Iraq’s 2024 Personal Status Law Amendment debate: The challenges and adaptability of Islamic legal theory
SOAS University School of Law – Islamic Legal Theory, January 2025
N.B - This essay was awarded a high first by my Professor, who wrote the following great articles on the Marriage of Minors under Islamic Law - 'Between Classical Jurisprudence and Modern Legislative Reforms':
- Part 1: https://lawsblog.london.ac.uk/...
- Part 2: https://lawsblog.london.ac.uk/...
Introduction:
From Babylon’s pioneering Hammurabi Code to Baghdad’s bustling Islamic jurisprudence at the very heart of the Abbasid Empire, codes of honour and legal regulations have been present in Iraq for thousands of years. Over the previous century, these have included the imposed British ‘Occupied Territories Code’ of 1915, and heavily US-influenced 2005 Constitution, following invasion and occupation between 1914 and 2003.[1] Islamic law has played a foundational role through its divine origin and adaptability. While the influence and application of Islamic law in criminal and commercial matters has waned, issues of ‘personal status’ in Iraq – including family matters such as marriage (and the age of marriage), inheritance, child custody and divorce – have broadly adapted to new systems. Over the past year however, proposed amendments to Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, have re-opened the debate on the intersection of civil and Islamic law in Iraq.[2]
Among other changes, the amendments could give religious authorities the ability to interpret (again) the age of marriage – which some Shi’ite Ja’afari clerics put as young as nine for girls and 15 for boys, breaching modern human rights law – although it is worth firmly establishing that the Qur’an promotes non-discrimination, and indeed actually introduced greater female agency and legal capacity for its time.[3] This essay will draw from the Islamic authority of the Qur’an, further explored through commentaries by classical jurists such as Muhammad ibn Idris Al-Shafi’i, as well as scholars including Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, Fazlur Rahman and Amina Wadud, to explore how Islamic legal theory is meeting the challenge of navigating modernity in Iraq. An analysis of the 2024 debate over amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law will demonstrate the complex intersection of Islamic law, civil law and human rights, and the need to far better engage with Islamic legal theory to respond to issues such as gender equality – or risk irrelevance through politicisation.
The challenge of ‘modernity’ within Islamic legal theory:
After the western “modernisation” of Iraq, legislation such as a new Civil Law in 1953 – replacing the Ottoman Majalla – was adopted along with revised Penal Codes in the 1960s, as Iraq departed from colonial-era frameworks.[4] In many ways, the evolution of Iraq’s legal system reflects the tension between Islamic legal traditions and modern legislative developments, with Iraq’s secular judiciary deriving its authority from the Qur’an, but also formal legislation and custom. Shari’a Courts focused on family matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, while Nizamiya Courts handled criminal and civil cases.[5] These courts divided into Civil and Criminal divisions as the 1925 Iraqi Constitution institutionalised a tripartite framework, including Religious Courts.[6] While Islamic scholars can in theory still adapt Islamic law in Iraq through Fiqh, deploying principles such as Maslahah, Istihsan, and Maqasid al-Shari'ah, it is seen as unchanging by most. Yet the importance of Ijtihad, Taqleed, Tajdid, and contemporary scholarship in shaping Islamic law cannot be overstated – and the need for its reinvigoration to address contemporary realities while maintaining true to Islamic principles. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an advocate for so-called ‘middle road’ Sunni Islam, promoted a theory of ‘Purposive Fiqh’ to frame arguments for human welfare and equality.[7] Qaradawi’s use of Maqasid al-Shari'ah to update rulings reflects the tremendous potential of Islamic law to address and update approaches to contemporary realities.[8]
Joseph Schacht has suggested that “modern Islamic legislation” becomes ‘Islamic Law’ through the imposition of classical jurisprudential categories, while Ibrahim al-Wahab highlights how Iraq’s Civil Law drew from Islamic principles without strict adherence to any single classical school.[9] Derived through Ijtihad and Fiqh, Islamic law evolves from Shari’ah and is distinct in being interpreted by scholars. Al-Shafi’i’s al-Risala is seen by many as the basis of Islamic Legal Theory, defining key sources of Usul al-Fiqh and key principles of Ijtihad, Istihsan and Ikhtilaf.[10] The basis for the “closing of the gate of Ijtihad” is the concept that rulings of classical jurists are fixed, since all major questions had been settled.[11] However, this author firmly agrees with scholars such as Hallaq, Ashmawi and others, who have pushed back on this theory, and admires the flexibility and inbuilt evolution of the Qur’an and Islamic law.[12]
