With a unique transitional justice perspective on the Arab Spring, this
book assesses the relocation of transitional justice from the
international paradigm to Islamic legal systems.
The Arab uprisings and new and old conflicts in the Middle East, North
Africa and other contexts where Islam is a prominent religion have
sparked an interest in localising transitional justice in the legal
systems of Muslim-majority communities to uncover the truth about past
abuse and ensure accountability for widespread human rights violations.
This raises pressing questions around how the international paradigm of
transitional justice, and in particular its truth-seeking aims, might be
implemented and adapted to local settings characterised by Muslim
majority populations, and at the same time drawing from relevant norms
and principles of Islamic law.
This book offers a critical analysis of the relocation of transitional
justice from the international paradigm to the legal systems of
Muslim-majority societies in light of the inherently pluralistic
realities of these contexts. It also investigates synergies between
international law and Islamic law in furthering truth-seeking, the
formation of collective memories and the victims' right to know the
truth, as key aims of the international paradigm of transitional justice
and broadly supported by the shari'ah. This book will be a useful
reference for scholars, practitioners and policymakers seeking to better
understand the normative underpinnings of (potential) transitional
truth-seeking initiatives in the legal systems of Muslim-majority
societies. At the same time, it also proposes a more critical and
creative way of thinking about the challenges and opportunities of
localising transitional justice in contexts where the principles and
ideas of Islamic law carry different meanings.
