Sharia Incorporated: A Comparative Overview of the Legal Systems of Twelve Muslim Countries in Past and Present

Facts, Fears and the Future of Islamic Rules on Family Relation in the West

This research projects wants to know what Muslims in the West do and mean by ‘Sharia’, and how the Western legal system responds to that. The focus is on Sharia as an informal practice by Muslims in the West, i.e. other than through state law or state courts.

Systematic investigations into religious precepts, worldly rules of law and legal practices in the Muslim world show clearly how these societies deal with justice and injustice. Sharia, the Islamic ‘legal system’, plays an important role in this context.

A Jurist's Travelogue

With regard to governance, policies and law, many Muslims and Muslim countries recognise the possibility that Islam has something important to say about the way society is to be ordered, governed, and regulated.

The Issues beneath the Surface

On 13 December 2023 Alf Farabi successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The Sharia, the Islamic legal system, pays greater attention to ethics than may have been thought. This was clear at the annual conference of the Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (LUCIS). Academics from throughout the world considered the question of how modern Islamic law…

How are law and governance in China responding to rapidly changing circumstances, and what does that mean for the relationship between the state and its citizens?

The Indonesian Experience after the Fall of Suharto

Can we speak of a single Islamic discourse in fields like politics, militancy, economics, sustainable development, and the like, and what interaction does this Islamic though have with ‘Western’ thought?

This book offers a new direction for the study of contemporary Islam by focusing on what being Muslim means in people’s everyday lives.

The Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology comprises two departments. One focuses on research and teaching in the field of criminal law and procedure and the other on criminology.

This volume was edited by Jeroen Duindam, Jill Harries, Caroline Humfress, and Nimrod Hurvitz.

MSc Law and Society brings together students from law and social sciences to examine the dynamic relationship between legal norms and social reality. Its global orientation, interdisciplinary approach, and focus on social justice make this master’s programme unique in its field.

Our library contains around 23,000 books, journals and historical documents under the care of a specialized librarian.

Policymakers and Academics Speaking with Each Other

Muslims have lived in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe for centuries. Their arrival in Western Europe, the two Americas and Australia is however relatively recent. Studying how Muslims relate to their Western environment (and vice versa) and the mutual influences of Western and Islamic philosophies…

Knowledge of Muslim societies is essential to function in a globalised world and to fully understand our own Dutch society. Leiden researchers explore the languages, cultures, religions, legal systems and history of Muslim societies and in this way contribute to a centuries-old tradition.

Our courses are aimed at higher educated professionals, starters, experienced professionals and managers. You can choose from day-long Masterclasses, multi-day courses and an intensive one-year program. Our English courses about Terrorism, Law, Safety and Security are listed below.

Just published: Nederlands internationaal privaatrecht Special issue: Private international law and finance

The Labour Law and Social Security department provides both bachelor’s level and master’s level teaching.

On 18 May 2011, Dr. Ben Knapen, Minister for European Affairs and International Cooperation, delivered the annual Van Vollenhoven Lecture on “Rule of Law and Development”.

Reconfigurations of Practice, Community and Authority in Contemporary Aceh

The impact of the coronavirus crisis on the judicial system.

An important component of your Law and Society master consists of extracurricular activities.

This edited publication aims at reflecting on the future of discussions on the applicability of international law to States’ use of ICTs in the context of highly politicised discussions at the multilateral level and offering practical suggestions for the European Union to pursue its objectives in this…

With Leiden University Press, LUCIS publishes a peer-reviewed book series “Debates on Islam and Society” aimed at a broad audience. A number of books in this series are available in open access.

Law and legal institutions play an important role in the organisation of society. They can be used to address and regulate social problems ranging from migration and terrorism to corruption, and from pollution and climate change to social and gender equality. But laws and institutions, and the way in…

Law and legal institutions play an important role in the organisation of society. They can be used to address and regulate social problems ranging from migration and terrorism to corruption, and from pollution and climate change to social and gender equality. But laws and institutions, and the way in…

Law and Digital Technologies (L.L.M.) examines the legislation and governance regarding internet, computers, persuasive technologies and ambient intelligence.

Although sexual abstinence before marriage is no longer the central message in The Netherlands the affective relationship as a criterion for professionals within criminal justice can be seen as a more contemporary version of marriage.

Khadija Kadrouch-Outmany defended her thesis on 16 September 2014.

Studies on the Ottoman Jihad on the Centenary of Snouck Hurgronje's

Everyone most obey the law. If you don’t, you will face the police and the courts. The application of national, European and international criminal law would seem to be a matter of following the letter of the law. But the reality is more nuanced. Criminal law scholars and criminologists from very different…

The Institute of Tax Law and Economics at Leiden Law School has three departments: the Department of Tax Law, the Department of Economics and the Department of Business Studies. The Institute brings together research and teaching at the point at which, on the one hand, law and, on the other, fiscal…

Criminal Law and Criminology is is a specialisation of the master’s programme Rechtsgeleerdheid (Law) at the renowned Leiden Law School of Leiden University.

Are you thinking about studying the Advanced LL.M. Law and Digital Technologies? Learn more and watch the videos.

Are you thinking about studying the Advanced LL.M. Law and Finance? Learn more and watch the videos.

Thirteen Centuries of Creed, Conflict and Coexistence

How can party bans be justified? Which parties were banned in post-war Europe – and why? Do militant democracy instruments work? Is an international militant democracy concept in the making?

How does the religious identity of islamic primary schools in the Netherlands relate to the social demands?

This project studies how Islamic charitable networks in seeking to address global needs position themselves as universalist projects, entangled with Western humanitarianism and neoliberal welfare regimes. It seeks to understand how and to what extent contemporary transnational Islamic charitable networks…

Indonesia’s labour law regime has changed profoundly since 1998, reflecting the sweeping social and political developments that followed Soeharto’s fall from power.

The Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology is committed to international cooperation and exchange.

The Center studies the social, legal and normative impact of emerging digital technologies.

How can international investment law and arbitration take account of the public interest in, and more broadly, the public dimension of, the relations between foreign investors and host States ?