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Media Advisory
October 24, 2006
Contact: MATT KOVARY
(212) 382-6713

HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC LAW
The Origins and Elements of Sunni and Shi’a Jurisprudence

When: Monday, November 6, 2006; 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Where: New York City Bar Association ( 42 West 44 th Street)

The New York City Bar Association will present what may very well be the most distinguished panel of academic Islamic law scholars ever assembled for the public in the Western Hemisphere . And they will meet for a sweeping discussion of Islamic Law at the House of the Association, 42 West 44 th Street , on Monday, November 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) is a cornerstone of Islamic studies, both civil and religious. Starting with the Quran itself, law and theology are intrinsically intertwined for both the Sunni and Shi’a schools of legal study. To further this understanding, and to help examine the subject in a modern context, panelists will also discuss the origins and elements of the 1,400-year-old Sunni-Shi’a schism that still so forcefully divides the Islamic world.

This is a free public program. Reporters are invited to cover the event, attend for their own edification, or to cultivate Islamic law sources for future stories.

Please register with the press coordinator at (212) 382-6713, or by e-mail at mkovary@nycbar.org.

Moderator:

ROBERT E. MICHAEL, Chair, Committee on Foreign and Comparative Law.

Speakers:

BERNARD K. FREAMON, Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School, Director of the Law School’s Program for the Study of Law in the Middle East in Cairo. Topic: “Formation of the early precepts of Islamic Law, from the revelation of the Quran through the defeat of the Rationalists.”

MARK D. WELTON (LT. COL., RET.), Professor of International and Comparative Law, United States Military Academy , West Point . Topic: “The development of Islamic Law from the end of the Classical Period to the present.”

ROY P. MOTTAHEDEH, Gurney Professor of History, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University . Topic: “The origins of Shi’a Islam and the major differences from Sunni jurisprudence.”

BERNARD HAYKEL, Professor of Islamic Law and Middle Eastern History, Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University. Topic: “Developments and changes in modern Yemen and Saudi Arabia , with a particular emphasis on the role of the Zaydi School of non-Twelver Shi’ites.”

About the Association
The New York City Bar Association (www.nycbar.org) was founded in 1870, and since then has been dedicated to maintaining the high ethical standards of the profession, promoting reform of the law, and providing service to the profession and the public. The Association continues to work for political, legal and social reform, while implementing innovative means to help the disadvantaged. Protecting the public’s welfare remains one of the Association’s highest priorities.

 

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