Diploma in Muslim Family Law

The unit critically examines approaches to the development of Islamic law/jurisprudence, starting from the historical emergence of Muslim schools of thought (Hanafi, Shafii, Maliki, Hanbali, Ja’fari, Zahiri and others) and their contribution in forming the systematised legal theory. Students will have an opportunity to examine the tools, methods, procedure and the workings of Islamic legal schools of thought as applied in different contexts.

In this unit students will learn the laws and regulations and practices of family law as a key component of Islamic law and practice. The growing Muslim population in the UK has made it imperative that anyone interested in the area of Islamic family law is conversant with the fundamentals, core concepts, and practical operation, control system and regulatory framework of Islamic family law. The unit will cover the differences between Islamic and western family law models in terms of conceptual framework, governing principles, and the rights and protections given to the parties concerned in the relationship and other stakeholders of family law. In particular the unit will address the question of who are considered to be husband and wife according to the principles of Islamic law and what is the status and consequences of an unlawful marriage. It will also cover all aspects associated with Islamic family law operation, implementation and enforcement via Islamic courts and any financial consequences and burdens associated due to the enforcement of rights under the family law of Islam. The two key and reciprocal rights of husband and wife, i.e. Nafaghah and Tamkin are also considered in this unit. The unit will further explore how Islamic family law principles have evolved throughout time using the Islamic jurisprudential philosophy / method that justifies these principles. The unit will further cover the laws of Islamic marriage and divorce in light of classical Islamic jurisprudence and the recent family law interventions by the Islamic states in different parts of the Islamic world.

The first part (10 %) covers the research approaches in business studies. It aims to prepare students to produce a project proposal. This part of the module examines strategies, design, ethics, and methodologies with particular reference to both qualitative and quantitative methods. The module explores a range of methods appropriate to a range of disciplines including entrepreneurship, banking and finance, management, and sustainable development. It aims to develop students’ analytic skills, which are essential aspects of conducting independent project proposal for business. At the end of the course, students will be required to produce a mini dissertation drawing on available academic theories and approaches (6,000 -8000 words) as part of the assessment.

The unit examines the concept of succession and inheritance and the underpinning principles both from Islamic and secular law perspectives. A range of techniques for calculating inheritance shares as defined by Islamic sources. The second prong of the course focuses on the drafting of valid Islamic Wills under the secular law. The last prong of the course focuses on the usage of waqf as compared to trust for creating endowments.  Waqf beneficiaries according to donors’ will.  

This unit offers a critical examination of children’s rights from an Islamic law perspective but within an international law paradigm. Some relevant sections of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989 will be used as a benchmark to contextualise present day issues relating to rights of children in Islamic law. The focus of the course will be the Islamic law. There are three main areas that the module will cover. 1. The legal and Islamic approach in defining the persona of a child. 2. The controversial areas of rights of children in Islam from a human rights perspective. 3. The issue of custody and guardianship. The Children and their Rights module will familiarise students with the content of international children’s rights and allow them to gain a critical understanding of both theoretical and practical challenges facing children’s rights discourses from an Islamic and secular law perspective. The unit will allow students to apply a child-centred approach when analysing legislation, policies, practices and court decisions concerning children.

The unit critically investigates the legal and fiqhi considerations of intergenerational transfer of estates and administration of estates.  It embraces three main areas: 1. The meaning of estate & wealth management and the need for estate planning. 2. the mechanisms of estate planning 3. Estate tax planning. The unit also sheds light on the Islamic concept of wealth management, estate planning, the mechanisms used for estate planning and estate tax planning.

This unit critically examines the key issues in the study of gender and sexuality within the Islamic tradition. It examines how within the framework of the Qur’an and Shari’ah, gender and sexuality have been conceptualised, and the current debates revolving around gender and sexuality from different perspectives within Islam. It also reflects critically on the roles and relations of men and women in Muslim spaces including gender equality/inequalities, polygamy, veiling, adultery, the patriarchal family, property rights and work. Students will also explore related issues such as “Islamic feminism” and the interplay between socio-economic forces, nationalist processes of modernity and women’s political ambitions. The unit is interdisciplinary in scope, where the material covers relevant literature from history, sociology, anthropology to political science, media, cultural studies, and gender studies. This broad approach enables the diversity and complexities surrounding gender and sexuality to surface and shows how these have shaped Muslim traditions and societies in contemporary contexts.

This unit allows students to comprehend the Islamic sources and approaches from classical and modern perspectives. In particular, they will be introduced to the different sciences developed within Islamic studies from exegesis (tafseer), sciences of Quran (‘ilm al-Quran) and Prophetic traditions (hadith), terminology of hadith (mustalah al-hadith) and their application to Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh). It will allow students to critically grasp the structure of the Islamic core sources and their historical development in a variety of classical and contemporary contexts. The students will also develop critical understanding of the Muslim scholars’ methodological approaches in finding the truth in aqeedah, fiqh iabdat and muamalat, ethics etc.