The different schools of Islamic jurisprudence in Iraq emerged in the early Islamic period as scholars in Kufa and Basra engaged in ijtihad, forging methodologies influenced by local customs, contexts, and interpretations of the Qur’an and Hadith. Noel Coulson has explained the legal divergence well, with the formation of various Islamic Schools demonstrating the fluid interpretation and “Bounty of Allah”.[13] That there were early splits between the schools on matters of personal status – with the Hanafi School (the earliest, more tolerant, founded in Iraq) taking a more progressive approach to the ability of women to conclude their own marriage contracts demonstrates the impact of the social cultures on the development of schools.[14] An example in the shifting adherence to schools, given by Coulson, is Iraq’s Personal Status Law – which replaced the Sunni system of succession with the Shi’ite.[15]
Iraq’s Personal Status Law debate:
Iraq’s Personal Status Law, state law that does not contradict Islamic rulings, replaced the Sunni and Ja’afari Sharia courts by centralising family law under a unified civil framework. Anderson’s contemporary article demonstrates its progressive nature for the time.[16] These latest proposed amendments would enable the choice between civil or sectarian religious laws, granting formal authority to the Shi’ite Marjayya.[17] The first reading of the legislation took place in Iraq’s parliament in August. In September, the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruled that the proposed amendments were in line with Iraq’s constitution.[18] This came as a surprise to many, as while Article 2 of Iraq’s 2005 Constitution defines Islam as the state’s official religion and “a basic source of legislation,” Article 14 guarantees legal equality.[19] The merging of Councils of Fatwa with Personal Status Courts would violate Iraq’s separation of powers (Article 47) and independence of the judiciary (Article 19).[20]
Proponents claim the amendments uphold Islamic values, but opponents including female MPs fear it entrenches patriarchy and sectarianism.[21] In a letter to Iraq’s government in September, UN experts said the proposed amendments constitute a “serious roll-back.”[22] According to UNICEF, 28% of Iraqi women are married before the age of eighteen, despite existing legislation.[23] Sarah Sanbar's analysis shows how divorced from Islamic legal theory this debate has been so far, lacking transparency and public engagement.[24] Current Iraqi law sets the marriage age at 18 but despite no established religious ruling allowing for child marriage, regressive interpretations exist, and thousands of underage marriages already take place illegally in Iraq, conducted by clerics.[25] Months before the bill was introduced, Human Rights Watch published findings on the impact of unregistered marriages in Iraq, facilitated by religious leaders outside of the Personal Status Court, circumventing legal restrictions.[26] “The current Personal Status Law contains many loopholes that are unjust to women,” says Zubeida Al-Baghdadi. “Although Islamic texts guarantee women’s inheritance rights, practical applications often diminish their share.”[27]
The debate has unhelpfully highlighted the tensions between aligning Islamic law with international human rights norms, but the role of Iraq’s judiciary, religious scholars, and civil society in mediating these tensions has been limited. Indeed, greater engagement with Islamic legal theory in the debate might have included the use of Maqasid al-Shari'ah for framing arguments for public welfare and equality, and application of Maslahah in balancing tradition with societal needs. Aharon Layish has argued confidently (and misguidedly) that, “the norms of an increasingly Westernised society… are incompatible with the family concept of Islamic law,” although this author would disagree.[28] Instead, the proposed Personal Status Law amendment debates follow a pattern across 2024 of political pushback against the perceived ‘westernisation’ of the law in Iraq through anti-liberal policies, including the passage of an amendment to the country’s 1988 Law on Combatting Prostitution on 27 April, which criminalised same-sex relationships and, in November, a Ministry of Interior ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in the country’s clubs and hotels (although it remains extremely easy to purchase and drink alcohol).[29] Ask any Iraqi, and they would consider both to be political moves to benefit politicians in the country, rather than religious decisions from legal experts.[30]
In December, seeking to address concerns among MPs and activists, Iraq’s parliament revised the amendments, with the latest draft purporting to maintain the current minimum age of marriage at 18, with exceptions for those aged 15 – although it is uncertain how this might be controlled after handing over regulatory power.[31] The debate also demonstrates the divide among religious authorities, with the Iraqi Fiqh Council and Sunni Endowment Office formally rejecting the amendments, on the basis that the current law provides a framework that incorporates various jurisprudential views, criticising the amendments for granting disproportionate authority to the Shia Endowment's Scientific Council. [32]
The theoretical and practical implications of Islamic Law in Iraq:
Iraq’s 2024 personal status debate illustrates the flexibility and constraints of Islamic legal theory – demonstrating the need to engage with classical jurisprudential processes such as Shura (consultation), Ijtihad, and Qiyas (analogical reasoning) even in a secular political system. The contributions of modern scholars on reconciling Islamic law with modernity should be better engaged with to inform Iraq’s legal discourse. While the potential outcome of the amendment debate is first and foremost its implications for the country’s most vulnerable women and girls, it will also impact public perceptions of Islamic law, and its role in governance.
