Although Bangladesh has a long and rich tradition of Islamic scholarship and religious education, it has yet to develop a strong, well-coordinated, and sustainable research infrastructure for institutional, original, long-term, and internationally recognised Islamic research.
Various initiatives have emerged independently, but they have not yet succeeded in establishing a comprehensive research environment capable of ensuring continuity in knowledge production, providing Islamic analyses and solutions to contemporary problems, and nurturing internationally recognised researchers and research institutions.
This shortcoming is particularly evident in the field of Islamic law and justice.
Addressing the numerous questions arising from modern state law, the judiciary, administration, economics, family affairs, human rights, international relations, and emerging technology-driven realities requires more than the study of traditional Fiqh literature. It calls for comparative and interdisciplinary research, an in-depth study of contemporary legal systems, and the creative application of Islamic legal thought to new and changing circumstances.
In other words, what is needed is research that remains firmly rooted in the intellectual heritage of Islamic jurisprudence while engaging meaningfully with contemporary law and social realities.
# Limitations of State Initiatives and the Need for Private Initiatives
At the state level, the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh once played an important role in Islamic research, translation, editing, and publication. Through dictionaries, encyclopaedias, research monographs, and translation projects, the institution contributed to the development of a significant intellectual tradition in Islamic scholarship in Bangladesh.
However, over approximately the past decade and a half, original research, long-term research projects, researcher development, and internationally recognised academic initiatives have not been sufficiently evident at the expected level. Given the prevailing trends, the prospects for substantial progress in these areas in the near future do not appear particularly encouraging.
Consequently, the importance of private initiatives in filling this gap has naturally increased.
In this context, the **Bangladesh Islamic Law Research Centre** stands out as a particularly noteworthy and promising initiative in research on Islamic law, Sharia, and justice.
# *Islamic Law & Justice*: A Significant Achievement
One of the institution's most important and sustained activities is the regular publication of its journal, *Islamic Law & Justice*. The journal is not merely creating a platform for research on Islamic law and justice; it is also making a conscious effort to adhere to international academic standards.
The journal has a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration and is included in various international indexing systems. At the same time, efforts are being pursued to secure its inclusion in Scopus, with the aim of increasing its acceptance and visibility within the international research community. Work is also underway to further improve the journal's research quality assessment, peer-review processes, editorial standards, and connections with the international academic community.
Given the limited research infrastructure in Bangladesh, the significance of this initiative cannot be overstated. Running an internationally oriented academic journal involves much more than publishing articles regularly. It requires institutional capacities in quality control, peer review, editing, DOI and indexing management, international communication with researchers, and long-term financial sustainability.
From this perspective, *Islamic Law & Justice* has established an important foundation for connecting Islamic legal research in Bangladesh with the international academic community.
Its achievement should not, therefore, be viewed merely as the successful publication of a journal. Rather, it may be regarded as a promising foundation for the development of a strong research institution dedicated to Islamic law and justice in Bangladesh.
# Potential and Practical Constraints
Alongside its potential, the institution's practical limitations must also be acknowledged. Shortages of adequate funding, skilled personnel, research infrastructure, and the financial capacity required to implement long-term plans have made it difficult to expand its activities to the desired scale. In particular, the absence of sustainable patronage often leaves promising research initiatives and projects confined to the planning stage or forces them to stop midway.
This problem, however, is not unique to one institution. It reflects a broader reality within the Islamic research and publishing landscape of Bangladesh.
Many research and publishing initiatives operate within particular ideological, institutional, or organisational environments.
As a result, researchers working outside these environments often have limited opportunities to publish and promote their original work and bring it to a wider readership. There are certainly exceptions, but a sufficiently broad institutional environment for independent, open, and multidisciplinary Islamic research has yet to develop.
# The Responsibility of Major Islamic Institutions
Against this background, the role of the country's major Islamic organisations and institutions deserves renewed consideration.
Organisations whose principal objectives include establishing a state and society based on Sharia have often maintained visible political, organisational, and *Da'wah* activities. Their investment in and institutional planning for long-term research on Sharia, law, and justice, however, remain comparatively limited.
Yet a strong research-based intellectual foundation is essential to developing a practical and contemporary framework for a Sharia-based state and society. Theoretical claims and ideological aspirations alone are insufficient. What is needed includes comparative studies of existing laws and Islamic law, potential models of legal reform, research into judicial structures, constitutional and international legal questions, and evidence-based solutions to contemporary legal problems.
Therefore, major Islamic institutions should consider long-term investment in research on Islamic law and justice an essential component of their future intellectual and institutional preparedness.
