About the Program
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This is an advanced academic research program in Sharia studies, specializing in contemporary ijtihad, the mechanisms for deriving Sharia rulings, and the principles and methods of their application. The program relies on ta'lil (reasoning by effective cause) and tahqiq al-manat (verification of the ground of a ruling) as its two tools for applying rulings to complex cases. It also covers the critical evaluation and review of contemporary jurisprudential and academic output, and the examination of issues of general public impact on society and institutions, including questions of citizenship and the nation state in a manner consistent with the particularities of the context of the United Arab Emirates. The program allows students to specialize further in a number of fields related to the discipline through compulsory and elective applied courses that address topics open to critique and evaluation. The program culminates in a doctoral dissertation worth thirty credit hours, which constitutes an original scholarly contribution to the field of contemporary ijtihad, reflecting the centrality of research and knowledge production in the formation of the researcher.