This interdisciplinary project will explore the relationship between Islam, law and the state in Myanmar from both an empirical and theoretical perspective. It will address current debates on the Muslim communities of Myanmar from a socio-legal perspective. It seeks to provide an informed response to contemporary issues facing the Muslim communities of Myanmar by furthering knowledge on the dynamics of, and the interaction between, the legal system, state institutions and the Muslim communities of Myanmar.

The Muslim communities of Myanmar, in comparison to the rest of the Muslim world, are largely under-researched. The Muslim community of Myanmar is ethnically diverse, institutionally fragmented, and geographically scattered across Myanmar, as well as outside its borders.

Formally, the 2008 Constitution provides for freedom of religion, but also recognizes the ‘special position’ of Buddhism, as well as the existence of several other religions including Islam. In the tradition of legal pluralism, the conference that was organised for this project explored the interactions between state law and institutions with the informal practice and regulation of Islamic norms.

In keeping with these themes, papers addressed one or more of the following issues:

• How can we conceptualize or theorize the relation between Muslim communities and the state in Myanmar?
• How is the practice of Islamic norms by Muslims regulated in Myanmar? This may relate to a wide-range of issues such as marriage, divorce or inheritance; Islamic education; or the practise of issuing a fatwa, among other matters.
• What function and position do religious institutions, whether recognized by the government or not, have in Muslim communities in Myanmar?
• What role and influence do Muslims have in terms of the current process of reform and transition in Myanmar?
• To what extent do concepts such as citizenship and multiculturalism apply to state-Islam relations in Myanmar?
• What are the key legal challenges facing the Muslim communities of Myanmar, and to what extent are these similar or different to the issues experienced by other Muslim minorities in the region?
• What are the points of connection between Muslim communities of Myanmar and the Islamic community both regionally and globally, and what are the implications of this?