Caught in passing in Dave's followup post:
"This is being blown way out of proportion," said Abdi Sheikhosman, a professor of Islamic law at the University of Minnesota Law School. "Pork products represent a very small percentage of Target's overall products. ... Accommodations could have been made."Why is there a "Professor of Islamic Law" at an American (public) university law school? Posted by Ken S at March 21, 2007 10:09 AM | TrackBack (0) |
Yeah, I wondered about that a little bit too. It looks like he's adjunct faculty, or was last fall. Part of the course description I found was:
"Many Muslims who live in Western countries attempt to live by Sharia rules in so far as possible; this has created a niche for lawyers experienced in Islamic Dispute Resolution and able to offer trusts and other arrangements that follow Sharia rules of succession."
That doesn't sound unreasonable to me and I'm guessing it's an elective. If I were looking to do legal work with the Somali community here in Minneapolis it would probably be useful in coming up with solutions that satisfied both the US legal system and personal religious conviction. At least that's how I read it.
http://www.law.umn.edu/uploads/images/3903/law6910-Syllabus.pdf
Posted by: Dave E. at March 21, 2007 11:30 AMit doesn't surprise me. Other law schools have various international legal specialties, depending on the community and the donor pool.
Posted by: caltechgirl at March 21, 2007 12:34 PMHmm. Still strikes me as a bit weird.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at March 21, 2007 12:38 PMYou're both right: it IS a legitimate and useful field of legal study, and it definitely also is a bit weird.
Posted by: Dave J at March 21, 2007 04:57 PM