# The Funding Crisis: A Major Obstacle to Research
One of the greatest challenges facing original research is its commercial uncertainty. Preparing a research monograph may require years of time, effort, and financial investment, while the financial return is generally uncertain and long-term. Consequently, it is difficult to sustain original research continuously by relying exclusively on a market-driven publishing system.
Making original research sustainable therefore requires a well-organised system of research funds, research grants, Waqf-based financing, foundations, endowments, and project-based patronage.
Such support is particularly important in specialised fields such as Islamic law and justice. Many research projects in these areas may have little immediate commercial value while possessing considerable long-term intellectual and social significance.
# An Opportunity to Transform Potential into Effective Research Infrastructure
With appropriate patronage and collaboration, the Bangladesh Islamic Law Research Centre could play a significant role as a specialised research hub in this field. Its potential activities could include:
- Long-term original research projects on Islamic law and justice.
- Sustained research on various branches of comparative Fiqh.
- Comparative analyses of modern law and Islamic law.
- Sharia-based evaluations of existing laws in Bangladesh.
- Research into potential models of the Islamisation of law and Sharia-compliant legal reform.
- Studies of the structure and functioning of a Sharia-based judicial system.
- Research into Islamic solutions to contemporary legal problems.
- Research fellowships, research grants, and training programmes.
- Development of internationally recognised research journals and research databases.
- Collaborative research with domestic and international universities and research institutions.
- Interdisciplinary research integrating law, Fiqh, economics, political science, sociology, and technology.
In other words, the institution's potential is extensive. What it needs is long-term planning, skilled personnel, adequate research infrastructure, and, above all, sustainable patronage.
# Why Investment in Research Is Urgently Needed
The need for research in Islamic law has increased considerably in the contemporary world. Numerous fields require original, evidence-based, and interdisciplinary research from an Islamic perspective, including artificial intelligence, bioethics, environmental and climate crises, Islamic banking and finance, human rights, family systems, technological ethics, international relations, global law, and contemporary political thought.
In these fields, merely reproducing opinions from the past is insufficient. What is needed is a creative dialogue between the intellectual heritage of Islamic jurisprudence and contemporary realities.
The outcomes of such research need not remain confined to academic circles. They can also contribute to legislation, policymaking, judicial practice, and the search for solutions to contemporary human problems.
Bangladesh has considerable opportunities to make meaningful contributions in these areas. What is required is not merely the personal interest of individual researchers, but also an effective framework providing research time, institutional support, funding, publication opportunities, and international academic connections.
# The Need for a Collective Initiative
Meeting the needs of Islamic law and justice research in Bangladesh requires a collective effort rather than dependence on any single individual or institution. Universities, researchers, Islamic institutions, publishers, Waqf institutions, charitable organisations, entrepreneurs, and financially capable individuals all have important roles to play.
The foundation already established by the Bangladesh Islamic Law Research Centre could, with appropriate support, be expanded into a much broader research infrastructure. This requires long-term financial planning, research funds, skilled personnel, fellowships, project-based grants, and sustained institutional patronage.
There is no substitute for investing in research today if we wish to build a strong academic foundation for Islamic law and justice in the future. Such investment is not merely assistance to a single institution; it is an investment in the future of Islamic legal research in Bangladesh, the production of new knowledge, and the development of a sustainable academic tradition.
## An Appeal to Those Who Recognise This Need
Consider the Bangladesh Islamic Law Research Centre not merely as a publishing initiative, but as a promising institutional foundation for Islamic law and justice research in Bangladesh. There are meaningful opportunities to strengthen this initiative through research grants, Waqf, endowments, project-based funding, and institutional collaboration.
Sustaining a research institution and building an effective research culture are not the same thing. Keeping an institution operational may allow its routine activities to continue. However, establishing long-term research projects, nurturing new researchers, producing original knowledge, and building lasting connections with the international research community require a sustainable research environment.
In this sense, our objective should not be limited to keeping one institution alive. Rather, we should seek to build a research infrastructure in which scholarship continues on an institutional basis rather than depending on individuals or temporary initiatives, new researchers are nurtured, and knowledge of Islamic law and justice continues to develop systematically.
There is still an opportunity to develop the Bangladesh Islamic Law Research Centre into an effective hub for building this broader research culture.
This requires not only immediate financial assistance but also long-term patronage, research funds, Waqf- and endowment-based financing, and a well-organised social and institutional commitment to research.
The benefits of investments made in this initiative today will extend far beyond a single institution or generation. They will contribute to the long-term development of future researchers, research institutions, and the broader intellectual tradition of Islamic law and justice in Bangladesh.