ML412 – Islamic Commercial Law – The Islamic College

ML412 – Islamic Commercial Law

Course Overview

This module presents an in-depth study the Islamic commercial law in contemporary contexts. Islamic commercial law, known as fiqh mua’malāt constitutes an important branch of law dealing with issues of business and contracts. In business law, which also covers corporate law, it is the body of law that governs business and commercial transactions. It includes within its compass such titles as principal and agent; carriage by land and sea; merchant shipping; guarantee; marine, fire, life, and accident insurance; bills of exchange and partnership. It can also be understood to regulate corporate contract, hiring practices and the manufacture and sales consumer goods. A contract being a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties with mutual obligations and in Shari’a law, it is a complex legal discipline in both its jurisprudential foundation and its practical function, covering a variety of dealings and transactions to meet the needs of the society.

Module Info

Module Title: Islamic Commercial Law

Module Type: Designated

Program: MA/PG – Equivalent Dip Islamic Law Distance Education (DE)

Prerequisite(s): none

Credit(s): 15

Module Code: ML 412

Semester: 1

Component(s): Activities: 30% Review Questions & Discussion Group: 10% Final Essay : 60%

Syllabus
Strategy
Material

sYLLABUS

This first part of the module seeks to introduce students to the Shari’ah h law understanding of Contracts within fiqh mua’malāt. The module will examine the following core issues:

The requirements of a contract
The classification of a contract such as (Oqoud Tamlyk, Moshārekat, Niyābat, Tabaei, Tabraei)
The mechanism of contract formation and disqualification
Conditions of the parties
Proxies and Guardians
Risk taking and Gharār/Qarār
Dayn and Remittance

With the aim of providing an overview of the topic as well as focusing on specific issues, each session above will address the relevant Islamic legal framework and particular contemporary issues of special importance but will only touch on comparative aspect leaving the bulk of this work to the module of Comparative Law and legal systems.
The second part of the module aims at providing a specialised knowledge in one of the areas of the Islamic commercial law. Students will join a discussion group on an agreed theme that meet on at least four occasions and which will address a specialised area listed below. The second part of the module will enable students to engage in research and complete a project in one of the following areas:

Islamic banking
Insurance and assurance
Rent and Mortgages
Zakāt and other forms of taxation in Islam

Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy

All learning materials are developed according to the SCATE format. Students are advised to study units available online followed by timetabled activities which are of crucial importance and require a serious attention. Students need to consult suggested reading materials which are not necessarily available online. At the same time, students are expected to contribute to Discussion Group as an integral part of their study. They would receive feedback regarding their activities and contribution by the module tutor. Extra reading and activities are provided for students who are interested to have a deeper and broader understanding of the issues of concern.
1. Formative Assessment:
Formative assessment for this module will consist of written feedback from the lecturer, questioning and discussion through the online forums. One draft of the students’ final essay (coursework) may be handed in to the lecturer at the 12th learning week for formative assessment, in which the lecturer will give the student feedback on how to improve their research and quality of writing.
2. Summative Assessment:
Students are required to submit 2 out of 5 Review Questions (RQ) and 2 out of 5 Activities (Act) as the weekly assignments for each module during the semester. All of these assignments as well as students’ final essays at the end of the semester will be commented and marked by tutors. Students can see those comments and marks in their drop box which are available in their D2L accounts. Finally, students are required to submit an Individual coursework -final essay (4000 words) on a relevant topic approved in advance by the module tutor.

Assessment Weighting
Activities: 30%
Review Questions & Discussion Group: 10%
Final Essay (Coursework): 60%
Students should get at least a pass mark for all three above components.

Learning Material

Core readings

Choudhury, M.A. (2000) Comparative Economic Theory, Islamic and Occidental Perspectives, US: Kluwer Academic.
Ghazali, A. & Omar, S. eds. (1989) Readings in the concept and methodology of Islamic economics. Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications.
Kamali, M.H. (2001) Islamic Commercial Law: An Analysis of Futures and Option. UK: Ca
Khan Khan. M.A (1990) Islamic Economics and Finance: A Glossary. UK: Routledge. Available on:
http://iugc.yolasite.com/resources/Reference%20Book%2001%20-%20Islamic%20Economics%20and%20Finance,%20A%20Glossary%20-%20M.%20A.%20Khan.pdf
Milani, S.F, (2011) Thirty Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence. UK: Islam in English Press
Sadr M.B (1983) Iqtisaduna. UK: WOFIS
Shaikh, A.M. (1992) Towards interest-free banking. India: International Islamic Publishers.
Siddiqi, M. N. (1996) Role of the State in the Economy: An Islamic Perspective. U.K: The Islamic Foundation.
Tusi, M. B. H Trans. Ezzati A (2008) Al-Nehayah. U.K: ICAS Press.
Zaman, Mukhtar, ed. (1993) Banking and finance, Islamic concept. Karachi: International Association of Islamic Banks.