MA Islamic Law

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or part-time

The SOAS MA in Islamic Law offers a world-leading specialisation in a rapidly developing area of law that has increasing significance in Muslim majority countries as well as in the lives of many Muslims living elsewhere. The MA deals in depth with issues such as those relating to families, financial markets, philanthropy, inter-state and international relations and globalisation. It offers a platform for viewing and understanding different parts of the Muslim world from multifaceted and diverse perspectives. Modules included in the programme investigate the meanings and applications of principles of Islamic law in South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and transnationally. They explore jurisprudence and methodologies, family law, criminal law and financial law, and consider critical areas of intersection with international human rights law. Law and society more generally is a focus for the region-specific modules, interrogating the place and role of law in and its relationship with society, including but not limited to issues of gender, colonialism, constitutional law and plural legal systems.

Why SOAS?

The MA in Islamic law offers wide-ranging insights into the operation of norms and principles of Islamic law particularly in the global South and in its interaction with emerging international norms and regional mechanisms. Those who convene and teach these modules are acknowledged experts in their particular fields and usually also accomplished linguists. The teaching is thus closely informed and research-led, providing dynamic engagements in class on issues of immediate contemporary interest. Staff have years of experience advising governments, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, philanthropic foundations, law firms and financial institutions. Some have been or are legal practitioners in their specialised fields. The modules attract students from across SOAS as well as from the School of Law, leading to vibrant, cross-fertilising discussions and exchanges that often add unexpected value to the learning experience.

Why You?

The programme provides required expertise for anyone interested in pursuing a career in Islamic law or in law-related careers focused on Muslim majority countries or contexts. This expertise is much sought after in law, finance and media, international organisations and government.

Many students in the SOAS School of Law take at least one of the modules in this programme because of the way in which the substance of core modules engages with critical areas of law that are increasingly a focus of practitioners and policymakers. The MA in Islamic Law offers a unique insight into the richness of the subject matter that will compel your attention to the complexities of historical and current interpretations, usages and repertoires of this most exciting set of laws, legal systems and legal processes.

Each MA student is required to successfully complete 180 credits, which comprises 120 credits of taught modules and a 60-credit 12,000-word dissertation on a topic related to his or her specialisation.

Structure

To facilitate the study of law, all MA students are required to attend a two-week Preliminary Law, Legal Reasoning and Legal Methods in September before beginning the MA programme.

Students must take modules to a total value of 180, consisting of a dissertation (60 credits) and 120 credits of taught modules. Taught modules are worth either 15 or 30 credits.

Students who wish to graduate with a specialised MA are required to take at least 60 credits associated with his or her specialised MA, a further 30 credits within the School of Law (General Law Postgraduate Taught Module List), and a final 30 unit which can either be taken within the School of Law or from the Language Open Options or Non-Language Open Options pages with the MA Programme Convenor’s permission. The dissertation topic will be undertaken within the MA specialisation.

Please note: Not all modules listed will be available every year.

Dissertation

Students must complete a Dissertation (12,000 words) in Law, which should be on a topic relating to their chosen MA specialism.

• MA Dissertation in Law

Taught Component

Pre-sessional Component

• Preliminary Law, Legal Reasoning and Legal Methods

and

• Choose modules from List A below to the value of 60 credits.

and

• Choose a module(s) from the List A or General Law Options below to the value of 30 credits.

and

• Choose a module(s) from the List of General Law Options below or from Postgraduate Open Options to the value of 30 credits.

List of Modules (subject to availability)

List A

• Islamic Law (MA/LLM)
• Law and Society in South Asia
• Human Rights and Islamic Law
• Islamic Law in Global Financial Markets
• Gender, Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa

General Law Options

• Gender, Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Gender, Sexuality and Law: Selected Topics
• Gender, Sexuality and Law: Theories and Methodologies
• Human Rights and Islamic Law
• International Commercial Arbitration
• International Human Rights Clinic
• International Investment Law
• Islamic Law (MA/LLM)
• Law and Development in Africa
• Law and Society in Southeast Asia
• Law and Society in the Middle East and North Africa
• Law, Rights & Social Change
• Preliminary Law, Legal Reasoning and Legal Methods
• International Migration Law
• International Refugee Law
• Law and Society in South Asia
• Mapping International Law in London: International Legal Geography in the Capital of Empire
• Law, Environment and Social Justice
• Law and Justice in Contemporary China
• Climate Change Law and Policy
• Colonialism, Empire and International Law
• Comparative Constitutional Law
• Foundations of International Law
• Human Rights of Women
• International Criminal Law
• International Protection of Human Rights
• Justice, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Post Conflict Societies
• Law and Natural Resources
• Law and Policy of International Courts and Tribunals
• Law and Postcolonial Theory
• Islamic Law in Global Financial Markets
• Israel, Palestine, and International Law (30Cr)
• Multinational Enterprises and The Law
• The Law of Armed Conflict
• The Law of International Trade and/or Financial Regulation
• Water Justice: Rights, Access and Movements (Law)
• Intellectual Property Law (PG)
• Human Rights of Women
• Law and Global Commons
• International Environmental Law I
• International Environmental Law II
• Water and Development: Commodification, Ecology and Globalisation (Law)
• Multinational Enterprises and the Law I
• Multinational Enterprises and the Law II
• Business and Human Rights in the Global Economy
• Comparative Company Law
• Israel, Palestine and International Law
• Palestine, Resistance, and the Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution I
• Alternative Dispute Resolution II
• International laws on the use of force
• Gender, Armed Conflict and International Law

Open Options Note
Open options from the cross-faculty list will need the approval of deputy PG programme convenor (LLM or MA)

Important notice

The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session.