Abdullah Saeed has written thoughtfully on the harmonistic perspective that Islamic Law, with some effort and deployment of flexible scholars, can be reconciled with human rights – not least by “embracing the egalitarian spirit behind Qur’anic texts on women”.[33] Fazlur Rahman compares taking a literal interpretation of the Qur’an to “shutting one's eyes,” and that, “although woman’s inferior status has been written into Islamic law, it is by and large the result of prevailing social conditions rather than of the moral teaching of the Qur’an”.[34] Saeed and Nehaluddin Ahmad agree that Islamic scholars have used the prevailing social context of their times to project interpretations upon the Qur’an.[35] Ultimately, discrimination harms children and women, reducing their access to employment, education, economic independence, safety and health. This author is no Islamic scholar, but such consequences seem to contradict the Qur’an’s principles of justice, equality, and respect, as well as verses on the beauty and partnership of marriage.[36] Scholars Asma Barlas and Amina Wadud agree that the Qur’an firmly opposes patriarchy.[37]
In this context, Islamic legislation is clearly being used as a political bargaining chip between parliamentary blocs – especially as Iraq’s parliament tends to pass legislation in threes, in line with power bases (the other two draft laws are on property restitution, and a general amnesty proposal for ISIS-affiliates).[38] Another sad reality is that, at least among the majority of Iraq’s current ruling elite, power and money speaks louder than religious scholarship – and eminent religious figures appear reluctant to engage with politics. Marsin Alshamary has shared her discussions with seminarians in Najaf, and the need for civil society activists to “direct some of their efforts towards convincing the Shia religious establishment to oppose this amendment, given the key role they are expected to play in its implementation”.[39] It is surprising (and perhaps disappointing) that Grand Ayatollah Sistani has not made his position more clear in the debate, despite other clerics advocating for the amendments. While Shi’ite MP Ra’ad Al-Maliki, who submitted the proposal, claims it was “in response to the desire of the religious authority in Najaf,” Sistani’s office has at least denied this – and Abdul Sattar Jabbar, Sunni Imam of the Abu Hanifa Mosque, has firmly condemned the amendments.[40]
This essay briefly mentioned an alcohol ‘ban’ and anti-LGBT legislation; other examples of legislation passed by Shi’ite factions in recent months include national holidays for religious days. Iraq is stable, but a sectarian conflict remains within living memory for millions, and Alshamary has warned of the amendment’s potential to “aggravate sectarian division”.[41] For Raghad Kasim, political motivations lie behind such attempts and, demonstrating disdain for public opinion, 73% of 60,000 Iraqi respondents opposed the amendments.[42] It is a sad irony that the greater the politicisation of Islam, the more irrelevant Islamic legal theory seems to become.
Furthermore, although the legal process is separate from Usul al-Fiqh, breaches to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, ratified by Iraq in 1986, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iraq signed in 1994, exacerbate unhelpful tension between Islam and “international law”.[43] In September, the Muslim movement Musawah published a statement condemning the proposed amendments for contravening “objectives of the Sharia which protect life, reason, religion, lineage and property”, imploring Iraqi lawmakers, “to give precedence to progressive Islamic principles and jurisprudence that address today’s lived realities, seeking the justice and equality deeply enshrined in Islam.”[44]
In his seminal work “Toward an Islamic Reformation,” Abdullahi An-Na’im writes of the trend towards Muslim majority countries “experiencing rising demands for a stronger Islamic identity and greater application of Shari’a,” advocating for a new interpretation to reconcile traditional principles with the realities of modern nation-states and human rights.[45] Yet An-Na’im put it well in his tremendous LSE lecture on the relationship between state and Islamic law – “Islamic Law is not now and cannot be the state law of any state, whether Muslims are the majority or minority of the population.”[46] According to An-Na’im, “the rising demands for enforcement of Islamic Law as state law are a misguided bid for post-colonial self-determination.”[47] His speech was prescient to Iraq.[48] “Such arrangements can be seriously detrimental to the minority communities in whose name these demands are made, in addition to undermining the integrity of the state legal system.”[49] Instead, An-Na'im argues that Islamic and state law can coexist constructively when Islamic law is adhered to voluntarily as a religious obligation, free from coercive enforcement by the state.[50]
Conclusion:
While it seems clear to Saeed, and this author, that the Qur’an and Prophet’s original teachings promote an equal society, with a “desire to free women from discriminatory pre-Islamic practices and to improve their status vis-à-vis men,” this is evidently not a universal interpretation within the Muslim-world.[51] In Iraq today, it has never been so necessary for Islamic law to rise to the challenge of remaining relevant, authentic – and just. Iraq’s 2024 Personal Status Law debate shows the delicate balance between respecting Islamic principles and advancing human rights – but that this is not an insurmountable challenge due to the adaptability and ability of Ijtihad and contemporary scholarship in shaping interpretations of Islamic law. Ultimately, Islamic legal theory has the incredible potential to be harnessed as a bridge between tradition and modernity – progress that Iraq’s population deserves.
