Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Mūsā b. Muḥammad al-Lakhmī al-Shāṭibī al-Gharnāṭī – „al-Shāṭibī‟ – was a fourteenth century Granadan Mālikī religio-legal theorist and jurisconsult. His best known work – al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-sharīʽa – proposed a significant reinterpretation of religio-legal epistemology and hermeneutics emphasizing a holistic reading of scripture focusing on the divine purposes [maqāṣid] underlying specific ethico-legal rulings. Although barely noticed over several centuries, Shāṭibī‟s work has, in the last century, gained the attention of Islamic religio-legal reformers, who see in it an anticipation of their project. Al-Muwāfaqāt, Shāṭibī‟s attempt to identify and analyze the fundamental principles of religious jurisprudence, is divided into five volumes – Premises, Religio-legal Categories, Purposes of the Divine Law, Legal Indicants, and Jurisprudential Expertise. The first volume articulates and defends the vii thirteen premises [muqaddamāt] that form the basis for Shāṭibī‟s theory of religious law. This thesis comprises a translation and analysis of that first volume. The translation is generously supplemented by bracketed syntactic and referential glosses to facilitate comprehension and readability. The analytical commentary attempts to provide some clarification of the gist of the argument as well as modest interpretation. A brief introduction offers an overall interpretation of the significance of the work as well as some background necessary to make sense of the author‟s discussion. / text

The future of political Islam, especially in respect to its response to the contemporary salient liberal values, has attracted immense scholarly interest. Some scholars expect a perpetual conflict because of the inherent 'illiberalism' of Islam; while others project an imminent post-Islamist turn, as liberal politics takes hold in Muslim societies. Examining the discourses of Arab Islamists, my dissertation points to a different development. Based on a comprehensive textual analysis of the writings of five contemporary Arab Islamists, projected against a survey of a century of Arab Islamic juridico-political thought—including three decades of engagement with democracy—I argue that these Islamists have formulated coherent (in foro interno) foundations for an Islamic rational state. These foundations, which reflect neither an abandonment of all traditional Islamist aims nor a neglect of divine texts, rest on a reconfiguration of Islamic legal theory, in which classical methods of textual analysis are discarded in favor of a systematic rational exploration of the Lawgiver's aims (maqasid). This novel hermeneutics warranted the exclusion of all past Islamic juridico-political frames (including the early Islamic caliphate) and their rationalizations as binding. Thus, unencumbered by legal precedents, these Islamists conceptualize the political sphere as anthropocentric and therefore open to reasonable overlapping consensus.

L'importance croissante des banques dans l'économie et la gravité des crises précédentes en termes de coûts sociaux et économiques ont été des facteurs propices au retour des questionnements éthiques concernant la finance qui avaient été longtemps niés. L'intérêt ancien et croissant de réguler le capitalisme financier, de promouvoir une croissance durable et une gouvernance plus efficace paraît donc évident. Cette thèse se propose dans sa partie théorique de relever les caractéristiques qui différencient au niveau opérationnel les banques islamiques des banques conventionnelles et d'examiner successivement les spécificités de la gouvernance des banques en général, puis celles des banques islamiques en particulier. Une lecture croisée de la littérature théorique et empirique nous a permis de mieux appréhender ces spécificités et de démontrer que l'absence d'une bonne gouvernance constitue inéluctablement un facteur destructeur de la performance des banques. Dans la partie empirique nous avons mené trois études en utilisant des méthodes issues de plusieurs disciplines. Dans la première étude, nous nous sommes inscrits dans la continuité des travaux portant sur les déterminants de la performance des banques pour examiner les principaux déterminants capables d'expliquer la performance des banques islamiques et conventionnelles avant, pendant et après la crise des subprimes. Dans la deuxième étude, nous avons abordé la question de la convergence ou divergence de la performance entre les deux modèles de banque (islamique et conventionnelle) en utilisant un réseau de neurones artificiels. A côté de notre analyse longitudinale visuelle, il nous a semblé particulièrement intéressent de faire une analyse numérique qui avait un double objectif. Saisir d'abord les caractéristiques de voisinage qui permettent de rassembler certaines banques dans le même groupe et les écarter sensiblement des autres groupes. Etablir ensuite l'existence éventuelle de corrélations significatives entre les différentes mesures utilisées. Dans la troisième étude nous avons cherché à approfondir les travaux précédents en apportant un éclairage supplémentaire sur la nature des liens à établir entre certains mécanismes de gouvernance et la performance des banques commerciales islamiques. Face à la variété des problématiques de gouvernance dans les banques islamiques, il a fallu restreindre le champ de notre étude pour examiner l'impact de certaines structures internes de gouvernance sur la performance de ces banques. L'analyse est, par la suite, approfondie par la recherche de facteurs qui peuvent expliquer les relations trouvées entre ces différents mécanismes de gouvernance et la performance de ces banques / ...

