Digital Commons Network^™

Kamaria Bakes, Kamaria, Twila Bird, Lindsay Silsby, Yasmine Kataw, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Amina is from Aleppo, where she was a math teacher. She is married with four boys. Her family fled to Turkey from Syria after losing their home in the war. Amina and her youngest son then sailed on an inflatable boat to Greece. Using cars, buses, and trains, they traveled from Greece to Macedonia, then on through Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria before finally arriving in Germany. They stayed for two months in Camp Hamburg before being transferred for a short time to Lemberg. Lemberg was followed by another camp for three and a half months and then to Eisenberg …

Bahram & Camila, Bahram, Camila, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Bahram tells the story of the Afghanistan's 1992 government collapse and subsequent civil wars that destroyed the city of Kabul. "There was war in every alley, every house, every area and every village. 60,000 people were killed." Their family emigrated to Pakistan and after living there for some time, some relatives of a friend from their village travelled to Pakistan and required lodging so they stayed with Bahram's family. In some developing and under-developed countries, the custom of arranged marriage to child and infant daughters is practiced. These house guests demanded their one-year-old daughter be given in marriage to a …

Mina And Gulyar, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Mina:

Mina was the second polygamous wife to her husband in Afghanistan. After her husband’s death 16 years ago, her husband’s first wife and children took all the husband’s belongings as their own, including the house and land. Forced to find another place to live, Mina and her sons fled to Pakistan, where they lived until returning to Afghanistan to ask for their share of Mina’s husband’s property. In response, both Mina and her children were beaten, resulting in the death of her oldest son. Mina and her younger son, Gulyar, escaped, and as Gulyar hid, Mina buried her older …

Lima And Hanif, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

In Afghanistan, Lima worked as a teacher, and her husband worked (and continues to work) for the government as an agricultural manager. She has a fourteen-year-old son who is deaf and has related speech problems; he could not be treated for them properly in Afghanistan. Because her uncle was very wealthy, Lima received daily threats that her son would be kidnapped and held for ransom. Her uncle went to Germany with his own children and her son to protect them from the kidnapping threats.

Although Lima’s son was safer in Germany, she still faced threats because of her work as …

Ilhan, Nura, Radwa, Ziagull And Children, Ilhan, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Ilhan, his wife Nura, and their children resided near Kabul, in a region where both the Taliban and ISIS were active. As Shias, Ilhan’s family faced numerous menaces, including threats from ISIS that they would be beheaded if they did not display ISIS flags. Ilhan’s sister Radwa, who is deaf and mute, was forced to marry a regional leader. In addition to being threatened on religious grounds, Ilhan’s family was also threatened by an elder of their town. Out of desperation, Ilhan’s family sold their house appliances, escaped Afghanistan, and arrived at the …

Bilal, Bilal, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Bilal was 23 years old when he drowned in Greece. He was cheerful, intelligent, and full of energy.

He was a journalist in Afghanistan who received a death threat from the Taliban. His family decided that he should flee the country alone for survival since they couldn’t afford for the whole family to go.

He escaped from the camp in Moria by finding a hole in the fence. He outran the police, found a ship in port, and jumped on it as it was leaving. He later had 10 unsuccessful attempts to leave Greece for Germany. He was caught by …

Zurvan, Zurvan, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Zurvan and his family had a good life in Afghanistan. He worked as a clerk in a spice shop. After doing business with a foreign company, the Taliban threatened him with death. To escape this threat, he and his family escaped to Iran and hired a smuggler to get them to Turkey. From there, they traveled to Greece in an overloaded boat. They have been living in a camp in Greece, stuck in limbo, ever since. Zurvan feels hopeless, like everyone in the camp is being treated in an inhumane manner. He also feels guilty for bringing his children into …

Aarash, Aarash, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

As an anti-corruption journalist in Afghanistan, Aarash’s family’s life was threatened by warlords. His car was shot at, their guesthouse was bombed, and later when they were threatened at gunpoint, they tried to make a new life in India. But in India, they discovered difficulties in obtaining permanent visas so they had return to Kabul where they hid at a friend’s house for 20 days while obtaining documentation to flee to Turkey. Once in Turkey, they learned that Afghan registries had been closed since 2010. They determined that they needed to either apply for asylum in Turkey or leave for …

Idiris, Idiris, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Idiris is an 18-year-old Somalian refugee now living inUtah. He describes his life, mentioning that he only lived in Somalia for six years then moved to Ethiopia, where he stayed for seven and a half years.His life inEthiopia was peaceful and happy in comparison to Somalia, where Idiris and his family witnessed continuous violence. Idiris’s father eventually learned of the opportunities and education available in America and decided to move his family there for a better life, leaving behind family and friends. Coming to America, Idiris and his family did not know what their new home would be like. They …

