Realities in the Integration and Islamization of Law and Sharīʻah in Professional Undergraduate Legal Education and Training Prof.

Abstract

Ismail Al-Faruqi, the late philosopher and advocate of “Islamization of Knowledge”, talked about islamization of knowledge under the two educational systems: the secular and the Islamic knowledge. The unification is expected to bring Islamic knowledge to the secular system and modern knowledge to the Islamic system. This paper attempts to investigate the realities within the law and Sharīʻah professional undergraduate programmes offered in law schools in this region, which have enthusiastically incorporated law and Sharīʻah studies leading to the conferment of Bachelor of Laws, or Bachelor of Law and Shariah professional degrees. Selected law schools have introduced the integrated programmes where Sharīʻah subjects are taught along with the prescribed law courses. The issue is whether Sharīʻah principles and methodology could be fused into the law courses within the purview of islamization process. The constraints to islamization of legal knowledge, in the context of fusing the two disciplines in one, e.g. teaching mucāmalāt in Law of Contract, or jināyāt in Criminal Law, albeit comparatively, is not practical and impossible due to the respective countries’ constitutional framework, the relevant legislation defining the legal system, and the policies and guidelines of the regulatory bodies regulating the legal profession. The teaching and learning of law aim to produce professional graduates who are equipped with the knowledge and understanding of the laws, and have acquired the necessary intellectual skill, practical or application skill, and transferable skill during the academic stage of the studies. The paper never intends to disavow “integration or islamization of knowledge”, but to evaluate the development in order to implement the paradigm shift of knowledge successfully.