Master of Islamic Jurisprudence and Its Principles

Goals and Outcomes

Program Goals

The program seeks to achieve the following goals:

1. Prepare researchers in Islamic Jurisprudence and its Principles who possess advanced knowledge of methods of legal inference, jurisprudential theories, and objectives of Sharia (maqasid), who are proficient in the foundations and branches of the Maliki school, and who are open to other schools within a comparative framework.

2. Build the student's jurisprudential and usuli aptitude (malaka), qualifying the student for independent examination of issues and for addressing emerging matters in a well-grounded manner.

3. Qualify the student to study contemporary financial transactions and the halal industry and its standards, combining Sharia-based grounding with an understanding of professional and regulatory realities.

4. Enable the student to research the legislative context of the United Arab Emirates in civil and commercial transactions.

5. Develop the student's ability to conduct systematic Sharia research and to employ its sources and modern tools, qualifying the student to complete specialized studies on issues of jurisprudence and its Principles.

6. Instill in the student a commitment to academic integrity and to the standards of documentation and verification, and an awareness of the limits of competence in institutional jurisprudential work.

7. Prepare specialized Sharia competencies that meet the needs of the labor market, in keeping with the standing of the United Arab Emirates in Islamic finance and the halal industry, and that supply its Sharia, legal and financial institutions, fatwa and research centers, and zakat and waqf bodies with qualified human capital.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, the graduate should be able to:

1. Explain the methods of usuli inference and the overarching jurisprudential theories, their connection to legal maxims and objectives of Sharia, and their effect on the diversity of juristic opinions.

2. Explain the rulings and rules governing contemporary financial transactions and the halal industry and its standards.

3. Outline the UAE legislation on civil and commercial transactions and its fields of application.

4. Examine the methods of institutional ijtihad, collective fatwa, and the mechanisms by which academies and Sharia boards operate.

5. Analyze Sharia evidence according to usuli methods, show its bearing on the ruling, and critically assess its sources and the manner of its inference.

6. Describe a newly arising case and classify it jurisprudentially by referring it to its counterpart among rulings and rules.

7. Determine the prevailing view in the Maliki school on a question, compare it with the positions of other schools, trace their differences to their underlying sources, and state the basis for preference.

8. Compare a jurisprudential ruling with the legislative text on the same issue, and identify points of agreement and divergence.

9. Evaluate financial transactions and halal industry products in light of the approved rulings, objectives, and standards.

10. Complete a specialized scholarly thesis, defining its problem, selecting its methodology and sources, employing its digital tools, and verifying its results.

11. Adhere in his or her research output to the standards of academic integrity and intellectual property rights, and to the limits of his or her competence in institutional jurisprudential work.

12. Participate in the work of research teams, present his or her studies before specialists, and keep abreast of developments related to his or her field.

13. Program outcomes and their intersection with Level 7 of the National Qualifications Framework

• Acting with responsibility, creativity, independence, and academic integrity

1. Explain the rulings and rules governing contemporary financial transactions and the halal industry and its standards.

• Advanced skills in devising innovative solutions to research problems

1. Outline the UAE legislation on civil and commercial transactions and its fields of application.

• Advanced skills in devising innovative solutions to research problems

• The ability to perform advanced scholarly analysis and critique in a specialized field

• The ability to perform advanced scholarly analysis and critique in a specialized field

1. Describe a newly arising case and classify it jurisprudentially by referring it to its counterpart among rulings and rules.

• The ability to perform advanced scholarly analysis and critique in a specialized field

1. Determine the prevailing view in the Maliki school on a question, compare it with the positions of other schools, trace their differences to their underlying sources, and state the basis for preference.

• Acting with responsibility, creativity, independence, and academic integrity

• The ability to perform advanced scholarly analysis and critique in a specialized field

• The ability to perform advanced scholarly analysis and critique in a specialized field

Intersection of Outcomes with the National Qualifications Framework

Program Information

Downloadable Files