Course Descriptions

The course addresses the design of jurisprudential and methodological research in accordance with recognized scientific methods, drawing on the methods of the humanities as appropriate to the nature of the research question and its needs. It deals with Islamic fiqh and usul sources, evaluating their ranks and authority in relation to the research problem rather than by their formal classification as primary or secondary. It covers the operational use of digital tools and artificial intelligence applications in collecting, analyzing, and organizing information across all stages of research, with constant verification of their outputs and of their claims, texts, and references by reference to recognized sources, and with a defined scope for their use at each stage. This course lays the foundation for the stage of preparing the scholarly thesis, enabling the student to link his or her research problem, choice of method, design of the plan, and selection of sources as integrated rather than separate elements, and to reinforce his or her commitment to academic integrity in all its dimensions: attribution of ideas, correctness of citation, intellectual property rights, and the limits of using artificial intelligence tools, in order to safeguard the originality of jurisprudential ijtihad and the accuracy of scholarly attribution.

This course is concerned with: -studying selected models of issues regulated by UAE legislation in the field of civil and commercial transactions, and analyzing them in light of the related rulings, theories, and jurisprudential rules, so as to achieve integration between the student's jurisprudential formation and an understanding of the legislative environment of the United Arab Emirates. -Focusing on the study of a single issue from a comparative jurisprudential and legislative perspective, by establishing its jurisprudential foundations, analyzing its regulation in UAE legislation, and identifying the points of agreement and divergence between the jurisprudential treatment and the legislative treatment, together with their causes and effects. It also develops the student's ability to read legislative texts critically and to link them to their principles, rules, and objectives of Sharia, and to apply this in evaluating the legislative treatments of the selected civil and commercial issues.

This course addresses the construction of theories, the analysis of legal maxims, and the disclosure of the relationship between them, followed by their application in contemporary cases. It begins with a statement of the reality of jurisprudential theories and legal maxims and their relationship to the objectives of Sharia, and then details the general theories of Islamic law such as: the theory of removing hardship; the theory of liability and guarantee; the theory of unforeseen circumstances and force majeure; the theory of contract; the theory of ownership and right; the theory of abuse of the exercise of a right; the maxim "Actions are judged by their intentions"; the maxim "Certainty is not removed by doubt"; the maxim "Hardship brings facilitation"; the maxim "There shall be no harm nor reciprocating harm"; the maxim "Custom is authoritative"; the maxim "Ijtihad is not overturned by ijtihad"; the maxim "Giving effect to speech is preferable to neglecting it"; contemporary jurisprudential applications of the maxims and theories; and, finally, the effect of theories and maxims on legal inference and on enriching Sharia ijtihad.

This course addresses the theory of usuli inference and its methodological structure, through an analytical and comparative study of usuli methods and their influence on the paths of inference. The course equips the student with the skill of analyzing Sharia evidence (textual, rational, and derivative), explaining its manner of signification and the modes of its causal reasoning, evaluating the inferential process, and critiquing its sources. The course also focuses on demonstrating the effect of differences in usuli methods on the diversity of jurisprudential ijtihad, the conflict of evidences, and the preference among them, and extends to methods of applying usuli inference in collective ijtihad and in contemporary inferential approaches.

This course aims to equip the student with a comprehensive scientific methodology for studying newly arising issues (jurisprudential cases), progressing through the disciplined stages of derivation: beginning with describing the case and understanding its complex context with the help of specialists, moving through its jurisprudential classification and the precise definition of the point of dispute, while developing the student's ability to compare and weigh contemporary evidences and opinions and to prefer among them, and culminating in formulating the legal ruling in accordance with the approved fatwa and institutional controls.

This course addresses the halal industry as an integrated system of production, supply, and certification, through the study of the jurisprudential and objectives-based foundations that govern it, and the issues related to sources of materials and their derivatives, additives, manufacturing processes, and supply chains, and their derivation under the rulings on foods, slaughter, transformation (istihala), impurities, and related rules. It also introduces standards, specifications, audit systems, and certification, and enables the student to evaluate contemporary practices, products, and services, drawing on the UAE's experience in developing and regulating the halal industry in accordance with the requirements of Sharia and quality.

This course studies emerging contracts, products, and financial practices in banks, markets, financing institutions, and insurance companies, such as bank tawarruq, murabaha to the purchase orderer, financial markets and hedging and options contracts, partnership financing, insurance, and virtual currencies, in terms of their description, contractual structuring, and the obligations of their parties, and their analysis in light of Sharia rulings, rules, and objectives. It also enables the student to evaluate their contemporary forms, distinguish permissible from impermissible ones, consider appropriate Sharia alternatives, and draw on the UAE's experience in Islamic finance and the resolutions of Islamic councils and Sharia boards.

B- Elective Specialized Program Requirements

This advanced course focuses on the study of the contemporary institutional applications and organizational frameworks of zakat and waqf. It addresses the complex financial and jurisprudential issues arising from investment products, Sharia-based accounting standards, and modern frameworks of governance and management. The course adopts a comparative analytical methodology that links the established view in Maliki jurisprudence with contemporary ijtihad, invoking Sharia grounding as the particular case and practical application require. The course also analyzes the regulatory frameworks and institutional practice in the United Arab Emirates (such as the Zakat Fund and waqf institutions) and evaluates their economic and developmental function.

This course addresses an introduction to collective and institutional ijtihad, the Sharia grounding and historical emergence of jurisprudential institutions, and an analytical study of contemporary institutions of ijtihad and fatwa; the scientific construction of fatwa bodies and the stages of producing a fatwa; the methods and mechanisms of work in fatwa institutions; the authority and binding force of institutional ijtihad decisions; contemporary fatwa methodologies and the comprehension of reality; the change of fatwa with changes of time, place, custom, and circumstances; fatwa on the issues of Muslim minorities; institutional ijtihad in modern medical and biological developments; institutional ijtihad in financial and economic emerging issues; technology and artificial intelligence in fatwa and ijtihad; the phenomenon of "fatwa chaos" and jurisprudential deviance; and the objectives of Sharia and the production of contemporary fatwa.

This course addresses the establishment, regulation, and analysis of the effect of the objectives of Sharia on contemporary ijtihad, beginning with a statement of the nature of the objectives of Sharia, the relationship between objectives and the causation of rulings, and the evidences for the validity of objectives in Islamic law. It treats the ijtihad function of the objectives of Sharia, how they are established and regulated, with emphasis on the Maliki reference in objectives-based theorizing and its applications. The course develops the student's skill in objectives-based analysis of texts and rulings, through explaining the reality of objectives-based inference and its relationship to Sharia evidence and to the legal maxim, and how it is employed in the ranks of usuli preference and in the description of contemporary cases (in acts of worship, transactions, and crimes), and in applying rulings to them in a disciplined objectives-based manner, thereby highlighting the effect of the objectives in contemporary ijtihad, free of mere speculation or the mixing of objectives with procedural methods for examining contemporary issues.

This course addresses issues of artificial intelligence (such as liability for robotic errors and deepfakes) and modern technologies (such as blockchain technology, digital assets, and software agents). The course seeks to develop the capacity of the Master's student to complete systematic jurisprudential research that progresses from the precise technical description of the case, through its jurisprudential classification, to the analysis of evidences in accordance with the methods of inference and the application of usuli, jurisprudential, and objectives-based rules, culminating in the construction of a sound Sharia ruling. It concludes with the formulation of Sharia and ethical controls governing the use of these technologies and protecting the rights of society in the digital space, drawing on the legislation and pioneering experience of the United Arab Emirates in the fields of artificial intelligence and the digital economy.