Head of Department's Message

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and the most perfect blessings be upon our master Muhammad, the Messenger of God, the truthful and trustworthy, sent as a mercy to the worlds, and upon his family and all his companions. To proceed:
Welcome to the Sharia Department of Imam Malik College of Sharia and Law in Dubai.
The College has adopted a Sharia programme that combines authenticity and contemporary relevance. It takes particular care to preserve the jurisprudence of the early scholars, especially the Imams of the legal schools, while meeting the needs of the age. It is distinguished by the depth with which it presents jurisprudential questions, together with the science of Usul al-Fiqh, legal maxims and the objectives of the Sharia (Maqasid). The programme also aims to focus on contemporary fiqh through presenting and studying contemporary issues and identifying the rules and controls that govern them. Through it, students acquire a set of outcomes set as the programme's objectives, including the ability to issue fatwas (Ifta'), to practise judgeship (Qada'), and the skill of public speaking and delivery, in addition to a range of cognitive, practical, behavioural and affective outcomes.
The College is distinguished by its choice to teach school-based (madhhab) fiqh, given its great effect in developing students' usuli reasoning and giving them the skill of deriving branch rulings from their foundational principles (takhrij al-furu' 'ala al-usul). It enables them to understand texts, to probe and perceive their underlying causes (ilal) through takhrij, tanqih and tahqiq, to identify the rooting of a jurist's indication (dalala) and to know the methods of preference (tarjih) among such indications, to derive the wisdom behind the indication and legislation, and to determine the actual applicability of the indication, so that they are able to apply analogy (qiyas) to it in new matters.
Welcome, my dear students, to the precincts of Imam Malik College, may God be pleased with him, in the Sharia Department. We take as our example the welcome that the Messenger of God, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, extended to the seeker of knowledge. Safwan ibn Assal reported this welcome when he came to the Prophet seeking knowledge, saying: "I came to the Messenger of God, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, while he was reclining in the mosque on a red woollen cloak. I said to him: O Messenger of God, I have come seeking knowledge. He said: Welcome to the seeker of knowledge."
Know, dear student, that you are upon a great good, in light of the Prophet's saying, may God's peace and blessings be upon him: "Whomever God wills good for, He grants him understanding of the religion."
This knowledge is the path to attaining the happiness of both abodes, in this world and in the Hereafter.
It holds the highest place among the sciences; it is the compass of the scholar's thought, the centre point of creativity, the axis of reaching the truth, and the foundation for regulating conduct and attaining happiness and tranquillity.
Within the precincts of Imam Malik College, and the Sharia Department in particular, you will find the moderate method, balanced thought and responsible conduct.
Welcome to this College. We pray that God grants you every success and right guidance.

Head of the Sharia Department
Professor Dr.
Ali Abdulaziz Siyour