Professional Diploma in Higher Objectives of Islamic Law (Maqasid al-Shariah) and Contemporary Applications
Islamic Studies / Usul al-Fiqh and Maqasid al-Shariah — Novera International University
1. Program Overview:
An accredited professional and applied program extending over 3 months (80 hours of approved study load), aimed at enabling researchers, jurists, muftis, and policymakers to comprehend the Maqasid system of Islamic Shariah and activate it as an ijtihadi and analytical tool in addressing contemporary issues and developments. The program covers the emergence and development of the science of Maqasid, the levels of Maqasid and the five universals and their modern expansions, methods of identifying Shariah objectives, rules of legal reasoning, preference, and balancing benefits and harms, and practical applications of the Maqasid methodology in the fields of economics and Islamic finance, family and societal issues, Siyasah Shar'iyyah and human rights, and applying rulings to rapidly evolving contemporary issues.
2. Key Objectives:
- Epistemological grounding of the science of Maqasid: understanding the conceptual and historical structure of the science of Maqasid and studying the contributions of major imams such as al-Juwayni, al-Ghazali, al-Shatibi, and Ibn Ashur.
- Mastering methods of identifying Maqasid: mastering the usuli and methodological tools used to derive the effective causes of rulings and their general and specific objectives from Shariah texts.
- Applying the rules of balancing interests and consequences: training in applications of the jurisprudence of consequences, blocking and opening the means, and the levels of necessities, needs, and embellishments when benefits and harms compete.
- Activating Maqasid in transactions and public policies: employing Maqasid-based understanding in evaluating contemporary financial products, legislative policies, and economic and social systems.
- Applying rulings to contemporary emerging issues: acquiring skills in Maqasid-based ijtihad to address medical, technological, intellectual, and human-rights developments in local and international environments.
3. Target Audience:
- Researchers, academics, and faculty members in Shariah, Usul al-Fiqh, and Law.
- Muftis, members of fatwa institutions, and advisers to fiqh committees and Shariah bodies.
- Legal consultants, judges, and policymakers and legislators in public and private institutions.
- Professionals working in Islamic banking, humanitarian organizations, and community-development institutions.
- Graduates and postgraduate students in Faculties of Shariah, Law, Islamic Economics, and Political Science.
4. Study Plan and Academic Modules:
|
Module |
Number of Lectures |
Total Hours
|
|
Introduction to the Science of Maqasid: Emergence and Historical Development |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Levels of Maqasid, Preservation of the Five Universals, and Their Contemporary Expansions |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Methods of Identifying Maqasid and Usuli Legal Reasoning |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Rules of Balancing and Preference, Jurisprudence of Consequences, and Blocking the Means |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Maqasid Applications in the Jurisprudence of Financial Transactions and Economics |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Maqasid Applications in Family, Society, and Human Rights |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Maqasid in Siyasah Shar'iyyah, Governance, and Management of Public Affairs |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Activating the Maqasid Methodology in the Jurisprudence of Contemporary Emerging Issues and Developments |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Total: 8 Modules |
24 Lectures |
48 Training Hours
|
5. Organizational Structure and Assessment System:
- Duration and sessions: 3 months (evening period), at a rate of two lectures per week, two hours per lecture = 48 interactive training hours.
- Language of study and delivery method: Arabic | fully remote interactive training (Online).
- Distribution of approved hours (80 hours):
· 48 hours: direct interactive lectures (study circles and live discussion).
· 14 hours: required readings in major works on Maqasid and Usul (Al-Muwafaqat, Maqasid al-Shariah by Ibn Ashur, and others).
· 6 hours: enrichment readings, contemporary Maqasid research, and fatwas of fiqh academies.
· 6 hours: assignments, practical applications, and analysis of texts and fatwas.
· 6 hours: self-assessment questions, final review, and final completion examination.
- Attendance and assessment requirements: attendance of no less than 75% of the lectures, and completion of applications and periodic assignments.
- Certificate and graduation project: the graduate is awarded a Professional Diploma in Maqasid al-Shariah and Contemporary Applications after passing the electronic examination (25 questions + 5 questions on practical and jurisprudential cases) and optionally preparing an applied research paper addressing a contemporary emerging issue from a Maqasid perspective.
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