Foundational Sources Islamic Tradition

Catalog description

TAUGHT BY GTU/CENTER FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES This course will introduce students to the Qur'an, the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, and the main sources of legislation for Islamic law as mentioned in the classical texts of legal theory. We will study the basic sciences of the Qur'an so that students can understand the concepts of preservation, transmission, and exegesis of the Qur'an. Similarly, students will study the basic sciences of the Sunnah so that they get an understanding of the preservation, classification and interpretation of Hadith. Students will then be introduced to an overview of the history of Islamic law, the formation of the various legal schools, and related legal sciences such as maqasid (divine objectives) and legal maxims, in order to understand how different approaches to these sources resulted in varying legal opinions in the Islamic legal tradition.