Speaking law to war

The concept of Speaking Law to War addresses the interface and perhaps even more, struggle, disguise and tension between law and power. Even a cursory review of literature which endeavours to either unpack or marry Islamic law with various international legal norms and prescriptives will unveil contradistinctions, overlaps, at times the 'ambient noise' (so wonderfully described by Ann Mayer) and, even, silence. The struggle between what I will call the textualist readings and that of contextualists move between a reading of Islam, which is fixed and immutable, to one that endeavours to read the text within a specific historical context. The various debates to emerge on the interpretation and applicability of the norms and principles of Islamic international law, which reveal a tension between textualist and contextualist readings is also reflected in debates within Public International Law and specific to this topic, most evident in the debates on anticipatory self-defence, which framed the US position on the war in Iraq. Against this backdrop, this article will endeavour to evaluate Islamic law doctrines on the rightfulness of waging war, on who can declare war, and on the manner in which it is to be waged as these relate to contemporary norms and debates within international law.