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Preparing Islamic Legal Documents

January Intersession 2012

Focused on skills needed for success in Islamic Chaplaincy and other programs where practical matters of service to Islamic communities, congregations and individuals are important, this course introduces students to a contemporary American condensed version of Ibn al-`Attar's Kitab al-Watha`iq wa'l-sijjilat. The topics under consideration include but are not limited to Islamic legal documents, writing contracts, and completing other legal obligations in the U.S. context. Students will be exposed to practical information and training in the preparation of these documents.

Monday, January 9 - Saturday, January 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus additional evening hours to be arranged

Talal Eid

Adjunct Professor of Arts of Ministry and Imam and Executive Director of the Islamic Institute of Bo
(617) 365-7427
imamtalal@post.harvard.edu
Syllabus: 

Course Objectives:

The Student Can:
1.   Discuss marriage and divorce/talāq in Islam

2.   Define the concept of the wali and its requirement by the different schools/madhāhib.

3.   Describe the advantage/disadvantage of mahr mu'akkhar and mu'ajjal, and what kind of conditions can or should be included.

4.   Identify the traditional Islamic law of adoption of children in the context of US law requirements.

5.   Describe family trusts, wills, Islamic mortgages, and personal loans.

6.   Discuss the effect of contemporary issues related to questions such as those involving whether a female Professor of Finance can be a valid witness on her own for business contracts.

 

Methods of Course Assessment:

For those taking the course for credit, class participation will count for 25% of the course grade; a daily journal of one’s reflections on the experience of the sessions, one double-spaced page for each session, will count for an additional 35% of the grade; and a final paper approximating 15 double-spaced pages will count for 40% of the grade. The journals are due by February 15, 2012. The final paper is due by March 15, 2012. The final paper should relate to a main subject addressed by the course:  Marriage, interfaith marriage, divorce, and child custody. It is recommended that a student consult with the instructor of the course before writing the final paper, to get input on how to approach the intended topic and the resources used in researching it.

Attendance Policy for Weekly Classes

Attendance in class is required. If you know you will be unable to attend a class session please inform the professor in advance. Missing two sessions will result in an automatic lowering of your final grade by 10%. Missing three or more sessions will result in automatic failure of the course.

 

Course Schedule and Readings

Monday, January 9, 2012

Morning session: 9-12 pm
Welcoming and introduction and explanation of course objectives and requirements
Workshop on Marriage:
Selection of spouse; dating among American Muslims; family role in the settlement of marriage; role of the Imam; what is the mahr; how does the mahr work; what is the mu'ajjal; what is the mu'akhar; why mahr is settled before the marriage; the sīgha of the marriage ceremony; conditions (shurūt); setup of Islamic weddings.

Afternoon session: 1-4 pm
Dealing with Documents Related to Marriage

ASSIGNED READING:

  • Marriage among American Muslims, a chapter taken from “Marriage, Divorce, and Child Custody as Experienced by American Muslims: Religious, Social, and Legal Considerations,” a dissertation submitted by Imam Talal Eid to Harvard Divinity School in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Theology. Harvard University 2005.
  • Excerpts/topics from a contemporary American condensed version of Ibn al-`Attar's Kitab al-Watha`iq wa'l-sijjilat.
  • Excerpts/topics from Fiqh al-Sunnah by al-Sayyid Sābiq, Volume 2. Beirut, Dār al-Kitāb al-Arabī 1983.

 

RECOMMENDED READING:

  • Family Life and Marriage, a chapter taken from Islam in Focus, by Hammūdah Abd al-‘Ātī, Edmonton, Alberta: The Canadian Islamic Center, 1963
  • A chapter on marriage taken from The Family Structure in Islam, by Hammūdah ‘Abd al-‘Ātī, American Trust Publications, 1977.
  • Family ... and the Sexual Revolution, a chapter taken from Reading the Muslim Mind, by Hassan Hathout. Plainfield, Ind. : American Trust Publications, c1995

 

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Morning session: 9-12 pm
Workshop on Divorce:
Divorce from an Islamic Perspective; divorce in the United States of America; the ethics of divorce; Jewish law on divorce; possible reasons for divorce among American Muslims: extra-marital affairs, dishonesty, sexual dysfunction, apostasy, cultural differences; civil divorce vs. Islamic divorce: modern dilemmas and challenges confronting American Muslims; in our backyard: the abuse of Islamic talāq in the name of Islam; the effect of talāq abuse on American Muslim women: talāq abuse: is it a flaw of Islamic law or a social disease, types of talāq abuse, divorcing the wife in abusive ways, withholding the divorce in abusive ways; can an Islamic divorce complement a civil divorce, Islamic divorce taking place before the civil process, Islamic divorce negotiated after the judicial process

