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Abstract

Naz Khatoon Modirzadeh published an article criticizing the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) movement for its purported inability to achieve its purpose as a response to one of the major international law decolonization projects. One of her criticisms is that TWAIL lacks a cohesive counter-vision of international law, actual representation of third-world views, and organized political movements. Within the heavily diverse (which is one of the problems) TWAIL camp, among others, is the voice of Islamic law. Most Muslim nations have been at the receiving end of the brute force of colonialism. Colonialism is, in fact, responsible for the total or partial dismantling of Islamic law application in various parts of the Muslim world. This research applies the thoughts of Nusantara philosopher Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas in developing Islamic international law through the lens of Modirzadeh’s critique towards the TWAIL movement. This article find that an Attasian-influenced development of Islamic international law addresses some of Modirzadeh’s concerns, but there is a serious need to consider others as well.

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