Professor Benhalim's research focuses on the intersection of law and religion, principally in the context of secular legal systems. My scholarship spans the fields of legal pluralism, comparative law, private law, and religious law. Utilizing comparative law theory and methodology, her work analyzes the American, Jewish, and Islamic legal systems, their respective interpretive schemes, and the interplay between law and cultural paradigms. Her scholarship also examines how Islamic and Jewish law navigate, influence, and are impacted by secular legal norms, especially in the areas of contracts and reproductive rights. This scholarship is especially pertinent as Judaism and Islam are the two largest minority religions in the United States, and Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. This work disputes antisemitic and Islamophobic tropes that present Jewish and Islamic law as monolithic, outdated, and antithetical to American legal values.
keywords
Islamic Law, Sharia, Jewish Law, Halakha, Religion and the Law
LAWS 5121 - Contracts
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
Covers basic principles of contract liability, offer, acceptance and consideration, statute of frauds, contract remedies, the parole evidence rule, performance of contracts, conditions, effect of changed circumstances, third-party beneficiaries, assignment and specific performance.
LAWS 6021 - Secured Transactions
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2020 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
Explores the methodology and policies of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, dealing with financing transactions in personal property.
LAWS 6518 - Introduction to Islamic Law & Jurisprudence
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2021
Develops student understanding of the internal working of Islamic law at its theoretical roots. Analyzes the various methodologies that are represented in Islamic legal literature, heling to enable the students to identify modern manifestations of these methodologies in contemporary Muslim discourses. Contextualizes the subject of Islamic law within various governmental and constitutional structures, beginning with the classical period, continuing through colonialism and reaching into the present day.
LAWS 8210 - Seminar: Comparative Law
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2021
Studies discrete topics in Jewish law such as family law, commercial law, criminal law, etc., using the text Jewish Law: Cases and Materials, and other sources such as guest lectures. The collection of books that we received from the Touro Law Center will provide a valuable resource for student research.
