Islamic Law

3 credits

This course aims to provide a broad introduction to Islamic law in both theory and practice. Islamic law consists of positive law and legal theory based on Islams foundational sources, the Quran and Prophetic tradition, collectively known as the Sharia. The course will consist of two main sections. The first will provide a historical and conceptional background on Islamic law, looking primarily at its origins, theoretical foundations, structure and interaction with the state. The next section will focus on substantive law in the core areas of criminal, commercial, labor and family law. The course will also extend beyond those areas to examine how Islamic law operates in the context of war, revolution and protest, as well as how it addresses modern ideas such as human rights. While Islamic law is relevant to both the personal practice of Muslims and systems governing various populations, this class will focus almost exclusively on the latter with the aim of giving students a sense of how Islamic law operates in the public domain. In the process, the course will help expand students conception of law in the sense of enforceable rights and duties to facilitate their ability to engage in more robust comparative analysis.