Muslim Legal Theory and Jurisprudence

The basis of this paper is essentially the subject of the status of ‘adopting’ children in eyes of the Quran and Sunnah. An analysis, with a particular focus on the role of names in the formation of identity, will be made of Islamic principles. This paper will also consider the right to identity with particular reference to inheritance. This paper will also discuss the concept of adoption itself and its types

Past Muslim Societies have placed much importance on the outward appearance and personal grooming of both men and women based on the assumption that both physical attributes and clothing and adornment are benevolence God showers upon the believers. This is reflected in Medieval Muslim legal texts which provide much information regarding clothing, adornment and grooming. Along with shaping legal norms, those sources also contain discussion and response to a changing reality. This is a demonstration of the desirable and the existing alike and a reflection of a relationship of dependency and influence between reality and the written legal texts.                                                                                                                                 
The discussion of these sources shows that past Muslim societies, like many others, used the importance of the outward appearance as a means to determining social relationship in general and hierarchical gender-based relations specifically. For themselves men have decided that fostering their outward appearance and keeping the rules of hygiene are fulfillment of God's wishes, but women are ordered to do so for two different reasons integrating belief in God and a patriarchal world view: becoming attractive to men and fulfilling their sexual destiny as this is the patriarch wish. At the same time it is important to mention that both men and women attend to their outward appearance for additional reasons, such as the wish to show their socio-economic status and power.

Past Muslim Societies have placed much importance on the outward appearance and personal grooming of both men and women based on the assumption that both physical attributes and clothing and adornment are benevolence God showers upon the believers. This is reflected in Medieval Muslim legal texts which provide much information regarding clothing, adornment and grooming. Along with shaping legal norms, those sources also contain discussion and response to a changing reality. This is a demonstration of the desirable and the existing alike and a reflection of a relationship of dependency and influence between reality and the written legal texts. The discussion of these sources shows that past Muslim societies, like many others, used the importance of the outward appearance as a means to determining social relationship in general and hierarchical gender-based relations specifically. For themselves men have decided that fostering their outward appearance and keeping the rules of hygiene are fulfilment of God's wishes, but women are ordered to do so for two different reasons integrating belief in God and a patriarchal world view: becoming attractive to men and fulfilling their sexual destiny as this is the patriarch wish. At the same time it is important to mention that both men and women attend to their outward appearance for additional reasons, such as the wish to show their socio-economic status and power.

The penological environment of correctional facilities often makes observance of certain Islamic obligations untenable. What should a Muslim prisoner do if, during Ramadan, the correctional facility does not allow inmates to eat meals at suhoor time nor break their fast during the Maghreb?  Is the Islamic obligation of Hajj incumbent upon an incarcerated Muslim serving a life sentence? Works such as Islamic Rulings For Incarcerated Muslims were developed to assist incarcerated Muslims in understanding the intricacies of Fiqh and its adaptability within a correctional facility.  However, there is another challenge, how do incarcerated Muslims engage the legal system to compel correctional facilities to better secure more religious rights, and to ensure a holistic practice of Islam under the conditions of confinement. 

As early as 1964, without an attorney, Thomas Cooper sued the Illinois State Penitentiary under 42 U. S. C. § 1982, alleging that his rights were violated when he was denied access to a Holy Qu’ran when other inmates could receive the Bible.  In this landmark case,  the U.S Supreme Court held that prisoners could assert unconstitutional treatment claims at the hands of state correctional officials under 42 USC Section 1983. 

Before this landmark case, judges mostly refused to recognize an entitlement of prisoners to file lawsuits for constitutional rights.  The Bill of Rights was considered to be inapplicable to prisoners as prisoners were castigated and deemed “slaves of the state undergoing punishment for heinous crimes committed against the laws of the land.”  In Cooper vs. Warden, the U.S Supreme Court proclamation allowed prisoners to file lawsuits and sent a message that prisoners have constitutional rights and can sue to ensure that  such rights are protected. Since this landmark case, Muslim inmates have brought forth numerous legal claims against correctional facilities alleging violations of religious freedom. 

Muslim prisoner’s rights litigation in contemporary times has engaged in numerous lawsuits against the policy of correctional facilities to subject them to strip searches.    The Muslim prisoners argue correctional facility’s practice of forced strip searches by female correctional officers breach Islam’s emphasis on modesty under Islamic law.    Such cases include Lewis v. Soto, 2019 U.S. 1, 5 (C.D CAL. 2019); Holland v. City of New York, 197 F.  3d 529.  535-536. (S.D.N.Y. 2016);  Collins v. Scott, 961 F. Supp. 1009, 1997 (E.D. Tex. 1997); Rivera v. Smith, 63 N.Y.2d 501 504, 505,(N.Y App. DIV 1984).  Below, we shall assess how courts responded to the particular claims of the Muslim litigants, the legal challenges and hurdles they faced, and at the end, propose strategy aimed at obtaining their objectives.