteristics of Islamic states that make some willing to use certain aspects of Western international law whereas others are not and why some states prefer negotiation and non-binding conciliation procedures over more binding approaches. An essential read for scholars, students, and diplomats. * John A. Vasquez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign *
Powell's study of Islamic and international law in the peaceful resolution of disputes is an ambitious and successful effort examining how receptive Islamic law states are to international law-particularly its tools and forums for the peaceful resolution of disputes. She looks to a legal tradition that remains understudied, and advances our general ability to understand what a state's domestic practice can tell us about its engagement with international law and institutions. * Charolotte Ku, Texas A&M School of Law *
This broad-ranging exploration of interactions between dynamic and ever-evolving systems of Islamic and international law provides new, empirically grounded insight on the ways in which sharia is incorporated into modern structures of state governance to facilitate diverse configurations of spaces for adjudication, arbitration, and mediation. It should become a valuable point of reference for practitioners of international law and NGOs working toward peaceful dispute resolution involving what Powell terms 'Islamic Law States.' * Michael Feener, University of Oxford *
A tour de force, this book enriches our understanding of the international legal system as it shows that 'Islamic Law States' seek certainty in the settlement of their disputes. Most impressively, Powell explains how and why 'Islamic Law States' vary in their engagement with international courts and arbitration. Finally a western scholar demonstrates that 'Islamic Law' is about as simplistic a label as 'Western Law'. Well-researched, well-argued, well-done! * Beth Simmons, University of Pennsylvania *
This topical book is an important contribution to the rectification of persisted (simplistic and often willful) misconceptions of Islamic law and its compatibility with modern international law. Scholars and the general reader will benefit immensely from reading it."-HE Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh, Former Prime Minister of Jordan and Former Judge at the International Court of Justice