Description (1st Year)
This course is designed to give a survey of the Islamic jurisprudence. It provides an introduction to the Shariah sources. It gives the students an insight into the method of deduction from the main sources Qur’an, Hadith and other methods developed by Muslim jurists.
The course aims to give the student a survey of the major schools of fiqh, Sunni and Shi’i. It highlights the formative period of the formation of the major schools as well as the minor schools of fiqh.
The course brings into the discussion the political and social factors that influenced the adoption of a specific school as will as theological differences between schools of thought that helped in consolidating the influences of a school in a particular region.
The student will have the opportunity to discuss the methods applied by the founders of these major schools, their differences and their text books and manuals. The course will emphasize the importance of Ijitihad as opposed to Taqlid as the dynamics of Islam which insure the intellectual vitality of the Muslim community. The student will learn about the conditions that are required from the mujtahid as well as the various definitions of Ijtihad. The division between rationalists and traditionalists will be explored in depth.
Lectures (1st Year)
- Introduction to Shariah and its main themes
- Pre-Islamic law and customs
- Usul al-Fiqh: Definition and themes
- Usul al-Fiqh: Themes and sources: Qur’an, Sunna , consensus
- Usul al-Fiqh: Themes and sources: Qiyas, Istihsan, maslaha, urf
- Usul al-Fiqh: Themes and sources: istishab, customs of old communities, way of the companions
- Usul al-Fiqh: Themes and sources: mubah, makruh, and muharam
- Goals of Shariah
- Traditionalists and rationalists
- Schools of law: Hanafi
- Schools of law: Shafi’i
- Schools of law: Maliki
- Schools of law: Hanbali
- Schools of law: Jafari
- Schools of law: Zaydi and Ibadi
- Schools of law: Other schools
- Ijtihad: Definition, degrees
- Mujtahid: conditions and categories
- Taqlid.
- The closure of the gate of Ijtihad between myth and reality
- The closure of the gate of Ijtihad: consequences
- The age of stagnation
- Modernity: Revival and the new trends
- Against the madhaahib
Description (2nd Year)
This course is designed to give a survey of the major themes in Islamic jurisprudence. It provides an introduction to the Shariah topics. It gives the students an insight into the practical side of the Shariah. Students will learn about the way ulema organised the fiqh books according to topics that govern the Muslim daily life. Subjects like Purification, salah, cleanliness, Zakat, Hajj, and Fasting will be covered under the main theme of ibadaat (Worship).
The course also covers topics related the interaction between Muslims such as Mu’ammalat (transactions), Islamic financial laws, criminal laws, family laws, laws governing the relations with animals and Islamic concerns for the environment.
The students will have the opportunity to learn about what is lawful and unlawful in Islam. They will debate issues that affect their life such as, hijab, music, halal food.. etc. The course will give the students the opportunity to discuss the implementation of the Shariah laws in the modern times; the possibility and the impossibility. The application of the Muslim laws in a non-Muslim context e.g. Where Muslims are living as minorities.
The course will address the concept of Maslaha (common interests) as the driving force of modern Islamic law. The question of Fatwa and Muftis in modern times will also be discussed.
Lectures (2nd Year)
- Cleanliness and Purification
- Prayers
- Fasting and it observance
- Hajj and its laws
- Zakat and calculation
- Animal slaughtering, laws and etiquettes
- Family laws, marriage and divorce
- Islamic financial system, transactions: interests…etc
- Islamic Banking
- Trade and commerce
- Islamic criminal code
- Islamic judicial System (Judges, courts and lawyers)
- Social conduct
- Lawful and unlawful
- Drugs and Intoxicants
- Implementation of the Shariah
- Islamisation experiences: Sudan, Malaysia and Pakistan
- Maslaha, Darurah (necessity ) as tools for fatwas
- Women rights
- Muslims as minorities (Minority Fiqh)
- The state of fatwa in modern times: The role of mass media
- Islam and human rights
- Music and arts: Islamic view
- Revision, assessment and conclusion
Learning Outcomes
It is hoped by the end of the course, the students:
- A good understanding of the methods and science of Jurisprudence by scholars of antiquity.
- Become familiar with the various schools of fiqh in the Sunni and Shi’i traditions.
- Determine the theological differences between the various schools of fiqh.
- Appreciate the debate between Ijtihad (discernment) and Taqlid (Imitation).
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