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 | Author | Law School | Title |
| 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) |
| 2012 | Ann Eisenberg | Cornell University Law School, Class of 2012 | “Law on the Books vs. Law in Action: Under-Enforcement of Morocco’s Reformed 2004 Family Law, the Moudawana,” 44 CORNELL INT’L L.J. 693 (2011) |
| 2014 | Alex Schank | Georgetown University Law Center, Class of 2014 | “Sectarianism and and Transitional Justice in Syria: Resisting International Trials,” 45 Georgetown Journal of International Law 557 (2014) |
| 2018 | Sarah Khan | Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, Class of 2018 | “Faith-Based Mediation in the Pakistan-India Conflict,” Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution (2018) |
| 2020 | Aisha Saad | Yale Law School, Class of 2018 | “The Corporate WAQF in Law and Practice,” 10 Berkey Journal of Middle East and Islamic Law 1 (2019) |