Secret Jurisdiction, Cassandra Burke Robertson, Irina D. Manta

Faculty Publications

So-called “confidentiality creep” after the events of 9/11 has given rise to travel restrictions that lack constitutionality and do nothing to improve airline security. The executive branch’s procedures for imposing such restrictions rely on several layers of secrecy: a secret standard for inclusion on the no-fly list, secret procedures for nominating individuals to the list, and secret evidence to support that decision. This combination results in an overall system we call “secret jurisdiction,” in which individuals wanting to challenge their inclusion on the list are unable to learn the specific evidence against them, the substantive standard for their inclusion on …

Islamic Microfinance : A Vehicle For Promoting Financial Inclusion, Karice Rhule

International Program Papers

No abstract provided.

Bodies And Contexts: An Investigation Into A Postmodern Feminist Reading Of Averroës, Reed Taylor

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In this article, I contribute to the wider discourse of theorizing feminism in predominantly Muslim societies by analyzing the role of women’s political agency within the writings of the twelfth-century Islamic philosopher Averroës (Ibn Rushd, 1126–1198). I critically analyze Catarina Belo’s (2009) liberal feminist approach to political agency in Averroës by adopting a postmodern reading of Averroës’s commentary on Plato’s Republic. A postmodern feminist reading of Averroes’s political thought emphasizes contingencies and contextualization rather than employing a literal reading of the historical works.

Salman, Salman, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Salman and his family are from Afghanistan, where he worked as a doctor. He worked for fifteen years for a mining institute, and before that he worked in various hospitals with Americans and Germans for another combined 15 years. The family ran into problems with the Taliban, who threatened violence if he didn’t close his drugstore. During that same time, his son witnessed a suicide bombing at his school. Their daughter was forced to abandon her education when the Taliban poisoned the water at her school. They fled in attempts to live a normal life again and escape the threats …

Emal, Emal, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Emal was a gate security guard in the Afghan army and a supplier for American forces at the airport. Before leaving Afghanistan, Emal was kidnapped by Daesh, beaten, thrown into a pile of bodies, and left for dead. He woke up weeks later in hospital with adent in his skull, brain damage, and mental/emotional problems. When he was able, Emal fled with his wife and six kids, but they travelled with smugglers in separate cars and got separated. Iran police deported his wife and children back to Afghanistan. Emal continued on and eventually made his way to Oinofyta refugee camp …

Fawad And Zakeela, Fawad, Zakeela, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Fawad and his wife, Zakeela, have three children. Zakeela was a beautician, and Fawad was a singer in the Baghlan district in Afghanistan. The music he produced was not in accordance with the strict restrictions of the Taliban. They threatened his life and assaulted him many times, so he decided to leave with his family to Kabul. Fawad’s day job was as an FM radio producer; at night, he moonlighted as a singer and musician. He produced music for ceremonies and weddings, often performing for the women’s part, which the Taliban did not accept. Eventually, his life was again threatened, …

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

Islamic Law And Constitution-Making: The Authoritarian Temptation And The Arab Spring, Mohammad Fadel

Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series

The political dynamics that have characterized post-Mubarak Egypt have often been understood to be a battle between "religious" forces, represented by the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters, and "secularist" forces, represented by a diverse group of civil society actors. Opposition of this latter group to the "religious" politics of the Muslim Brotherhood is therefore understood to be the primary cause of the events that led to the July 3, 2013 military coup that overthrew Egypt's only freely elected President, Mohammed Morsi. Without denying the salience of a religious-secularist divide in Egypt, this narrative of post-Mubarak politics fails to appreciate the …

Secret Jurisdiction, Irina D. Manta, Cassandra Burke Robertson

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

So-called "confidentiality creep" after the events of 9/11 has given rise to travel restrictions that lack constitutionality and do nothing to improve airline security. The Executive Branch's procedures for imposing such restrictions rely on several layers of secrecy: a secret standard for inclusion on the no-fly list, secret procedures for nominating individuals to the list, and secret evidence to support that decision. This combination results in an overall system we call "secret jurisdiction," in which individuals wanting to challenge their inclusion on the list are unable to learn the specific evidence against them, the substantive standard for their inclusion on …

Isis, Boko Haram, And The Human Right To Freedom From Slavery Under Islamic Law, Bernard K. Freamon