This new year, rather than seeking to weaken its provisions further, public debates on the country’s Personal Status Law might dare to consider additional amendments to address the developments and challenges of the modern world.[52] As An-Na’im has surmised across a fantastic essay, the best way to inspire change is to demonstrate that “the rights of women are Islamic”.[53] Iraq’s legislators would do well to engage in these debates through much-needed dialogue with the country’s religious scholars, legal experts, civil society – and women!
(Word Count: 3,407)
Bibliography
Primary Sources:
The Qur’an, English Meanings and Notes (Saheeh International 2012).
Author’s interview with Meethak Al-Khatib, 5 January 2025.
Committee on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women and Committee on the Rights of the Child, ‘Joint General Recommendation No. 31,’ UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 (14 November 2014).
Constitution of Iraq (1925).
Constitution of Iraq (2005) <https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Iraq_2005> accessed 3 January 2025.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”) United Nations Treaties 1249 (18 December 1979).
Convention on the Rights of the Child (“CRC”) United Nations Treaties 1577 (20 November 1989).
Iraq Occupied Territories Code (1915).
Iraqi Civil Law No. 40 (1951, effective 1953).
Iraqi Official Gazettes/Alwaqai Aliraqiya, Government of Iraq (1958-1993).
Iraqi Penal Code Law No. 111 (1969).
Law on Criminal Proceedings with Amendments Law No. 23 (1971).
Personal Status Law and Amendments Law No. 188, Iraqi Official Gazette/Alwaqai Aliraqiya, 280 (30 December 1959).
Secondary Sources:
Abdullah Dhiaa Al-deen, ‘A look inside the “heart of society” for Iraq’s Shi’ites’ Reuters (27 October 2021) <https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/a-look-inside-the-heart-of-society-for-iraqs-shiites> accessed 3 January 2025.
Abdullah Saeed, Human Rights and Islam (Edward Elgar Publishing Limited 2018).
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, ‘The Compatibility Dialectic: Mediating the Legitimate Coexistence of Islamic Law and State Law’ The Modern Law Review 73(1) (2010).
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, ‘The Rights of Women and International Law in the Muslim Context’ Whittier Law Review 9 (1988), 491–516.
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law (Syracuse University Press 1990).
Aharon Layish, ‘The Contribution of the Modernists to the Secularization of Islamic Law’ Middle Eastern Studies 14(3) (1978) 263-277.
Ahmad Hasan, ‘Al-Shafi’i’s Role in the Development of Islamic Jurisprudence’ Islamic Research Institute 5(3) (1966) 239-273.
Al Jazeera, ‘Iraq criminalises same-sex relationships with maximum 15 years in prison’ (27 April 2024) <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/27/iraq-criminalises-same-sex-relationships-with-maximum-15-years-in-prison> accessed 3 January 2025.
Amina Wadud, Qur’an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective (Oxford University Press 1999).
Amnesty International, ‘Reject changes to Personal Status Law which would allow child marriage and further entrench discrimination’ (10 October 2024) <https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/10/iraq-reject-changes-to-personal-status-law-which-would-allow-child-marriage-and-further-entrench-discrimination> accessed 3 January 2025.
Amwaj Media, ‘Reticent religious authorities stand to gain as Iraq debates personal status law’ (6 August 2024) <https://amwaj.media/media-monitor/reticent-religious-authorities-stand-to-gain-as-iraq-debates-personal-status-law> accessed 3 January 2025.
Ann Elizabeth Mayer, ‘The Islam and Human Rights Nexus: Shifting Dimensions’ Muslim World Journal of Human Rights 4(1) (2007).
Anver M. Emon and Rumee Ahmed (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Law (Oxford University Press 2015).
Azizah al-Hibri, ‘Islam, Law, and Custom: Redefining Muslim Women’s Rights’ American University International Law Review 12(1) (1997) 1–44.
Bernard G. Weiss, The Spirit of Islamic Law (University of Georgia Press 1998).
Christopher Toll and Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen (eds.), Law and the Islamic World: Past and Present (Copenhagen 1993).
Dapo Akande et al. (eds.), Human Rights & 21st Century Challenges: Poverty, Conflict, and the Environment(Oxford University Press 2020).
