Sami Aldeeb

Sami Aldeeb in 2011: photo by Lea Aldeeb

Sami Awad Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh (in Arabic: سامي عوض ألذيب أبو ساحلية / Sāmy ʿwḍ ʾĀd-dyb ʾĀbw-Sāḥlyh) (born September 5, 1949 in Zababdeh, near Jenin in the West Bank, Cisjordanie) is a Christian lawyer, of Palestinian origin and Swiss nationality.[1]

He was the head of the Arab and Islamic Law department at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law from 1980 to 2009. He directs the Center of Arab and Islamic law and teaches in various universities in Switzerland, France and Italy.
He is the author of many books and articles on Arab and Islamic law. In 2008 he published a bilingual edition of the Koran (Arabic - French) classifying the chapters (suras) in chronological order according to Al-Azhar, with reference to variations, abrogations and Jewish and Christian writings (see the publications). He is currently preparing a similar edition in Italian and English. He also translated the Swiss constitution into Arabic for the Confederation.

Biography

Born to a Christian peasant family, in Zababdeh, near Jenin, he attended primary school in his village (1956–61) before joining the Minor Seminary of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Beit-Jala, near Bethlehem (1961–65). Four years later he left to attend a course in tailoring at the Salesian Technical School of Bethlehem (1965–1968), and worked in the tailoring trade in Jenin while, at the same time, working for the International Committee of the Red Cross. In 1970 he took his matriculation in Jenin as a self-taught student, and thus obtained a scholarship from the l'Œuvre Saint-Justin in Fribourg, to study in Switzerland.
In April 1974, he received his Law degree from the University of Fribourg cum laude, and then went on to study for a doctorate in Law at Fribourg University and enrolled in the Graduate Institute of International Studies at Geneva to simultaneously study for an Honours degree in Political Science. He was awarded a degree with Honours from the Graduate Institute at Geneva in January 1976, His dissertation was entitled: "The Right of peoples to sovereignty, analytic study of the Marxist-Leninist theory and the soviet position" (see the publications).

In order to do research for his doctoral thesis, he spent a year in Egypt. He defended his thesis: "The impact of religion on the legal order, case of Egypt, non-Muslims in an Islamic country" (see the publications) in December 1978 at the Faculty of Law in Fribourg with summa cum laude. The promotion took place after the publication of the thesis on November 14, 1979. During his studies he received a grant from l'Œuvre Saint-Justin in Fribourg (1970–1977) and a grant from the Swiss Confederation (1977–1979).
During his stay in Egypt (1976–77), he interviewed forty Egyptian personalities, and intends to publish these interviews in the near future.
He was a federal civil servant at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne from November 1, 1980 to December 31, 2009, as head of the Department of Arab and Islamic law. As part of his duties, he wrote hundreds of legal opinions for Swiss and foreign authorities; for courts, lawyers, enterprises as well as for private individuals in the fields of family law, inheritance, criminal law and commercial law. In the course of his travels in the Arab countries, he built up for the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law the most comprehensive collection of works on Arab and Muslim Law in Western Europe.
During his work with the Confederation, he traveled to the following countries, in order to purchase books and to maintain contacts with law schools and research centers: Morocco (4 times), Algeria (twice), Tunisia (5 times), Libya (3 times), Egypt (9 times), Sudan (once), Jordan (4 times), Lebanon (twice), Syria (3 times), Iraq (once), Iran (once), Bahrain (twice), Kuwait (twice), United Arab Emirates (twice), Oman (twice), Palestine / Israel (7 times), South Yemen (once), North Yemen (twice), Qatar (once), Saudi Arabia (twice).
In May 2009, he opened his own Center of Arab and Islamic law. The Center offers the following services: legal consultations, conferences, translations, research and courses concerning Arab and Islamic Law, and the relation between Muslims and the West, assistance for students and researchers. On June 29, 2009, he received his Habilitation to supervise research (HDR) from the University of Bordeaux. In February 2010, he qualified as a University Professor, granted by the CNU, in sections 1 (private law) and 15 (Arabic). He was naturalized as a Swiss citizen on May 11, 1984. Sami Aldeeb is married with two daughters.

Teaching and Conferences

Sami Aldeeb taught Arab and Islamic Law in various Universities; Institute of Canon Law of Strasbourg (1985–1991), Faculty of Law and Political Science of Aix-en-Provence (since 2005), Faculty of Law of Palermo (since 2007), CERISDI of Palermo (since 2007), International Faculty of Comparative Law in Strasbourg (since 2007), Faculty of Law of Trento (since 2010), Faculty of Law of Cergy-Pontoise (since 2010), Faculty of Law of Grenoble (since 2010), Faculty of Theology of Lugano (since 2011). He has also given hundreds of lectures in different countries. The list can be found in his Curriculum vitae.

Awards

November 15, 1981: Vigener Prize of the Faculty of Law of Fribourg for his doctoral thesis.
November 21, 2009: Elected Academician of "Studium - Accademia di Casale Monferrato e per l'Arte del, the Letteratura the Storia, the e Scienze the Umanità Varies."

Commitments

Sami Aldeeb considers himself as Christian. However, he does not accept the Revelation in its traditional concept, and he considers it not as "the word of God to man", but rather "the word of man about God". He is secular, and struggles for Human Rights and against male and female circumcision, ritual slaughter, religious cemeteries, death penalty and violence, issues around which his writings and lectures revolve (see the publications). He is in favor of one democratic and secular State in Palestine / Israel. He recognizes neither the State of Israel nor the state of Palestine, both of which he considers as discriminatory entities. He believes that the Koran was written by a rabbi.[2] He took a stand against the construction of minarets in Switzerland, saying the Constitution guarantees the right to pray and not to shout.[3]

Publications

Sami Aldeeb is a prolific author. His publications consist of about thirty books and more than 200 articles on Arab and Islamic Law, in different languages, the list can be found in his Curriculum vitae. Some of his publications are available for free on his website: www.sami-aldeeb.com and on Scribd.com. Here is the list of his books:

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.sami-aldeeb.com/
  2. ↑ See the video http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlfmwg_sami-aldeeb-traducteur-du-coran-en-francais-en-anglais-et-en-italien_news
  3. ↑ http://blog.sami-aldeeb.com/2009/10/08/oui-a-linitiative-sur-les-minarets
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