Abstract
In early 2011, a wave of uprisings swept through the Middle East, ushering in a year of protest and radical change. The events came to be known as the Arab Spring and forever altered prior conventions. One outcome was the initiation of a vibrant discourse on Islamic law's stance regarding revolution. It juxtaposed two sides: advocates for the status quo and agitators for change. The first group rejected any opposition to the state, especially the executive. The second wanted a new path that would encompass the public's desire for freedom, dignity, and justice. These were the underlying values of the protests and, along with the legitimacy of protesting itself, proved to be highly contentious. In particular, a fierce debate about these values ensued among jurists of Islamic law. Hoping to capitalize on the potency of religious law among sizable parts of their populations, governing authorities dispatched sympathetic Islamic jurists to delegitimize the uprisings. In response , other jurists from across the Middle East issued fatwas (advisory legal opinions) advocating for continued protest. These protesting jurists faced a daunting task: develop new meanings to facilitate rapid legal change while deriving legitimacy from tradition. In the process, they gave life to a new Sunni legal discourse on non-violent revolution. This Article identifies two types of pro-uprising legal arguments that emerged in this period: textual and policy-based. By focusing on fatwas from 2011, the first year of the uprisings, this Article will demonstrate how jurists pursued both formalist and realist approaches to legal interpretation. They crafted creative approaches to remain firmly within " conventional " Islamic law and its reasoning, while also exploring unconventional avenues to fortify their arguments in favor of protest. By showing how jurists brought new readings to Islam's constitutional sources, expanded the category of legal obligations, and incorporated aspects of a contemporary rights discourse, this Article provides new insights into how rapidly Islamic law can adapt to radical change in the world it inhabits.