David L. Johnston, ‘Yusuf al-Qaradawi's Purposive Fiqh: Promoting or Demoting the Future Role of the Ulama?’ in Adis Duderija (ed.) Maqasid al-Shari'a and Contemporary Reformist Muslim Thought (Palgrave Macmillan 2014) 39-72.
Didar Abdalrahman, ‘Iraqi court affirms constitutional right to manage personal status by faith’ Rudaw English (17 September 2024) <www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/170920241> accessed 3 January 2025.
Edward J. Jurji, ‘Islamic Law in Operation’ The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures57(1940), 32-49.
Ekaterina Yahyaoui Krivenko, Women, Islam and International Law within the Context of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2009).
Elif Shafak, There are Rivers in the Sky (Penguin Books 2024).
Elizabeth Stubbins Bates, ‘Distorted Terminology: The UK’s Closure of Investigations into Alleged Torture and Inhuman Treatment in Iraq’ (2019) 68 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 719.
Fazlur Rahman, ‘Concepts of Sunnah, Ijtihad and Ijma in the Early Period’ Islamic Studies 1 (1962) 5-21.
Fazlur Rahman, ‘Status of Women in the Qur’an’ in G. Nashat (ed.) Women and Revolution in Iran (Westview Press 1983).
Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition (University of Chicago Press 1984).
Haim Gerber, State, Society and Law in Islam: Ottoman Law in Comparative Perspective (New York Press 1994).
Hiba Abdulwahhab, ‘Proposed Amendments to the Iraqi Personal Status Law: A Pathway to the Legalization of Child Marriage and Prostitution?’ Wilson Centre (7 November 2024) <https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/proposed-amendments-iraqi-personal-status-law-pathway-legalization-child-marriage-and> accessed 3 January 2025.
Human Rights Watch, ‘Iraq: Parliament Poised to Legalize Child Marriage’ (16 August 2024) <https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/16/iraq-parliament-poised-legalize-child-marriage> accessed 3 January 2025.
Human Rights Watch, ‘My Marriage was Mistake after Mistake’ (3 March 2024) <https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/03/03/my-marriage-was-mistake-after-mistake/impact-unregistered-marriages-womens-and> accessed 3 January 2025.
Human Rights Watch, ‘Repeal Anti-LGBT Law’ (20 May 2024) <https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/20/iraq-repeal-anti-lgbt-law> accessed 3 January 2025.
Ibn Rushd, The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer II (The Center for Muslim Contribution to Civilization), translated by Professor Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee.
Ibrahim al-Wahab, ‘The Legal System of Iraq and the Continuity of Islamic Law’ (1995) 68 HfM 23.
Iraq Horizons, ‘Personal Status Law bill revised to address rights concerns’ (5 December 2024) <https://www.iraqhorizons.com/p/personal-status-law-bill-undergoes> accessed 3 January 2025.
J.N.D. Anderson, ‘A Law of Personal Status for Iraq’ International and Comparative Law Quarterly 9 (1960), 542-563.
Jan Michiel Otto, Sharia Incorporated: A Comparative Overview of the Legal Systems of Twelve Muslim Countries in Past and Present (Leiden University Press 2010).
John Burton, The Sources of Islamic Law: Islamic Theories of Abrogation (Edinburgh University Press 1990).
Joseph Schacht, ‘Islamic Law in Contemporary States’ American Journal of Comparative Law 8(2) (1959) 133–47.
Joseph Schacht, ‘Pre-Islamic background and early development of jurisprudence’ in Majid Khadduri and Herbert Liebesny (eds.), Law in the Middle East (Washington 1955).
Joseph Schacht, ‘Problems of Modern Islamic Legislation’ Studia Islamica 12 (1960).
Knut S. Vikør, ‘States, Laws, and Constitutions: Islamic Law in the Modern World’ in Léon Buskens and Annemarie van Sandwijk (eds.), Islamic Studies in the Twenty-first Century (Amsterdam University Press 2018).
Knut S. Vikør, Between God and the Sultan: A History of Islamic Law (Hurst 2005).
Kristina Anne Bentley, ‘Can There Be Any Universal Children’s Rights?’ International Journal of Human Rights 9(1) (2005) 109.
Lily Hamourtziadou, Body Count: The War on Terror and Civilian Deaths in Iraq (Bristol University Press 2021).
Malcolm Kerr, Islamic Reform: The Political and Legal Theories of Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Ridd (University of California Press 1966).
Marsin Alshamary, ‘Navigating Controversy: The Debate Over Iraq’s Personal Status Law’ 1001 Iraqi Thoughts(19 August 2024) <https://1001iraqithoughts.com/2024/08/19/navigating-controversy-the-debate-over-iraqs-personal-status-law> accessed 3 January 2025.
