Date: June 16-18, 2022

Venue: Bergen, Norway

In the CanCode-project (2020-24) we study change and development of Islamic law by using “canonization” and “codification” as conceptual starting points. “Codification” tends to be reserved for modern phenomena where the colonial or national state imposes new structures on the sharia, while “canonization” is commonly used to describe processes where texts are ascribed authority by a certain interpretive and scholarly community, usually in the pre-modern period. Both concepts have in common processes of selection and validation. During the kick off events we looked into how these concepts are currently understood and used in our field, at times in different ways.

For our upcoming project conference in June (16.-18) 2022 in Bergen we wish to step beyond the two concepts “canonization” and “codification” in order to focus on the processes behind them, again seeking to keep a comparative focus across the pre-modern/modern divide and using a diversity of empirical cases. We wish to draw in old and new cooperation partners and scholars by inviting to engage in four thematic panels: 1) Courts as a Locus for Standardization 2) Standardization of fiqh 3) Transmission of Knowledge and 4) Translation and Canonization. The four panels will be spread over three days. We aim for around five presentations and a short keynote and/or contributions by commentators in each panel. We ask for a pre-circulated concept note (max five pages).

Confirmed speaker and commentators at this stage of organization is: Rob Gleave, Mohammad Gharaibeh, Guy Burak, Nurul Hoda, Ayang Utriza, Domink Krell, Ari Schriber, Talal al-Azem, Matthew Steele, Asma Sayeed, Jonathan Brown, Elias Saba Matthew Keegan, Paolo Sartori, Sara Nur Yildiz.

Conference Description

Panel 1: Courts and Standardization: Judges as authors of law.

Panel 2: Standardization of fiqh: Texts, genres, processes, structures and people

Panel 3: Transmitting Canonized and Codified Legal Knowledge in Islamic Societies: Practices, Genres, and Institutions

More information on: www.uib.no