Finished Summary Symposium “The Islamic State System and International Law” at the History of Islamic Civilization Panel, Annual meeting of the Historical Society of Kyushu (Dec. 10)
2023.11.14
Category： Symposium
Research Group： B01 State Systems
The Symposium “The Islamic State System and International Law” will be organized by B01 “The Ideas of the Muslim Community and State Systems” (Principal Investigator: Nobuaki Kondo) at the History of Islamic Civilization Panel, Annual meeting of the Historical Society of Kyushu.
Date and Time: 14:40–17:30, December 10, 2023
Venue: Room E-A-105, East Zone, Ito Campus, Kyushu University and Online via Zoom
Organizer: The Historical Society of Kyushu; Islamic Trust Studies B01
14:40 Introduction: Nobuaki Kondo（ILCAA）
14:45 The Early Modern Ottoman Ahdnames and the State System Yutaka Horii (Doshisha University)
15:20 The Islamic State System in the Safavid Eyes Nobuaki Kondo (ILCAA)
15:55 Sources of Law in the Arabic Works Related to International Law in the Late Nineteenth Century Yutaro Oki (Kyushu University)
16:30 break
16:35 Comments from the Perspective of International law and comparative history of legal institutions Omi Hatashin（Osaka Jogakuin University）
17:10 General Discussion (–17:30)
Moderator: Madoka Morita (ILCAA）
Registration is required.
Please access the registration form https://forms.gle/GN6BNHSUP1YVrw4P8
and pay 1,500 yen for participation through the online Pass Market by 23:00, December 5.
Summary
In this symposium, we were honored to have Professor Hatashin serve as a discussant. With expertise in comparative legal history and international law, Professor Hatashin’s involvement facilitated the achievement of one of our project’s major objectives: to make broader scholarly interventions and contributions, particularly in fields where Western-centric views often prevail, such as the history of international politics and the history of international relations.
Three papers were presented at the symposium. Professor Horii, the first speaker, specializes in early modern East Mediterranean trade and offered a detailed review of the development of ahdnames granted to Venice, Poland, and France in the early modern Ottoman period, laying the groundwork for further studies on state systems that operated under the early modern Ottoman contexts. However, the interpretation of the key term “ahd” remains open to further discussion.
Professor Kondo, the second speaker and leader of the project, explored how Islamic state systems evolved from the perspective of the Safavid dynasty based on an examination of a range of different sources including imperial edicts and letters, chronicles, and books on ethics. The discussion also considered whether Islamic state systems resembled others.
Professor Oki, the third speaker, specializes in international law and highlighted the minimal influence of Islamic law or early modern Islamic international law on the adoption of modern international law in nineteenth-century Egypt. The emphasis on this point, however, warrants further discussion, given the fact that the writing styles observed in the Arabic texts on international law studied in the paper suggest apparent similarities to those of Islamic law.
Overall, the symposium proved to be an invaluable opportunity to embrace a diverse array of feedback and constructive criticisms. These insights will enrich our research efforts, particularly within the frame of JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas, to promote exchanges and collaborations spanning multiple disciplines, whereby ultimately leading to the creation of new research trends.
(Madoka Morita)