Characteristics of the Legal Framework for a European Islam
Prof. Dr. jur Dr. phil Peter Scholz
Peter Scholz studied law, Islamic studies and history of art at the University of Hamburg. In 1995 he finished his PhD thesis in Islamic studies and in 2006 he received a Doctor of Laws at the Free University of Berlin. Since 1995 he has worked as a judge in Berlin; in 2007 he was appointed judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Berlin. In 2009 he became Vice President of the Magistrates’ Court Tiergarten in Berlin. After teaching Islamic law for some years the Free University of Berlin appointed him in 2007 to a honorary professor of Islamic law and private international law. He is member of different associations as well as one of the curators of the German Orient Foundation and of the Association for Arabic and Islamic law.
Selected Publications
Malikitisches Verfahrensrecht (1997) Frankfurt am Main (PhD-thesis).
Erbrecht der maghrebinischen Staaten und deutscher ordre public (2006), Hamburg (PhD-thesis).
Legal Practice in the Malikite Law of Procedure (1999), in: Al-Qantara, Vol. XX.
Die koranischen Delikte (hudud) im sudanesischen Strafrecht, (2000), in: Zeitschrift für die gesamte Strafrechtswissenschaft, 111. Band.
Islamisches Recht im Wandel am Beispiel des Ehe- und Erbrechts islamischer Staaten (2002), Beitrag zur Schrift des Fachbereichstags des Fachbereichs Rechtswissenschaft der Freien Universität Berlin.
Characteristics of the Legal Framework for a European Islam
The European Islam is often referred to the appearance of Islam in Europe different to the Islam in the Islamic states. One of the aspects of a European Islam is the legal framework for being an active Muslim in Europe shaped by the relevant legal norms and judicial decisions. This framework is characterized by the principles and essentials of these norms and judgements concerning the relation of state and religious communities, the freedom of religion, the legal status of religious associations and the adaptation of national to Islamic law. The presentation will focus on the European Union with regard to the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Functioning Treaty and on the European states Germany, France and the United Kingdom as examples. Conclusions will be drawn for the character of a European Islam, for its opportunities and its expected future development in European societies.
