Third Year: Learning areas include Fiqh, Qurʾān , Ḥdīth, History and Tarbiyah
Learning Area 1: Fiqh (Islamic law)
Subject: Uṣūl al-Fiqh (Islamic legal theory)
Focus: A thorough study of Islamic Legal Theory (till Qiyās)
Textbook: Al-Wajīz fī Uṣūl al- Tashrīʿ al-Islāmī
Author: Hītū, Muḥammad Ḥasan
Objective:
This well presented text is covered methodically over the third and fourth years.
This text, accompanied by the guidance of a seasoned instructor in the science, gives the
student a well-rounded grasp of Uṣūl al-Fiqh in the Shāfi’ī Madhhab. The primary objective
of teaching this book is to give the student sufficient theoretical knowledge along with a
practical command of the science to better understand the workings of Fiqh.
Learning Area 1: Fiqh (Islamic law)
Subject: Qawāʿid Fiqhiyyah (legal maxims)
Focus: An introduction to legal maxims.
Textbook: Idah al-Qawaid
Author:
Objective:
Content coming soon.
Learning Area 1: Fiqh (Islamic law)
Subject: Furūʿ al-Fiqh (Substantive Islamic law)
Focus: Fiqh al-ʿIbādāt – ṭahārah, ṣalāh, zakāh, ṣawm, ḥajj
Textbook: Mughnī al-Muḥtāj ilā Maʿrifati Maʿānī Alfāẓ al-Minhāj
Author: al-Shirbīnī, Muḥammad al-Khaṭīb (d. H/G)
Objective:
The institute prides itself with being dedicated to keeping alive the legacy of the Shāfi‘ī Madhhab.
This work, taught over four years from three to six, is used to provide a thorough basis for the
study of the madhhab by introducing the students to the development of the school from its inception
to the stage of crystallization. As part of the study, students are schooled with the knowledge of the
biographies of the scholars, their books and the principles of the school (how fatwā is passed).
The objective is to cover as much of the Fiqh content as is required to develop the mind
of the student to be able to think like a Faqīh (scholar of Islamic law). In this way students become
equipped to deal with legal problems using the framework of the Shāfi‘ī Madhhab.
Textbook: Al-Fiqh al-Manhajī –chapter on farāʾiḍ (law of inheritance)
Author:
Objective:
Content coming soon.
Learning Area 2: Qurʾān
Subject: ʿUlūm al-Qurʿān
Focus: A contemporary study of the classical Qurʾān sciences (volume 1)
Textbook: Manāhil al-ʿIrfān
Author: al-Zurqānī, Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Aẓīm (d.1367 H/ 1975 CE)
Objective:
Albeit contemporary, many scholars classify this work as the greatest piece of literature
written in the genre of ‘Ulūm al-Qur’ān. This two volume literary masterpiece, which is
covered over the third and fourth years respectively, provides the students with a thorough
command of the issues and sciences pivoted around the Qur’ān and its related sciences. One of
the unique features of this work, other than its superb philological value, is that the author
presents a list of allegations and objections as raised by Muslim scholars, Orientalists and Western
academics, at the end of each section, thereafter he proceeds to refute all false allegations and
responds to all valid objections.
Learning Area 2: Qurʾān
Subject: Tafsīr (Exegesis)
Focus: A reading of a primary classical exegesis
Textbook: Tafsīr al-Jalālayn
Authors: al-Maḥallī, Jalāl al-Dīn and al-Suyūṭī, Jalāl al-Dīn
Objective:
This is probably the most well-known exegetical work in the Islamic world and its succinct,
comprehendible style clearly displays why. This text is used to introduce the student to the world
of exegeses by covering selected portions of this basic exegesis as a catalyst for greater elaboration
of the meanings of the Qur’ān. The desired outcome of studying this work is to give the students access
to the world of exegeses and its various genres.
Learning Area 3: Ḥadīth
Subject: Muṣṭalaḥ al-Ḥadīth (ḥadīth methodology)
Focus: A thorough introduction incl. historical overview, nomenclature, literature and methodology.
Textbook: Manhaj al-Naqd fī ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth
Author: ʿItr, Nūr al-Dīn
Objective:
After a skeletal overview of Ḥadīth nomenclature (Muṣṭalaḥ al-Ḥadīth) is introduced in the second year,
a detailed study of this contemporary work further develops the student of Ḥadīth in the third year.
This work provides the student with an overview of the development of Ḥadīth and its related sciences
and a thorough analysis of the major concepts therein. Students attain the knowledge of critical
information required to initiate the avid Ḥadīth student into this fundamental science of Sharī‘ah.
Learning Area 3: Ḥadīth
Subject: Applied Ḥadīth Methodology
Focus: An introduction and practical application of Narrator Criticism and ḥadīth authentication.
Textbook: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb
Author: al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAli ibn Ḥajar
Objective:
Content coming soon.
Learning Area 3: Ḥadīth
Subject: Canonical ḥadīth reading
Focus: In depth study of the legal ḥadīth
Textbook: Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī (second half)
Author: al-Tirmidhī, Abū ʿĪsā, Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā
Objective:
The students’ first introduction into the primary sources of Ḥadīth comes in the form
of a detailed study of one of the six canonical collections of Ḥadīth (ṣiḥāḥ sittah).
The reading of this work is divided over the third and fourth years, covering the second
half (which focuses more on morals and virtues) and then the first half (focusing more on aḥkām [law])
respectively. The reading of this work provides an opportunity for the student to be exposed,
practically, to the concepts which have been covered, theoretically in ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth.
Another key aspect to this study is the introduction to the well-known narrators of Ḥadith
and the science of Jarḥ wa Ta‘dīl (Narrator Criticism), at a practical level.
Complimentary to this, students are introduced to the basic Rijāl works (Biographies of Ḥadīth narrators),
especially the Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb by the erudite Ḥadīth scholar, Ibn Ḥajr al-‘Asqalānī.
This format of study lays the foundation for a well-rounded Ḥadīth scholar who would be
capable of independently negotiating both the sanad (chain of transmitters of a ḥadīth)
as well as the matn (the actual content of the ḥadīth).
Learning Area 4: History
Subject: Prophetic History (sīrah)
Focus:
Textbook: Fiqh al-Sīrah
Author: Al-Būṭī, Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān
Objective:
This is a unique presentation of the biography of the Prophet Muḥammad, ṣallā Llāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
It gives a brief description of the events of his life, but then elaborates on the lessons within those
incidents. This work provides the student with the ability to look at history with a greater depth
and appreciation.
Learning Area 5: Tarbiyah
Subject:
Focus:
Textbook:
Author:
Objective:
Content coming soon.
Admission Requirements