New Web Site Features Electronic Encyclopedia of Islamic Family Law

An electronic encyclopedia of information and analysis about the context and practice of Islamic family law in countries around the world now is available on the Internet, thanks to a project directed by professor Abdullahi An-Na'im of Emory Law School's Law and Religion Program.

The project, funded by a $371,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, includes a global "mapping" of the legal, cultural, sociological, demographic and political realities of Muslims in up to 40 countries, including the entire African continent (North Africa, West Africa, the Horn of Africa, East and Central Africa, and Southern Africa), the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus, South Asia, and East South Asia.

Housed on Emory Law School's web site at www.law.emory.edu/IFL/; the site also includes a case study of Islamic family law in India. In-depth case studies of the United States, where Muslims are a fast-growing minority, as well as Egypt and Palestine, where Muslims constitute the majority of the population, are scheduled to appear on the site within the next three months. Thematic studies on violence against women and custody of children also will be posted by September 2000. The Islamic Family Law web site is aimed at linking information, research and analysis with advocacy for social and legal reform, says An-Na'im. The site includes a bulletin board for scholarly and public discussion of all aspects of Islamic law. "We invite people to use the bulletin board at the site to react to the information and analysis presented there," he says. "We also want anyone in the world to be able to download this information and use it as a resource. For advocacy to be effective, exchange of information is critical." And without advocacy, he adds, "the real world will never change."

www.law.emory.edu/IFL/region/index.html

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