Introduction
This course will cover the details of financial transactions, inheritance, marriage, divorce, child custody, injurious crimes, fixed Sharia punishments, hunting and halal slaughtering of animals, oaths and vows, and court proceedings according to the Shafi’i School of Islamic jurisprudence. It will cover the who can undertake a financial contract, what can be sold, and various details of a wide number of contracts like hiring, agency, companies, and investments. The course also goes over the various shares in inheritance, its conditions and execution, and other related matters. There will also be some detail on polygamy, the Islamic juristic and political structure, and jus ad bellum and jus in bello.
Curricular Context
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Before taking this course, take the Essentials of Worship (Shafi’i): Ba Fadl’s The Short Abridgement Explained
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Take this course before all courses in Level Three.
Course Outline
Session 1 | Al Bai’ – Sales Transactions Al Riba – Interest Sales Cancellations |
Session 2 | Al Salam – Paying in Advance Al Rahn – Putting up Collateral Al Hajr – Suspension |
Session 3 | Al Sulh – Reconciliation Al Hawala – Transferring a Debt Al Dhaman – Guaranteeing Payment Al Kafalah – Guaranteeing a Person’s Appearance |
Session 4 | Al Sharika – Cooperative Partnerships Al Wakala – Authorisation Al Iqrar – Admissions |
Session 5 | Al ‘Ariyyah – Lending Items Al Ghasb – Wrongfully Taken Property Al Shufa’ – Preemption |
Session 6 | Al Qirad – Profit Sharing Venture Al Musaqah – Watering Crops for a Stipulated Portion Al Ijarah – Renting Goods and Hiring Services |
Session 7 | Al Ja’alah – Job Wages Al Mukhabara – Sharecropping Ihya al Mawat – Regenerating Uninhibited Lands Water Rights and Access |
Session 8 | Al Waqf – Endowments Al Hiba – Gifts Al Luqata – Lost and Found |
Session 9 | Al Laqit – The Foundling Al Wadi’ – Deposits for Safekeeping Al Wasiyah – Bequests |
Session 10 | Al Fara’id (Inheritance) – Introduction Male Inheritors Female Inheritors Those Who Always Inherit Those Who Never Inherit Al ‘Asabat – Universal Inheritors Al Furud – Fixed Shares Al Hajb – Elimination Shares of Brothers and Sisters |
Session 11 | Al Nikah (Marriage) – Introduction Looking at the Opposite Sex The Integrals of the Marriage Contract Al Khitba – Marriage Proposals Al Ijbar – Compelling Women to Marry Unmarriageable Women |
Session 12 | Spousal Defects Permitting Annulment Al Sadaq – The Wife’s Marriage Payment Al Walimah – The Wedding Feast |
Session 13 | Conjugal rights; divorce and related issues; |
Session 14 | Child custody and financial support. |
Session 15 | Blood money |
Session 16 | Fixed Sharia punishments |
Session 17 | Jihad: Jus ad bellum and jus in bello |
Session 18 | Jihad: Jus post bellum |
Session 19 | Hunting and halal slaughter |
Session 20 | Competitions and Entertainment |
Session 21 | Oaths and Vows |
Session 22 | Caliphate |
Session 23 | Court proceedings |
Session 24 | Manumission |
What You Will Learn:
- The technical side of the vast majority of financial and familial relations that a Muslim will get involved in his/her life.
- the various types of sale, how “interest” can be avoided in sales and currency exchange, the various forms of cancelling a sales contract, forward sales, and debt transfers.
- The concept of financial liability and legal liability it discussed along with various forms of investing money in a halal way.
- Other key topics include charitable engagements, and who should get married, and how it should be done from beginning to end.
- The details of the shares inherited from one family members are explained, those one inherits from and those one does not, and how the shares can vary based on the combinations of living heirs.
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How an Islamic marriage is terminated, and what the financial obligations are towards one’s family members.
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How Islam joins between the spirit and the letter of the Sacred Law
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How Islam promotes law and order
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How flexible Sharia law can be
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What valid oaths and vows are
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How Islamic law fits into the current political climate
About the Course Text
This course is an explanation of Matn Abi Shuja’ , written by the learned and pious Shafi‘i scholar from Basra, Ahmad ibn al Hussein al-Asfahani (d. 500’s AH / 1100’s CE), more famously known as, Abu Shuja‘. Abu Shuja‘ taught the Shafi‘i school for 40 years in Basra, working as a scholar and judge, before retiring at the end of his life to Medina, where he worked as a servant at the mosque of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). His Matn Abi Shuja‘, a short introduction to the Shafi‘i school of sacred law, is one of the most blessed textbooks of the school–although it was written almost a millennium ago, it remains an integral part of Shafi‘i fiqh curricula all over the world, and has been the subject of dozens of commentaries and super-commentaries ever since it was written all the way down to the present age.
“Whoever guides someone to goodness will have a similar reward”– The Prophet (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him)