Mashood A. Baderin, ‘The Role of Islam in Human Rights and Development in Muslim States’ in Javaid Rehman and Susan C. Breau (eds.), Religion, Human Rights and International Law: A Critical Examination of Islamic State Practices (Leiden University Press 2007), 321-58.
Mashood A. Baderin, International Human Rights and Islamic Law (OUP 2003).
Mashood A. Baderin, Islamic Law: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press 2021).
Masoud Rajabi-Ardeshiri, ‘The Rights of the Child in the Islamic Context: The Challenges of the Local and the Global’ International Journal of Children’s Rights 17 (2009) 478.
Michael Cook, The Koran: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press 2000).
Michael Jansen, ‘Iraq bans alcohol in clubs and hotels as pro-Iranian Shias tighten grip’ The Irish Times (24 November 2024) <https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2024/11/24/iraq-bans-alcohol-in-clubs-and-hotels-as-pro-iranian-shias-tighten-grip/> accessed 3 January 2025.
Mohammad Hashim Kamali, ‘Freedom of Expression in Islam: An Analysis of Fitnah’ The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 10(2) (1993) 178.
Mohammad Hashim Kamali, ‘Law and Society: The Interplay of Revelation and Reason in the Shariah’ in J. L. Esposito (eds.) The Oxford History of Islam (Oxford University Press 1999).
Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Islamic Texts Society 1991).
Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’i’, Al-Shafi'i's Risala: Treatise on the Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence translated by Majid Khadduri (Islamic Texts Society 1997).
Musawah, ‘Musawah Statement on Iraqi Parliament’s Amendments to Personal Status Law’ (18 September 2024) <https://www.musawah.org/press/musawah-statement-on-iraqi-parliaments-amendments-to-personal-status-law> accessed 3 January 2025.
Nasrin Mosaffa, ‘Does the Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam Provide Adequate Protection for Children Affected by Armed Conflicts?’ Muslim World Journal of Human Rights 8(1) (2011).
Nathan J. Brown, ‘Sharia and State in the Modern Muslim Middle East’ International Journal of Middle East Studies 29(3) (1997) 359- 376.
Nehaluddin Ahmad, ‘Women’s Testimony in Islamic Law and Misconceptions: A Critical Analysis’ Religion and Human Rights 6 (2011) 13–23.
Noel Coulson, A History of Islamic Law (Edinburgh University Press 1964).
Noel Coulson, Conflicts and Tensions in Islamic Jurisprudence (University of Chicago Press 1969).
Noga Efrati, ‘Negotiating Rights in Iraq: Women and the Personal Status Law’ Middle East Journal 59(4) (2005) 577-595.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), ‘Proposed amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law risk eroding rights of women and children: UN experts’ (24 September 2024) <https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/09/proposed-amendments-iraqs-personal-status-law-risk-eroding-rights-women-and> accessed 3 January 2025.
Philip Alston and Ryan Goodman, International Human Rights: The Successor to International Human Rights Law in Context: Law, Politics and Morals (Oxford University Press 2012).
Philippe Sands, Lawless World (Allen Lane 2005).
Philippe Sands, Torture Team (Palgrave Macmillan 2008).
Raghad Kasim, ‘The Personal Status Law and Political Tensions in Iraq’ 1001 Iraqi Thoughts (14 February 2019) <https://1001iraqithoughts.com/2019/02/14/the-personal-status-law-and-political-tensions-in-iraq> accessed 3 January 2025.
Rumee Ahmed, Narratives of Islamic Legal Theory (Oxford University Press 2012).
Ruth Gaffney-Rhys, ‘A Comparison of Child Marriage and Polygamy from a Human Rights Perspective: Are the Arguments Equally Cogent?’ Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law 34(1) (2012) 49-61.
Sarah Sanbar, ‘Iraq's Amended Personal Status Law Could Make 9-Year-Olds Brides’ DAWN Media (18 September 2024) <https://dawnmena.org/iraqs-amended-personal-status-law-could-make-9-year-olds-brides> accessed 3 January 2025.
Shafaq News, ‘Iraqi Sunni scholars reject proposed changes to Personal Status Law’ (27 October 2024) <https://shafaq.com/en/Iraq/Iraqi-Sunni-scholars-reject-proposed-changes-to-Personal-Status-Law> accessed 3 January 2025.
Shah, Niaz A. Shah, ‘Women’s Human Rights in the Koran: An Interpretive Approach’ Human Rights Quarterly28 (2006) 868–903.
