Ibrahim Shihata Prize

Holly E. Robbins accepts the award at the 2011 Gala

Holly E. Robbins accepts the award at the 2011 Gala

The Washington Foreign Law Society seeks to promote and recognize serious student scholarship in the United States and Canada in the area of Islamic jurisprudence and related legal developments in the Muslim World.  In support of this goal, the WFLS has established an annual writing prize in honor of the late Dr. Ibrahim Shihata, former World Bank General Counsel, past recipient of the WFLS Harry Leroy Jones Award, and revered member of the Washington and international legal communities.  The winner of the Shihata Prize will receive a $2,500 cash prize sponsored by the MEH Foundation as part of that organization’s support of the Society’s efforts to promote student scholarship.

The MEH Foundation of Manlius, New York is a private foundation dedicated to the promotion of scholarship in Middle East affairs.  In addition to the Shihata Prize, the foundation supports academic programs at various institutions, national and community organizations promoting inter-religious dialogue, and the Mohamed El-Hindi Book Series on Arab Culture and Islamic Civilization published by the Syracuse University Press.

Apply or Nominate a Student:

Please email mail@wfls.org to receive application/nomination materials.

Previous Shihata Award Winners

Year Winning Author School Title & Cite
2005 Seema Saifee Fordham Univ. School of Law, Class of 2004 “Penumbras, Privacy and the Death of Morals-Based Legislation: Comparing U.S. Constitutional Law with the Inherent Right of Privacy in Islamic Jurisprudence,” 27 Fordham Int’l L. J. 370 (2003)
2006 Maximilien Turner Univ. of  Pennsylvania Law School, Class of 2005 “The Price of a Scarf: The Economics of Strict Secularism,” 26 U. Pa. J. Int’l Econ. L. 321 (2005)
2007 Jehan Aslam NYU School of Law, Class of 2007 “Judicial Oversight of Islamic Family Law Arbitration in Ontario: Ensuring Meaningful Consent and Promoting Multicultural Citizenship,” 38 N.Y.U. J. Int’l L & Pol. 877 (2006)
2011 Holly E. Robbins The University of Texas School of Law, Class of 2010 “Soul Searching and Profit Seeking: Reconciling the
Competing Goals of Islamic Finance,” 88 Texas L. Rev. 1125 (2010)