Islamic Law

The aims of this module are to provide a broad perspective of Islamic Law / Jurisprudence, the historical emergence of Muslim legal thought and to examine the scholarly debate on its classical and modern applicationssclassical and modern applications.

Optional

None

None

The course critically examines the sources and principles of Islamic Law, its historical development and the ethical character of Law in Islam through discussing the concept of Shari’h and it’s major sources: Qur’an and Sunnah. The course discusses the concepts of ijma, ijtihad, qiyas and masalah mursalah in the context of the evolution of Muslim legal thought. The development of Schools of Law and their impact on various Muslim societies is critically reviewed. Special attention is given to the contemporary applications of Islamic Law in connection with the reforms introduced in several Muslim countries. The course examines Muslim Family Law, the implications of Islamic Law for Islamic Economics and critically engages with the issues/challenges and the issues pertaining to the application of Islamic Law in the West (fiqh alaqalliyat).

Knowledge and Understanding

On successful completion of the module students should be able to:

On completion of the module, students should be able to :

-       Develop critical insight into the sources, terminology and historical development of Islamic Law.

-       Critically analyze the principles of Islamic Jurisprudence and identify issues and challenges concerning the application of Islamic Law in the contemporary world.

-       Understand the significance and rationale of Islamic Jurisprudence.

-       Recognize and distinguish amongst the different schools of law within Islam.

Skills

By the end of the module students should have developed skills in:

-  Identifying and critically assessing key issues underpinning the formative period of Islamic Law.

-  Conducting independent study in the field and using critically the core sources in Islamic Law

-  Comparing critically the similarities and differences informing legal reasoning among diverse schools of thought within Islamic Jurisprudence

-  Identifying and critically evaluating the central issues underpinning the application of Islamic Law in the modern Muslim world and within Muslim diaspora in the West.

-  Assessing current research undertaken in Islamic Law and developing an inter-disciplinary research approaches in the field.

Each student should participate in 300 hours of effort, including Lectures (12 hours), Seminars (12 hours), Tutorials (6 hours), Student presentation (6 hours), and guided personal study amounting to 264 hours in all.

One assignment of 5,000 words or two equally weighted assignments of 2,500 words each [60%]
Presentation and discussion in class [10%]
Examination [30%]

1. Coulson,N. J., A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1990.

2. Kamali, Hashim, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence. Cambridge Text Society, 1991.

3. Nayazee, Imran Ahsan Khan, Islamic Jurisprudence. Islamabad Research Institute and I.I.I.T., 2000.