The Islamic Law of War: A Case Study

Abstract

This article uses the shooting of Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as a case study to evaluate and contrast the differing responses of the Islamic law of war and the international humanitarian law. International humanitarian law condemns violence against civilians (including journalists), likewise Islamic laws of war advocate protection of journalists on battlefields. However, responsibility for the death of the journalist, while reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict, has never been assigned. Using this event as a case study, this article applies an Islamic legal approach (along with the method of ijtihad through qiyas) to evaluate the criminality of Shireen Abu Akleh’s death under both Islamic law and international humanitarian law, demonstrating the commonality of these two approaches. This qualitative research study applies literature study techniques to gather research data from reports, journals, books, and credible media sources.
 Keywords: humanitarian law, Islamic war law, journalist, Ijtihad, Qiyas