Professional Diploma in Contemporary Fiqh Issues and Modern Emergencies
Islamic Studies / Fiqh and Its Principles — Novera University
1. Program Overview:
An advanced and accredited professional and academic program extending over 6 months (160 hours of approved study load), aimed at enabling jurists, muftis, researchers, and Shariah consultants to acquire the tools of contemporary ijtihad and apply Shariah rulings to emerging realities and issues with competence and proficiency. The program covers the usuli and Maqasid-based foundations of the jurisprudence of emerging issues and the methodologies and changing nature of fatwa; contemporary medical and biological issues (organ transplantation, reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, and issues of death and medical care); financial and economic issues, digital currencies, financial technologies (FinTech), e-commerce, and modern financing; in addition to contemporary jurisprudential issues concerning the family, minorities, responsibility and artificial intelligence in digital environments, and emerging environmental and societal matters.
2. Key Objectives:
- Methodological grounding of the jurisprudence of emerging issues: understanding the rules of contemporary ijtihad, methods of preference, the role of Maqasid and universal jurisprudential maxims, and the impact of changes in custom, time, and place on fatwa.
- Activating the role of collective ijtihad: studying the role of contemporary fiqh academies and fatwa institutions, and mastering methodologies of collective consideration in addressing new developments.
- Addressing medical and biological emerging issues: mastering the jurisprudential characterization of contemporary medical interventions, genome and genetic-engineering issues, organ banks, and rulings concerning brain death and resuscitation devices.
- Jurisprudential characterization of financial and digital developments: understanding and characterizing e-commerce contracts, digital currencies and crypto-assets, financial technology platforms (FinTech), and emerging investment structures.
- Dealing with societal issues and smart technologies: studying contemporary family issues, issues affecting Muslim minorities in diaspora, and the jurisprudential and ethical dimensions of artificial-intelligence applications and cyberspace.
- Application and study of real cases: training in the steps of formulating fatwas, preparing jurisprudential grounding papers for emerging issues, and applied discussion of the decisions of fiqh academies.
3. Target Audience:
- Muftis, members of Shariah committees, and researchers in fatwa institutions and bodies and fiqh academies.
- Academics, university professors, and postgraduate students in Faculties of Shariah, Principles of Jurisprudence, and Judiciary.
- Judges, lawyers, and legal consultants concerned with the Shariah characterization of emerging realities.
- Physicians, economists, bankers, and those interested in the jurisprudential controls governing their professional fields.
- Imams, preachers, and da‘wah practitioners concerned with answering questions arising from contemporary realities and societal developments.
4. Study Plan and Courses (4 Main Courses — 23 Detailed Modules — 48 Interactive Lectures):
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Number of Lectures |
Total Teaching Hours
|
|
CFQ101 |
Fiqh of Emerging Issues and Principles of Ijtihad |
12 lectures |
24 hours |
|
CFQ102 |
Contemporary Medical and Biological Fiqh |
12 lectures |
24 hours |
|
CFQ103 |
Contemporary Financial and Economic Fiqh |
12 lectures |
24 hours |
|
CFQ104 |
Contemporary Jurisprudential Issues |
12 lectures |
24 hours |
|
Total |
4 Advanced Specialized Courses |
48 Lectures |
96 Direct Training Hours |
5. Detailed Educational Modules within the Courses:
First Course: Fiqh of Emerging Issues and Principles of Ijtihad (CFQ101)
· The concept of a jurisprudential emerging issue, and the emergence and development of the jurisprudence of emerging issues (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Maqasid and jurisprudential maxims in addressing emerging issues (3 lectures / 6 hours).
· Ijtihad and preference in emerging issues (3 lectures / 6 hours).
· Changes in fatwa, custom, time, and place and their impact on emerging issues (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Collective ijtihad and contemporary jurisprudential institutions (2 lectures / 4 hours).
Second Course: Contemporary Medical and Biological Fiqh (CFQ102)
· Emerging issues related to treatment and medical intervention (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Emerging issues of organ transplantation and limits of disposition over the human body (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Reproductive issues and contemporary biological technologies (3 lectures / 6 hours).
· Genetic engineering and intervention in biological characteristics (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Issues of life, death, and contemporary medical care (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Jurisprudential applications and study of medical cases (1 lecture / 2 hours).
Third Course: Contemporary Financial and Economic Fiqh (CFQ103)
· Developments in contracts and financial transactions (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Digital currencies and assets (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Financing and investment in contemporary applications (3 lectures / 6 hours).
· E-commerce and digital platforms (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Financial technologies and new transformations in markets (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Jurisprudential applications in financial emerging issues (1 lecture / 2 hours).
Fourth Course: Contemporary Jurisprudential Issues (CFQ104)
· Contemporary family and social emerging issues (3 lectures / 6 hours).
· Emerging issues related to Muslim minorities (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Identity, rights, and responsibility in the digital environment (2 lectures / 4 hours).
· Artificial intelligence and modern technologies: jurisprudential and ethical issues (3 lectures / 6 hours).
· Environmental and societal developments in light of Islamic jurisprudence (1 lecture / 2 hours).
· Applications and study of contemporary cases (1 lecture / 2 hours).
6. Organizational Structure and Assessment System:
- Duration and sessions: 6 months (evening period), at a rate of two lectures per week, two hours per lecture = 96 direct interactive training hours through 48 sessions.
- Language of study and delivery method: Arabic | fully remote interactive training (Online).
- Distribution of approved hours (160 hours):
· 96 hours: direct interactive lectures and applied jurisprudential workshops.
· 28 hours: required readings and principal sources on the jurisprudence of emerging issues and fiqh academies.
· 10 hours: chapter questions and short activities.
· 8 hours: applied assignments and jurisprudential research.
· 6 hours: assessment and periodic feedback.
· 6 hours: interim, semester, and final reviews.
· 6 hours: final examination and graduation project.
- Attendance and assessment requirements: attendance of no less than 75% of the direct interactive lectures, and submission of the required assignments and jurisprudential grounding papers.
- Certificate and graduation project: the graduate is awarded the Professional Diploma in Fiqh of Contemporary Issues and Modern Developments after passing the electronic examination (25 questions + 5 questions on applied cases and emerging issues) and submitting an optional applied research paper on the grounding and jurisprudential characterization of one contemporary emerging issue.
