Hamza Andreas Tzortzis – Islamic Law: Barbaric or Misundestood?

About this lecture

In this wide-ranging lecture and Q&A, Hamza Andreas Tzortzis challenges popular portrayals of Islamic law as barbaric, arguing that no legal system can be fairly judged outside its underlying values and social philosophy. Drawing on Western political philosophers, criminologists, historians, and social researchers, he contrasts the liberal social model — rooted in what he calls the flawed premise of individualism — with the Islamic social model, which he argues offers more cohesive values, stronger mechanisms to prevent crime, and a more just economic framework. The lecture covers Islamic economics, hudud punishments and their evidentiary standards, historical examples of Islamic governance, and tackles live audience questions on homosexuality, capital punishment, sectarianism, and the prospects for Sharia implementation in the modern world.