Sinan Mahmoud, ‘Iraqi MP sounds alarm as parliament moves closer to amending Personal Status Law’, The National News (18 September 2024) <https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/09/18/iraqi-mp-sounds-alarm-as-parliament-moves-closer-to-amending-personal-status-law> accessed 3 January 2025.
Sylvie Langlaude, ‘Children and Religion under Article 14 UNCRC: A Critical Analysis’ International Journal of Children’s Rights 16 (2008) 480.
Tahir Mahmood, ‘Law in the Quran: A Draft Code’ Islamic Comparative Law Quarterly 7 (1987).
United Nations Children’s Fund, Statistical profile on child marriage: Iraq (2023) <https://data.unicef.org/resources/child-marriage-country-profiles> accessed 3 January 2025.
Wael B. Hallaq, ‘Usul al-Fiqh: Beyond Tradition’ Journal of Islamic Studies 3(2) (1992) 172–202.
Wael B. Hallaq, ‘Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed?’ International Journal of Middle East Studies 16(1) (1984) 3-41.
Wael B. Hallaq, A History of Islamic Legal Theories (Cambridge University Press 1997)
Wael B. Hallaq, Restating Orientalism: A Critique of Modern Knowledge (Colombia University Press 2005).
Wael B. Hallaq, The Origins and Evolution of Islamic Law (Cambridge University Press 2005).
William Ballantyne, ‘A Reassertion of the Shariʿah: The Jurisprudence in Gulf States’ in Nicholas Heer (ed.), Islamic Law and Jurisprudence (University of Washington 1990) 149-160.
Yasin Dutton, ‘The Introduction to Ibn Rushd’s Bidayat al-Mujtahid’ Islamic Law and Society 1(2) (1994).
Yasin Dutton, The Origins of Islamic Law (Taylor and Francis 1999).
+964 Media, ‘Following multiple delays, Iraqi parliament set to debate controversial bills including Personal Status Law Amendments’ (30 November 2024) <https://en.964media.com/28423> accessed 3 January 2025.
+964 Media, ‘Iraqi organisation highlights women’s rights challenges in Najaf with Personal Status Law in crosshairs’ (1 December 2024) <https://en.964media.com/28481> accessed 3 January 2025.
[1] Iraq Occupied Territories Code (1915).
[2] Personal Status Law and Amendments Law No. 188, Iraqi Official Gazette/Alwaqai Aliraqiya (30 December 1959); Noga Efrati, ‘Negotiating Rights in Iraq: Women and the Personal Status Law’ Middle East Journal 59(4) (2005) 580.
[3] Amwaj Media, ‘Reticent religious authorities stand to gain as Iraq debates personal status law’ (6 August 2024); Abdullah Saeed, Human Rights and Islam (Edward Elgar Publishing Limited 2018), 138.
[4] Iraqi Civil Law No. 40 (1951, effective 1953); Law on Criminal Proceedings with Amendments Law No. 23 (1971); Iraqi Penal Code Law No. 111 (1969); An impressive collection of copies are in the SOAS library!
[5] Ibrahim al-Wahab, ‘The Legal System of Iraq and the Continuity of Islamic Law’ (1995)
[6] Constitution of Iraq (1925); al-Wahab (1995).
[7] David L. Johnston, ‘Yusuf al-Qaradawi's Purposive Fiqh: Promoting or Demoting the Future Role of the Ulama?’ in Adis Duderija (ed.) Maqasid al-Shari'a and Contemporary Reformist Muslim Thought (Palgrave Macmillan 2014) 39, 42, 45.
[8] Mohammad Hashim Kamali, ‘Law and Society: The Interplay of Revelation and Reason in the Shariah’ in J. L. Esposito (eds.) The Oxford History of Islam (Oxford University Press 1999) 118.
[9] ibid 100; al-Wahab (1995).
[10] Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’i’, Al-Shafi'i's Risala: Treatise on the Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence translated by Majid Khadduri (Islamic Texts Society 1997); Youcef Soufi, ‘The Historiography of Sunni Usul al-Fiqh’ in Anver M. Emon and Rumee Ahmed (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Law (Oxford University Press 2015) 266; Ahmad Hasan, ‘Al-Shafi’i’s Role in the Development of Islamic Jurisprudence’ Islamic Research Institute 5(3) (1966) 239-240.
[11] Wael B. Hallaq, ‘Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed?’ International Journal of Middle East Studies 16(1) (1984) 3.
[12] ibid 33; Hallaq, A History of Islamic Legal Theories (CUP 1997) 233-6.
[13] Noel Coulson, Conflicts and Tensions in Islamic Jurisprudence (University of Chicago Press 1969) 20-21, 36.
