Description

This module focuses on the historical background of Islamic law, its sources and its development in Southeast Asia and Singapore. The first part of this session will introduce an overview of the early developments of Islamic law and the formation of various schools of juristic thought. Knowledge of the formative period in its historical context is pertinent to comprehending contemporary themes in Islamic law. Additionally, the primary and secondary sources of classical Islamic jurisprudence as tools for independent reasoning (ijtihad) will be discussed. The second part of the module will contextualise these developments as they have developed in Southeast Asia and Singapore. It will also touch on the consideration of customary and state laws in issuing legal edicts. The plurality of thought and application within Islamic scholarly works will be discussed throughout.

Further questions to be explored:

1. What led to the formation of schools of thought in the Islamic legal tradition?
2. How did judges resolve emerging issues after the demise of the Prophet if the text is silent or ambiguous?
3. Are the rules of Islamic tradition that an interpreter develops law?
4. Can customary or state laws be incorporated with Islamic laws?

Lecturer’s Profiles

Dr. Arif Jamal
Associate Professor, NUS Law

Arif Jamal studied politics (B.A.) and law (LL.B.) in Canada and was called to the Bar of British Columbia. Thereafter, he undertook post-graduate work in the UK earning an LL.M. degree, focusing on Islamic law, at the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) and then obtaining his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Laws at UCL. Arif has previously been a Teaching Fellow at UCL Laws and at the School of Law at SOAS, and also a Visiting Researcher with the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. Arif’s research and teaching interests include legal and political theory, law and religion and law in Muslim contexts.

Dr. Nazirudin Nasir
Senior Director, Religious & Policy Development, MUIS

Nasir earned an M.A. in comparative law at SOAS, University of London, an M.St. in religion at Oxford, and a D.Phil. from St. Cross College, Oxford. His dissertation investigated the geneology of the concept of Abrahamic religions, particularly in the works of the French Islamicist Louis Massignon. His first degree is in Islamic law from Al-Azhar University in Cairo.