QuantISLAMS · Quantifying Islamic Law in the Modern State: Shari'a in Moroccan Courts, 1912-2012

This MSCA-PF-EF project proposal investigates the role of shari'a (Islamic law) in the contemporary national legal systems. Focusingon the case of Morocco from 1913-2012, I combine digital humanities methods with qualitative text analysis to trace the conceptual and functional development of shari'a. I hypothesize that shari'a's practical function is best understood through court cases rather than classical prescriptions or state legislation of it alone. Using approximately 1400 shari'a appeals court records collected during my doctoral fieldwork, I will construct a multi-variable shari'a court database. The database will be a first-of-its-kind data record of case variables including appellate decisions, evidence types, geography, and source material citation. With this database and the conclusions I derive from it, I will embark on a series of publication, scholarly collaboration, and public outreach efforts on shari'a's contemporary role in the world. The publications include three scholarly articles, a collected volume on Islam and colonialism based on a conference that I organize, and a book proposal based on this research. Public outreach efforts include a public lecture series on colonial Islamic legal practice, syllabi on ""Understanding Colonialism"" and ""Understanding Contemporary Islam"" for high school students, and an online presence sharing results and analysis. Finally, the database will be published open access online at the end of the fellowship both to aide researchers or stakeholders and to propose a model for assessing shari'a courts worldwide. As many state governments, NGOs, and legal scholars continue debating shari'a's role in the twenty-first century, my project will present a strong historically grounded paradigm of shari'a's contemporary function in state courts.""