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This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the findings in current research focusing on the implementation of Islamic law in Europe. It explores the concept of fiqh al-aqalliyyāt (minority jurisprudence) or context-specific jurisprudence and how it is debated and contested in Europe. While shedding light on a normative application of Islamic law, the paper focuses on the role and work of European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) and how it has made an important contribution to addressing issues related to Muslim communities by issuing fatwas based on the methodology of fiqh al-aqalliyyāt. Since a wide range of actors both in Europe and the Islamic world currently voice calls in favour of integration of Muslims in Europe as opposed to assimilation and segregation, the paper attempts to understand the specific grammar of this integration talk and how it translates into fiqh discourse produced by the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, considerable academic attention has been devoted to fiqh al-aqalliyyat al-Muslima, the field of jurisprudence that addresses the unique challenges faced by Muslims living as minorities. However, little has been written on the ways fatwas are diffused, accepted, and rejected across European Muslim communities. Through a field study conducted at Reykjavik's Grand Mosque and rival local mosques from 17 September 2017 to 15 October 2017, the present article aims to contribute to bridging this scholarly gap. Drawing on theories from media studies and social psychology, the article reveals the non-structured and a-hierarchical ways through which Islamic norms are determined by mosque attendees. It demonstrates the reluctance of mosque attendees to privilege specific authorities on religious law; that they are informed by a plethora of traditional and global forms of authority; and that rather than adhere to and abide by a specific coherent doctrine, they intuitively shift between different approaches based on circumstances and needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the doctrine of Jurisprudence of Muslim Minorities (Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat) in the context of the Palestinian Muslim community in Israel. The first part discusses the origins and goals of Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat. After outlining the particular historical and political context of the Palestinian minority in Israel, the article focuses on the ethno-religious political mobilization developed by the Muslim community vis-à-vis the state’s strategies of control and domination, and points out the difficulties involved in the application of Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat, as used in “Western” states, for the reality that Muslims face in Israel. The article suggests a vigilant approach toward the Jurisprudence of Minorities, as we argue that, when applying it in this context of the Muslim community in Israel, this doctrine has two substantial limitations. The first is theoretical and it concerns the doctrine’s current incapability to distinguish between different types of minorities, as well as failing to recognize a difference between various political regimes and societal lives that might be inherently less or more accommodating or even hostile to minorities, and Muslim minority communities in particular. The second limitation relates to the political dimension and the lack of consideration for the status of the Palestinian minority as an indigenous and national minority and not an immigrant minority. Their status as national minorities, at times also as indigenous peoples, who are perceived as entitled to group-based “self-government rights”, poses a serious challenge to this doctrine’s scope and viability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article introduces the work of the French imam-theologian Tareq Oubrou as a prominent voice of the emerging “European Islamic thought”. It argues that the imam uses Islamic classical jurisprudential devices (such as fatwas), contemporary hermeneutics and critical thought, and personal communion with the divine (spirituality) to renew the understanding of God, Man, and the Qura'n in the European context. In so doing, he (1) “relativizes” shari'ah law by emphasizing the questions of ethics and meaning, (2) “minoritizes” Islam as a religion in a pluralist liberal milieu, and (3) “localizes” its norms, “nationalizes” religious authority, and “institutionalizes” its manifestations. His work is synthesized in this article in three concepts: (1) “geotheology,” (2) “shari'ah of the minority” which are Oubrou's own terms/concepts, and (3) “European Islam”. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the beginnings of Islam, awqāf or religious endowments have been the medium through which various public services (i.e. schools, hospitals, and mosques) have been provided to communities. Historically, endowments were both insulated from state authority and an emanation of imperial and/or state power. Modern day Muslim scholars have taken a renewed interest in waqf, particularly as Muslim societies look to revive those indigenous institutions which promote cultural sustainability. This paper examines perceptions of the role of waqf in Muslim society as evidenced in current online fatāwā and writings by Muslim scholars. These sources are drawn from English-medium, Muslim web organizations and sites which have particular appeal among Muslims living in the West. This literature propagates a historical narrative of waqf which highlights the institution's moral significance, civic identity, and economic efficiency, and plays down its pre-nineteenth-century links to state power and its potential inefficiency. According to modern day scholars, endowments, with the proper legal framework in place, can promote civil society and sustainability. In a bid to examine these issues, the paper analyzes how online sources address the historical development of waqf and legal mechanisms shaping the regulation of endowments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat”—the jurisprudence of Muslim minorities—is a legal doctrine introduced in the 1990s by Taha Jabir Al-Alwani and Yusuf Al-Qaradawi which asserts that Muslim minorities, especially those residing in the West, deserve a special new legal discipline to address their unique religious needs that differ from those of Muslims residing in Islamic countries. Developed as a means of assisting Muslim minorities in the West, it deals with problems Muslims face in countries where they are minorities and focuses more on devising exceptional rulings pertaining to their unique circumstances. In light of this, this paper attempts to assess this doctrine—its purpose and its methodology—with emphasis on the legal Islamic tools of ijtihad and maslaha whilst also shedding light on its limitations. It argues that while attempts are being made by scholars and writers to make it a successful tool for jurisprudence, it will take a few more years to assess whether “fiqh al-aqalliyyat” is effective in getting more members of Muslim minority societies to follow shari'ah such that it becomes a politically uniting force for Muslim communities in non-Muslim societies and most importantly, if it is effective in establishing an Islamic method that supports the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and non-Muslims within non-Muslim societies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]