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Subjects 2007


Current Issues in Islamic Law 730794

Objectives

A candidate who has successfully completed the subject should be able to:

  • Demonstrate a firm grasp of the history and development of Islam and Islamic law and especially the basic sources of Islamic jurisprudence
  • Describe recent developments in Islamic legal thought and identify key intellectual debates among Muslim scholars
  • Explain the Islamic legal arguments for and against a series of controversial issues relevant to contemporary Australian society
  • Apply Islamic jurisprudential method to common modern problems.
Syllabus

Principal topics will include:

  • The origins of Islam and Islamic law
  • The principal sources of Islamic law: Qur’an and Sunna
  • Islam, the modern nation state and constitutionalism
  • Shura, Islam and ‘democracy’
  • Islam and human rights
  • Islam, corporal punishment and hudud
  • Islamic costume: veiling and headscarfs
  • Jihad and terrorism
  • Islam and religious minorities.