This
course introduces students to the field of
Islamic Law. It is designed to give students a
firm grounding in the principles, concepts, and
terminology of Islamic Law. Islamic Law is one
of the oldest and most significant systems of
Law in the contemporary age. The course will
focus on the history, theory, and the role of
Islamic Law in the contemporary age. The
course will be divided into two main parts: the
first will deal with Islamic Law in the classical
context while the second will examine the role
of Islamic Law in the contemporary age. This
course will begin by considering the question:
“Why study Islamic Law?” It will then proceed
to the history and theory of the Islamic
Legal System with special emphasis on the
development of the various schools of thought
in Islamic Law. The course will place Islamic
Law in a comparative context and investigate
whether the methodologies, processes,
and purposes of Islamic Jurisprudence are
fundamentally different from other major
world legal systems. The second half of
the course will survey Islamic Commercial,
Criminal, and Family Laws, and their influence
on the modern age. Furthermore, Islamic
Public International Law, Human Rights, and
Islamic Law will be examined.
Language of Instruction: Arabic (legal terms,
however, are also given in English and French).