Mobilizing Shari’a, Law, and Gender Justice in Contemporary Muslim Societies: Legal Pluralism, Lived Islam, and Social Change
Submission deadline30 June 2026
This special issue examines how Islamic legal reasoning, state institutions, and social actors interact in shaping contemporary debates on gender justice, legal authority, and social change across Muslim societies. Focusing on lived legal and institutional practice rather than doctrinal argumentation alone, the issue explores how Shar’a-based reasoning is interpreted, negotiated, and mobilized within courts, bureaucracies, activist movements, religious institutions, digital publics, and everyday social life.
Bringing together interdisciplinary social science research, the collection investigates how legal pluralism operates in practice through the interaction of state law, Islamic legal traditions, customary norms, minority legal experiences, and transnational rights frameworks. Particular attention is given to the roles of women scholars, legal practitioners, activists, religious authorities, NGOs, and community actors in shaping debates concerning family law, labor rights, citizenship, migration, gender-based violence, and social welfare.
The special issue seeks empirically grounded contributions that illuminate the institutional, political, and social dynamics through which Islamic legal concepts acquire authority, legitimacy, and practical effect in contemporary contexts. Contributions examining Christian and other minority communities within Muslim-majority societies, including interreligious negotiations of legal authority and gender governance, are also welcome.
The issue particularly encourages scholarship emerging from and engaging diverse Global South contexts, including comparative and transnational perspectives that foreground local experiences, institutional practices, and lived realities.
By foregrounding lived Islam, legal pluralism, institutional practice, and socio-legal transformation, the issue contributes to broader discussions on law, gender, authority, religion, and social change in contemporary Muslim societies.
Thematic Description
The special issue is organized around four interconnected thematic areas that together examine the relationship between Islamic legal reasoning, institutional practice, legal pluralism, and gender justice in contemporary Muslim societies.
Legal Pluralism and Institutional Practice: This theme explores how state law, Shar??a, customary norms, and informal mediation mechanisms interact within contemporary legal and institutional settings. Contributions may examine courts, bureaucracies, family law systems, hybrid legal orders, minority legal experiences, and everyday negotiations of legal authority.
Gender, Religious Authority, and Legal Mobilization: This section focuses on how women scholars, activists, lawyers, religious authorities, and community actors engage Islamic legal traditions and religious authority in struggles over rights, participation, and social reform. Particular attention is given to institutional and community-based forms of legal advocacy, feminist engagement, and social mobilization.
Lived Islam, Social Change, and Public Debate: This theme examines how Islamic ethical and legal concepts are negotiated in everyday social life, including within grassroots movements, religious communities, civic activism, minority communities, and public debates concerning gender, citizenship, and social justice.
Transnational Legal Reform, Advocacy, and Social Change:
This thematic thread examines how transnational networks, advocacy organizations, diaspora communities, and cross-border intellectual exchanges shape contemporary struggles over law, gender, and social reform in Muslim societies. Contributions may address the circulation of Islamic legal interpretations, feminist and reformist frameworks, NGO advocacy, minority negotiations of legal authority, and South–South collaborations concerning family law, citizenship, labor rights, violence, and social welfare. The section emphasizes the institutional, legal, and political processes through which ideas, reforms, and mobilizations circulate across local, regional, and global contexts.
The special issue particularly welcomes empirically grounded and interdisciplinary scholarship from sociology, anthropology, socio-legal studies, political science, gender studies, media studies, religious studies, and related fields. Comparative, transnational, and Global South perspectives are especially encouraged.
Submission DEADLINE:
Please submit your abstract for consideration by June 30, 2026, to the Lead Guest Editor.
Invitations for full papers will be sent in July 2026.
Please submit your paper by October 31 2026. Should you not be able to meet this deadline, please contact the Lead Guest Editor (contact details below).
Online SUBMISSION: Please use the journal’s online submissions system. Paper submissions via email are not accepted.
Author Submission’s GUIDELINES: Authors are asked to prepare their manuscripts according to the journal’s standard submission guidelines.Mobilizing Shar??a, Law, and Gender Justice in Contemporary Muslim Societies: Legal Pluralism, Lived Islam, and Social Change | Springer Nature Link
Jihan Zakarriya