We've long since become accustomed to the apologias from Middle East studies scholars for Sharia (Islamic law). It's benign, they claim, and fully compatible with America's constitutional order. So when one of them critiques Sharia and acknowledges the urgent need for reform, it's newsworthy. Writing for Campus Watch, Andrew Harrod reports on a recent lecture by Rumee Ahmed. The essay appeared Saturday at Jihad Watch:
In a refreshing departure from Sharia apologias common in Middle East studies, University of British Columbia Islamic law professor Rumee Ahmed rejected the "myth" of Sharia (Islamic law) as a "static, fixed, reified entity" on April 22 in the Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies' wood-paneled boardroom. Ahmed's presentation, "Shari'a 2.0: Islamic Systematics and the Science of Islamic Legal Reform" before a student-dominated audience of about fifteen, demonstrated simultaneously Sharia's all-too human origins as well as its embedded dangers.
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