Applications Open
Shari‘a: Development of Fiqh and Ethics in Muslim Contexts
About the course
Programme fees: £175
This online interactive course is designed for individuals in leadership roles within Jamati and Imamat institutions, educators, professionals and others interested in learning about this theme. The course will provide an understanding on how what has come to be called shari‘a developed and evolved in Muslim history. Taught by specialists from different schools of thought in Islam, the online course will focus on contemporary manifestations and interpretations of shari‘a through an analysis of case studies. It will provide a perspective to show that what is understood as shari‘a is not an exclusive marker of Muslim identity nor an ubiquitous symbol of Islam at the cost of other aspects of the faith. Special emphasis will be placed on Shi‘i approaches to law and, more particularly, on Ismaili approaches to shari‘a under the guidance of a living hereditary Imam. The course will also encourage a discussion on various approaches to ethics and its relationship to shari‘a as Muslims, like others, confront new issues in the present globalised world.
Dr Mohamed Keshavjee
Course Director
Mohamed M. Keshavjee is a South African born-lawyer called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1969. He completed his LLM at London University and his PhD at SOAS with a focus on Islamic Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). He has practised law in Kenya, Canada and the United Kingdom.
His first book, Islam, Sharia and Alternative Dispute Resolution deals with how Muslims engage with sharia, customary practices and the laws of the United Kingdom. He has spoken on ADR at conferences in Europe, North America and Asia, and has trained family mediators in the EU countries and imams and pastors in mosque and church conflicts in the UK and the USA, respectively.
In 2016, he was awarded the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Peace Award by the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, for his work on peace and human rights education.