Divine Command Theory är en metaetisk position som innebär att vår moraliska kompass bör grunda sig i vad Gud anser är rätt eller fel. Givet att det existerar objektiva moraliska sanningar, är Divine Command Theory den mest lämpliga teorin för att på ett logiskt och kongruent sätt besvara på frågorna vart moraliska förpliktelser härstammar ifrån, hur vi känner till dessa förpliktelser och varför vi bör leva våra liv i enlighet med dem. Andra framträdande metaetiska positioner som evolutionsbaserad etik, moralisk realism och konstruktivism lyckas besvara olika enstaka aspekter av dessa frågor, men inte på ett kongruent, holistiskt och tillfredsställande vis. Således behöver vi Gud för att grunda objektiv moral. Invändningen Euthyphros dilemma besvaras med att det inte är ett dilemma. Invändningen the pluralism objection, besvaras med att det ensamt inte kan motbevisa giltigheten av teorin. Inom Shari’an förmedlas en sofistikerad samt holistisk syn på moral. Människans universella skyldighet att lyda Gud samt att följa profeten, i syfte att uppnå moralisk korrekthet, uttrycks i koranen. För att säkerställa detta fordrar det en korrekt tolkning av Shari’an. Relationen mellan moraliska förpliktelser och vilka som bär dess ansvar behandlas med utgångspunkt i individens förmågor, egenskaper, samt individuella omständigheter. Eftersom Gud är Allvetande känner han till varje individs situation. Andra aspekter av moral som sedvanliga metaetiska positioner typiskt inte behandlar, som intention och ansträngning lyfts i Shari’an. Vidare finner vi både positiva och negativa påföljder beroende på om man följer förpliktelserna eller inte. Påföljderna kategoriseras i två delar, den ena behandlar detta liv och den andra behandlar det nästkommande livet. Påföljderna svarar på den moralfilosofiska frågan varför man bör vara moralisk. Inom Islam inkluderas även djur och natur som subjekt vilka man har moraliskt ansvar för.

Zakat is an obligatory payment that a free and rational Muslim who owns a certain amount of wealth has to observe. The idea of zakat investment was initiated by the belief that providing the poor and needy with a non-substantial amount of fund that is mostly used to pay for their consumption is not enough to tackle poverty. Collection of zakat itself also has been shown insufficient even to provide them with a subsistence level of income. Muslim scholars suggest a long-term measure involving the investment of zakat that not only supplement the poor with a stream of income that is more consistent and continuous, equip them with the opportunity for equity participation or provide them with projects that help improve their livelihood but also provide a source of revenue to fund overall Muslim economic development. However, Muslim scholars found that investment of zakat may make the payment legally vulnerable from the Shari>ca (Islamic law) point of view. Thus, many fatwa>s and views have been expressed by the Muslim scholars as guidelines to ensure that the investment activities conform to Shari>ca. This study examines contemporary policy and practice in the management of zakat investment in Malaysia, particularly at two zakat institutions: Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan and Lembaga Zakat Selangor. These two institutions are selected because they are the most vibrant zakat institutions in the country in terms of zakat revenue and they also are the most active in investing zakat. Given the many background complaints about the institutions’ inefficiencies in managing zakat particularly the large amount of undistributed zakat, it is thus pertinent to analyze the compliancy of these investment activities with the principles and purposes of zakat. The study finds that these institutions accordingly have moulded their investment activities not only to observe the principles of zakat but also according to the modern changes in the administration of zakat in the country as well as to cater for the recipients’ current needs. The study also finds that various policies have been set up to guide the management of these investment activities. Still, there remain numerous possibilities for improving these further.

This study discusses the relationship between the religious and the political in the thought and practice of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in its struggle with Israel as it views it. It critically investigates the thought and the religious framework of the movement and its mother organization, the Muslim Brotherhood. It explores the overlap between the religious and/or the ideological dimensions of the theory and practice by revealing how Hamas draws inspiration from Islam, a framework it describes as "religious". It analyses the ground on which Hamas' ideological convictions are based, and how they developed. This is being done by attempting to understand the role of religion in the formulation of the convictions (i.e. ideology) of the Muslim Brotherhood – and therefore those of Hamas - in their comprehension of the conflict with Israel. This research has sought to fill a void in the context of studying the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas by trying to explain the mechanisms of religious and political interaction and the role this interaction has played in shaping the ideological convictions of the two movements in the context of their conflict with Israel. Reviewing the religious reference of Hamas helps us to understand that any change in one of Hamas' positions does not imply the abandonment of its religious reference, but rather a shift from one considerable Islamic fiqhi (jurisprudential) opinion to another. Thus, the thesis examines the accuracy of many of the Brotherhood's and Hamas' positions and ideological beliefs, as well as comparing them to the other authentic Islamic view points. The study further highlights in detail the impact of the movement's adaptation to fixed “religious” principles and their implementation within a set of complex situations, as presented by the current state of affairs in Palestine. Moreover, the research examines Hamas' application of the Prophetic and Islamic historical experiments, as they relate to the current conflict with Israel from the movement's point of view.

