ROUND TABLE: "What’s Secular About Religious Law? Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Perspectives” with Rushain Abbasi, Orit Malka, and Atria Larson (March 31, University of Stanford, ONLINE)

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The Stanford Center for Law and History and the Taube Center for Jewish Studies are hosting a panel conversation on March 31, “What’s Secular About Religious Law? Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Perspectives.” The hybrid event will feature a discussion between Rushain Abbasi (Stanford Religious Studies), Orit Malka (Taube Center Stanford) and Atria Larson (Saint Louis University).

The panel will be a hybrid event held in-person (Stanford Law School Room 320D) and via Zoom on Thursday, March 31 from 4pm - 5pm (Pacific). As a reminder, we ask that you RSVP for each of our events in advance so that we can provide the Zoom link and for food ordering purposes for those of you who wish to join us in-person.

Current guidelines do not allow us to bring food into events. For those who attend in-person, however, food will be provided at 3:40PM, 20 minutes before the session at a table in Crocker Garden to the left of Room 190 entry doors.

To RSVP, click here. Those who confirm their attendance will receive a separate email containing the link to the event.

ABSTRACT

What makes a legal system “religious” or “secular”? How are the legal traditions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity distinct from law as it is understood and practiced today? These are some of the questions which will be probed during this scholarly roundtable. In examining the relevance of the idea of the “secular” to premodern “religious” law, this panel aims to interrogate the very idea of “law” through a historical exploration of how law was conceptualized and applied within three distinct premodern religious traditions spanning the Late Antique and late medieval contexts. By bringing these distinct faith traditions into conversation, it is hoped that a more robust understanding of the place of law in history and its function within society may be obtained.