A Student Review by Lila

When we each arrived at Melbourne Law School and embarked on our journeys in law, we brought with us unique opinions and experiences that shape the lens we see through when we consider our views on governance and the law.

The required Priestly 11 subjects gives all law students in Australia a broad knowledge base. Electives, however, provide us with an opportunity to question and be questioned on our views on governance and how the law works — and perhaps how it ‘should’ and could work.

As my first elective of my Juris Doctor, I had the opportunity to be part of the first class of the new subject: Islamic Law and Society (LAWS90355),[1] taught by Dr/Prof Nadirsyah Hosen.

Coming from an Anglo-Australian background and living in a rural town, I had minimal exposure to Islam as a religion, let alone Sharia as a way of life and law. When I first began the subject, my views on Islam were surface level: I understood it as a religion popular in the Middle East,[2] with followers of Prophet Mohammad worshipping Allah through prayer and ritual. What I learnt in this subject, however, showed me that the way we – in Australia, or broadly, ‘the West’ – [3] understand life and law is not the baseline, but too rooted in an ideology grounded by liberalism.

Following my study of the Arts in my undergraduate degree at the University, this subject complemented past tutelage in French and Criminology on orientalism, occidentalism, and decentralisation of Western narratives on history, as per the works of Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, and Edward Said,[4] and furthered teachings in the deconstruction of neo-colonialism by viewing the history of the world through the lens of a narrator(s) other than Western authors.

What I learnt in this class was that Islam is not just a religion, but a way of governance through Sharia (Islamic law). The Quran acts as absolute authority for governance, and the interpretation of this source — as well as other sources (which you will learn should you take this elective) — is a layered process which is undertaken by Muslim legal scholars. Implementation of these interpretations varies greatly across Muslim-dominant countries and depends on various factors like the school of thought that the country’s leader follows, the way of election of governing officials, the structure of government, the country’s particular history, and the effect of colonisation on the given country.

The class discussions were open and insightful, and provided an environment that allowed the students to learn from each other in extension from the class readings and seminars. I particularly appreciated learning that hijab was a way of being in these discussions, rather than just the head covering itself.

The range of topics covered in the subject include constitutional law, criminal law, family law, financial law, and the background and history of Islam, to name a few. These topics provided a nuanced understanding of Islam for any beginner learner, and extended knowledge on legal interpretation of the Holy books for those with prior knowledge.

I encourage, with vigour, any student to take this subject: to broaden your mind, to understand other ways of being and understanding the world, and to empathise with different forms of governance.

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[1] See the handbook entry for details of the subject: https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/subjects/laws90355.

[2] Acknowledging the problem with adopting the Eurocentric terminology of ‘the Middle East’; as per Edward W Said, Orientalism (Pantheon Books, 1978). https://www.penguin.com.au/books/orientalism-9780141187426.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.