Fordham International Law Journal

There is now a worldwide consensus on the firm existence of a human right to freedom from slavery. This consensus gives rise to what was thought to be an irrefutable argument that the right to be free from slavery is a jurisprudential universal, with no competent legal system or government able to deny its existence or permit derogation from its tenets. This argument is now being tested by the ideologies, policies, and actions of Muslim insurgencies in Iraq, Syria, and Nigeria, each claiming that the enslavement of non-believing combatants and war captives and slave trading in such persons is permitted …

Understanding Arab Culture Through Cinema, Abed El-Rahman Tayyara Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

The article examines the use of cinema as a tool for teaching about Arab culture and assesses the process in which learners acquire a higher level of intercultural communicative competence. The essay draws primarily on multilayered class activities and students’ responses to pre- and post- screening surveys related to eight Arab films. The article reveals that the evaluation of the learners’ intercultural competence and their familiarity with Arab culture in particular is a long process that filled with misunderstandings, gaps, inconsistencies, and contradictions on the part of the learners. To successfully conduct this type of teaching, the article also points …

The Right To An Exclusively Religious Education--The Ultra-Orthodox Community In Israel In Comparative Perspective, Gila Stopler

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Legal Education Reform In Saudi Arabia: A Case Study Of Taibah University, Rayan Alkhalawi

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

Legal education reform is a hot topic today. However, legal educators generally avoid discussing this important topic. Although legal education in Saudi Arabia is unique and complex, it is very hard to find academic literature about it. While this paper provides a brief explanation of legal education in Saudi Arabia, the main purpose of this paper is to discuss whether or not the current program at the College of Law prepares graduates for the best opportunities available in the legal market. And if not, how it could do a better job of making the program reach its full potential to …

Does Shari’A Play A Role In Turkey?, Russell Powell

Pepperdine Law Review

An essay is presented in which the author explores the relationship of religious law with contemporary Turkey. Topics discussed include certain civil law supporting adoption of Sharia in Turkey, role of religious people in providing protection to religious freedom in Turkey, and role of traditional Kemalist secularism laiklik in distinguishing Turkey.

Roundtable Discussion: Opposition To Islamic And Jewish Religious Practices In Contemporary America: Overlap And Divergences, The Anti-Shari'a Movement In America, Wajahat Ali, Lee Ann Bambach, Samuel Freedman

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Operating Islamic Jurisprudence In Non-Muslim Jurisdictions: Traditional Islamic Precepts And Contemporary Controversies In The United States, Mustafa R. K. Baig

Chicago-Kent Law Review

With the recent public furor in the United States regarding “Shari‘a,” studies into the content of Islamic jurisprudence concerning Muslims living under non-Muslim jurisdiction are more pertinent than ever in the U.S. context. As “anti-Shari‘a” rhetoric has increased in fervency, informed input into the debates could go some way in correcting the peddled misconceptions. The paper begins by assessing how Muslim scholars viewed a Muslim’s travel to and residence in non-Muslim lands, and the obligation to abide by the laws of the land. It will focus on the jihad (siyar) section in Islamic jurisprudence and the section on …

Secularism, Sharia, And The Turkish Financial Markets, J. Robert Brown Jr.

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The financial markets in Turkey provide a laboratory to help resolve these competing views. Islamic law or Sharia contains a number of proscriptions that directly affect financial practices. The payment and receipt of interest is prohibited; so are most kinds of commercial insurance. These interpretations provided the impetus in the Islamic world for the creation of a class of banks that sought to offer Sharia compliant services.

The first Islamic Banks in Turkey began operations in the 1980s. Their entry was initially tepid, in no small part because of secularist principles. Islamic financial institutions could not overtly advertise their religious …

What Drives Child Marriage In The Arab World And How The World Is Combating The Problem, Akram Alsaidi

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Online Free Speech Or Materially Supporting Terrorism, Dorlin A. Armijo

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Freedom To Fly: An Analysis Of The Constitutional Right To Air Travel, Lindsay Ray Altmeyer

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

The Conflation Of Ethnicity And Religion In Malaysia: A Reflection, Mahmood Chandia, Kartina A. Choong

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

According to the Malaysian Constitution, a "Malay" is one who, among other things, professes the religion of Islam. All Malays are, by legal definition, at least Muslims and they are not at liberty to leave Islam since a renunciation of the Islamic faith is tantamount to a renunciation of one's legally defined ethnic identity. This constitutional conflation of ethnicity and religion, which also serves the purpose of uniting the Malays and advancing their socio-economic interests, has been a distinct feature of the social landscape of the country since 1957, when it gained independence from British rule. This Article seeks to …