[14] Coulson (1969) 25; Edward J. Jurji, ‘Islamic Law in Operation’ The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 57(1940), 36.
[15] Coulson (1969) 37-38; Personal Status Law and Amendments Law No. 188.
[16] J.N.D. Anderson, ‘A Law of Personal Status for Iraq’ International and Comparative Law Quarterly 9 (1960), 542-563; Noga Efrati (2005), 581, 584, 592.
[17] Human Rights Watch, ‘Iraq: Parliament Poised to Legalize Child Marriage’ (16 August 2024).
[18] Didar Abdalrahman, ‘Iraqi court affirms constitutional right to manage personal status by faith’ Rudaw English (17 September 2024).
[19] Constitution of Iraq (2005) Arts 2 and 14.
[20] ibid Arts 47 and 19; Raghad Kasim, ‘The Personal Status Law and Political Tensions in Iraq’ 1001 Iraqi Thoughts(14 February 2019).
[21] Sinan Mahmoud, ‘Iraqi MP sounds alarm as parliament moves closer to amending Personal Status Law’, The National News (18 September 2024).
[22] OHCHR ‘Proposed amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law risk eroding rights of women and children: UN experts’ (24 September 2024).
[23] United Nations Children’s Fund, Statistical profile on child marriage: Iraq (2023).
[24] Sarah Sanbar, ‘Iraq's Amended Personal Status Law Could Make 9-Year-Olds Brides’ DAWN Media (18 September 2024).
[25] Human Rights Watch, ‘Unregistered Marriages Harm Women and Children: Religious Leaders Officiate at Weddings in Violation of Iraqi Law’ (3 March 2024).
[26] ibid.
[27] 'Iraqi organisation highlights women’s rights challenges in Najaf with Personal Status Law in crosshairs’ +964 Media (1 December 2024).
[28] Aharon Layish, ‘The Contribution of the Modernists to the Secularization of Islamic Law’ Middle Eastern Studies 14(3) (1978) 273.
[29] Al Jazeera, ‘Iraq criminalises same-sex relationships with maximum 15 years in prison’ (27 April 2024); Human Rights Watch, ‘Repeal Anti-LGBT Law’ (20 May 2024); Michael Jansen, ‘Iraq bans alcohol in clubs and hotels as pro-Iranian Shias tighten grip’ The Irish Times (24 November 2024).
[30] Author’s interview with Meethak Al-Khatib, 5 January 2025.
[31] Iraq Horizons, ‘Personal Status Law bill revised to address rights concerns’ (5 December 2024).
[32] Shafaq News, ‘Iraqi Sunni scholars reject proposed changes to Personal Status Law’ (27 October 2024).
[33] Abdullah Saeed (2018) 110.
[34] Fazlur Rahman, ‘Status of Women in the Qur’an’ in G. Nashat (ed.) Women and Revolution in Iran (Westview Press 1983), and Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition (University of Chicago Press 1984) 19.
[35] Nehaluddin Ahmad, ‘Women’s Testimony in Islamic Law and Misconceptions: A Critical Analysis’ Religion and Human Rights 6 (2011) 13–23.
[36] Q16:90, Q5:2, Q7:56, Q3:195, Q4:124, Q2:187, The Qur’an, 258, 95, 142, 68, 87, 26.
[37] Amina Wadud, Qur’an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective (Oxford University Press 1999).
[38] +964 Media, ‘Following multiple delays, Iraqi parliament set to debate controversial bills including Personal Status Law Amendments’ (30 November 2024).
[39] Marsin Alshamary, ‘Navigating Controversy: The Debate Over Iraq’s Personal Status Law’ 1001 Iraqi Thoughts(19 August 2024).
[40] Amwaj Media (2024).
[41] Alshamary (2024).
[42] Kasim (2019); [43] Convention" class="redactor-autoparser-object">https://964media.com/425581. on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (18 December 1979); Convention on the Rights of the Child (20 November 1989); Amnesty International, ‘Reject changes to Personal Status Law which would allow child marriage and further entrench discrimination’ (10 October 2024).
[44] ‘Musawah Statement on Iraqi Parliament’s Amendments to Personal Status Law’ (18 September 2024).
[45] Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law (Syracuse University Press 1990) 33.
[46] An-Na’im, ‘The Compatibility Dialectic: Mediating the Legitimate Coexistence of Islamic Law and State Law’ The Modern Law Review 73(1) (2010) 2.
[47] ibid 7.
[48] ibid 18.
[49] ibid 18.
[50] ibid 28-19.
[51] Abdullah Saeed (2018) 138.
[52] Kasim (2019).
[53] Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, ‘The Rights of Women and International Law in the Muslim Context’ Whittier Law Review 9 (1988), 491–516.
