Hizb ut-Tahrir is a transnational Islamic fundamentalist group that operates in more than forty countries with main emphasis in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The group claims to be a political party that proceeds with non-violent means and its ideology being Islam. Its objectives are strictly political, and its main goal is to topple an existing regime to resurrect the caliphate with structures and conditions similar to the ones of early seventh-century (C.E.) Islam. The proposed Islamic state will be responsible for transforming societies in a united Ummah, and for spreading the word of Islam throughout the world. Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) rejects the modern, secular state structures and democracy as something "man-made," humanly derived and "un-Islamic," and therefore, does not participate in any secular electoral process. However, HT does not reject modern technology and its advantages. This research will focus on Hizb ut-Tahrir, its objectives, and its preferences as the group adjust its strategies according to the political environment in which it is embedded. The thesis will investigate how HT often uses a legal framework to spread its Islamist ideology and how this multifaceted phenomenon is context specific. The conclusion will address policy recommendations that reflect area- and context-related specifics with a special focus on the group's major threat--its ideology. / German Navy author.

In the late eighteenth century, a large urban redevelopment program was initiated by the Shii Isna ‘Ashari Muslim ruler Asaf al-Dawlah in Lucknow, a city located in the prosperous, semi-autonomous north Indian region of Awadh. The development included four monumental entrances, a congregational mosque and a monumental imambarah, a ritual centre used for the annual mourning of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn by the city’s small, elite Shii Isna community. Incorporating one of the largest masonry vaults ever built in human history, the imambarah has a monumental scale that contributes to its uniqueness. Although Shii Isna ‘Ashari communities elsewhere developed smaller imambarah facilities, none ever thought to build one using monumental proportions typically reserved for congregational mosques. Asaf al-Dawlah’s Great Imambarah is unusual in the history of world architecture and in Shii Isna ‘Ashari, Islamic religious practice, but the building and complex have never been the focus of study. / Graduate

Creative Shari‘ah compliance can be defined as compliance with the letter but not the objectives of Shari‘ah. In recent years, Islamic finance industry practises have come under scrutiny, with strong critiques levelled against many institutions that claim to provide Shari‘ah-compliant Islamic financial products and services, while such products and services in fact undermine the spirit and the objectives of Shari‘ah. Financial instruments based on the profit- and loss-sharing model are deemed by Shari‘ah scholars and Muslim academics to be the most compliant with the objectives of Islamic law. Nonetheless, research has shown that they are the least practised forms of Islamic finance; in contrast, institutions offering Islamic financial services (IIFS) offer mainly debt-based instruments. While many researchers have noted this gap between the theory and practise of Islamic finance, no study has provided a sustained analysis of the issue. This thesis undertakes such analysis and, in doing so, significantly contributes to the sphere of Islamic finance in three main ways. First, it critically appraises justifications of creative Shari‘ah compliance practises. Second, it examines how Shari‘ah supervisory board )SSB) governance practises and the inconsistent fatwas (Islamic legal opinions) issued by SSBs contribute to the issue of creative Shari‘ah compliance in contemporary Islamic finance. Most importantly, it suggests regulatory mechanisms which regulators can employ in Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and in secular countries such as the United Kingdom to deal with the issue of creative Shari‘ah compliance. This thesis concludes that creative Shari‘ah compliance is not a phenomenon new to Islamic law, but it is one that has no solid justification in Islamic jurisprudence. This study suggests two public mechanisms to remedy the issue of creative Shari‘ah compliance: establishing central Shari‘ah supervisory boards and enforcing compulsory disclosure. In addition, it proposes private mechanisms to remedy creative Shari‘ah compliance which can be employed without governmental involvement. These mechanisms include adopting a Shari‘ah compliance rating, Shari‘ah indices, private Shari‘ah auditing, international standards related to enhancing Shari‘ah compliance, and a whistle-blowing policy for serious Shari‘ah compliance violations, as well as characterising an IIFS in its articles of association as an entity that fully complies with Shari‘ah ruling. These remedies are particularly useful when an IIFS is operating within a jurisdiction where regulators cannot or prefer not to be involved in regulating Shari‘ah governance.

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This study was conducted in Iran (Tehran) to assess perceptions of women with regard to access to justice. Its aims are firstly to provide original evidence about user perceptions of access to justice, and to contribute to related national/international debates and body of literature. The research reviews some of the literature in the field of access to justice to highlight similarities and gaps between contextual framework of Islamic and Western correlated legal concepts including definitional analysis in support of and/ or against access to justice model worldwide. Consideration was also given to a comparative framework for conceptualizing access to justice from Islamic Law perspectives. The research evaluates the historical development of access to justice in the Islamic Republic of Iran as a case study together with an analysis of barriers. The research also presents the findings of a survey study on women' perceptions (first study of its kind) in Iran conducted as a significant constituent of the thesis. The thesis concludes that existing Western models have excessively highlighted the need to strengthen state's institutions to provide 'access' to mechanisms of 'justice'. Access to justice as a complex phenomenon, however, incorporates various conceptions of 'justice' as an index for 'access' on one side and individuals as 'users of justice' on the other side. A distinctive conclusion is that 'legal empowerment' can provide wider 'access to justice' in Iran particularly for disadvantaged groups such as women.

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