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Thesis advisor: Elizabeth Shlala / The fact that the most dangerous place to be as a woman is her home is an unnerving reality experienced on a cross-national scale, no matter the socio-political structure of their nation-states. This thesis fundamentally sources and deconstructs a common denominator between the United States, relayed as a secularized, democratic nation-state, and Morocco, understood as a monarchal, Shari'a informed nation-state, to be a patriarchal framework. In identifying the patriarchal framework as that which writes, interprets, and acts on laws and cultural beliefs, there is a recognition of how legal literature and praxis gives widespread impunity to men in their violence against women, especially in the home. Where they seek to keep punishment in the private sphere, this paper, in coordination with both North American and Moroccan feminists, seeks to drive punishment into the public sphere. In doing so, men and women will be understood as wholly equal at every level of the nation-state. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: International Studies.

The United Arab Emirates' legal system has developed though the continued negotiation between the Shari’a and the Civil Courts over the spheres of criminal law and commercial law. The framework that has emerged, as a result of regime politics and Supreme Court rulings, provides the regime the flexibility to continue their commercial development and integration into the modern global economy, while retaining the domestic authority structures that legitimate their power.

Suite à la crise financière globale de 2008, ainsi qu’aux différents facteurs qui y ont mené, il est étonnant qu’une alternative éthique et juste pour une finance lucrative et stable n’existe toujours pas (ou du moins, demeure oubliée). Ayant décidé de contribuer au domaine pluri-centenaire du Droit Commercial de la Chari’a, nous avons été surpris par la découverte d’une problématique à l’origine de cette thèse. En France, nous avons suivi des débats doctrinaux intéressants dont les conclusions se rapprochent de la perception générale Occidentale quand à la nature de la finance Islamique, que ce soit au niveau de la finance basée sur le Droit de la Chari’a ou encore les exigences de sa pleine introduction dans le système juridique français de l’époque. Cet intérêt initial dans la finance islamique a ensuite mené à un intérêt dans la question des avantages d’éthique et de justice du Droit Commercial de la Chari’a dans son ensemble, qui est au coeur de cette thèse. Dans le monde moderne du commerce et de la finance d’aujourd’hui, les transactions sont marquées par une prise de risque excessive et un esprit de spéculation qui s’apparente aux jeux de hasard, et menant à des pertes colossales. Pire encore, ces pertes sont ensuite transférées à la collectivité. Par conséquent, y at-il des préceptes, des principes ou des règles éthiques et juridiques qui peuvent fournir une certaine forme de sécurité et de protection dans les marchés financiers d'aujourd'hui? Est-ce réalisable? Cette thèse soutient que la richesse de la jurisprudence islamique ainsi que ses règles dont les avantages n’ont pas encore été pleinement saisis et régénérés en réponse aux nouveaux défis d’aujourd'hui, peuvent encore fournir continuellement des solutions, et réformer des produits financiers de façon à refléter des principes de justice et d'équité. Dans ce processus, un éclairage nouveau sera apporté à certains sujets déjà connus dans le cadre de la contribution prévue de cette thèse, mais ne sera pas le principal objectif de la thèse. / Following the 2008 global financial meltdown and the various reasons that lead to it, it seemed inconceivable that no ethical and justice-driven alternative for highly lucrative and stable financing existed, or at the very least forgotten about. Deciding to contribute to the already centuries old and continuously developing domain of Shari’a Commercial law, we were first caught by surprise when we discovered one particular problem that sparked the start of this thesis. In France, we encountered interesting debates and doctrinal findings resembling a general and common western perception of the legal nature of Islamic Finance, being Shari’a Commercial law based financing, and the requirements for its full introduction into the French legal system at the time. This initial interest in Islamic Finance then evoked an interest in the ethical and justice driven gems of Shari’a Commercial law as a whole, and as the subject of this thesis. In today’s modern and global commercial and financial world, transactions are shrouded by excessive risk-taking and speculation akin to gambling, rendering at times colossal damages. To make matters worse, those damages are dislodged onto the public. Therefore, are there any ethical and legal precepts, principles and rules that may provide some form of a safety and social net in today’s financial markets? Is this achievable? This thesis argues that the richness of Islamic jurisprudence and its rules that have not had their benefits fully reaped and regenerated in response to new challenges till today, may still continuously provide solutions, as well as provide reforms to financial products, which exemplify justice and fairness. Within the process, new light will be shed on certain already known topics as part of the intended contribution of this thesis, but will not be the main objective of the thesis.