Afternoon session: 1-4 pm
Dealing with Documents Related to Divorce

ASSIGNED READING:

  • Divorce among American Muslims: Problems and Responses, a chapter taken from “Marriage, Divorce, and Child Custody as Experienced by American Muslims: Religious, Social, and Legal Considerations,” a dissertation submitted by Imam Talal Eid to Harvard Divinity School in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Theology. Harvard University 2005.
  • Excerpts on divorce from a contemporary American condensed version of Ibn al-`Attar's Kitab al-Watha`iq wa'l-sijjilat.
  • Excerpts on divorce from Fiqh al-Sunnah by al-Sayyid Sābiq, Volume 2. Beirut, Dār al-Kitāb al-Arabī 1983.

 

RECOMMENDED READING:

  • Marriage and Divorce, a chapter taken from Islam in Focus, by Hammūdah Abd al-‘Ātī, Edmonton, Alberta: The Canadian Islamic Center, 1963
  • A chapter on divorce taken from The Family Structure in Islam, by Hammūdah ‘Abd al-‘Ātī, American Trust Publications, 1977.

 

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Morning session, 9-12 pm
Workshop on Interfaith Marriage and Child Custody

Afternoon session: 1-4 pm
Workshop on Prenuptial Agreement
Recognized and unrecognized interfaith marriage; custody of children from Islamic and American perspectives; custody among American Muslim couples; reflections on intermarriages and custody of children; custody of children of intermarriage from the perspective of Islamic law and American law.

 

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Morning session, 9-12 pm
Marital Dispute and Violence among American Muslims
Impact of gender equity on American Muslim couples; American Muslim woman as a wife and as a member of society; resolving marital discord among American Muslims; problems with In-Laws and Relatives; wife abuse is not in the Qur’ān and the Sunnah “Prophetic Tradition”; analyzing Verse 4:34; clarifying the meaning of nushūz and wa-adrebuhunna; the roles of Imams and Islamic Centers in resolving marital disputes.

Afternoon session: 1-4 pm
Marital Violence in Society and Religion
1-2 PM: Meet at the Library; form groups; each group is assigned a research topic.
2-3: Return to class and present group findings.
3-4: General discussion from an Islamic perspective

ASSIGNED READING:

  • Family and the Sexual Revolution, in chapter 5 of “Reading the Muslim Mind”, by Hassan Hathout, (Plainfield, Ind. : American Trust Publications, c1995)
  • Beshir and M. Rida Beshir, Blissful Marriage (Beltsville, Maryland : Amana Publications, 2003)
  • Badawi, Gender Equity in Islam : Basic Principles (Plainfield, Ind. : American Trust Publications, 1995)
  • Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender in Islam (New Haven : Yale University Press, c1992)
  • Kamran Memon, Wife Abuse in the Muslim Community, in Islamic Horizons (Plainfield, Indiana : Islamic Society of North America, 1997)
  • Shaykh Seraj Hendricks, Authority and the Abuse of Power in Muslim Marriages, a lecture presented at the Women’s Conference of the 2nd International Islamic Unity Conference in Washington DC, held at Omni Shoreham Hotel on August 8, 1998, retrieved from: http://sunnah.org/fiqh/marriage.htm
  • Azizah Al-Hibri, Muslim Women’s Rights in the Global Village: Challenges and Opportunities, p17, an article published on-line by KARAMAH (Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights) with permission of The Journal of Law and Religion, retrieved from: http://www.karamah.org/docs/JLRal-HibriFin.doc
  • Dahlia Eissa, Construction of Notion of Male Superiority over Women in Islam (Published on-line by WLUML. November 1999), p.17, retrieved from: http://www.wluml.org/english/pubs/pdf/occpaper/OCP-11.pdf
  • Jamal Badawi, Wife Beating?, retrieved from: http://www.zawaj.com/articles/badawidomestic.html
  • The Verse of Abuse Or the Abused Verse, an article published on-line by Muslim Women’s League and is an excerpt taken from Dimensions of the Qur’ān, volume 1 by Sheikh Sa’dullah Khan, retrieved from: http://www.mwlusa.org/publications/essays/abuseverse.htm

RECOMMENDED READING:

Friday, January 13, 2012

Morning session, 9-11:45 am
Workshops on Family Trusts and Wills

Afternoon session: 1:30-4 pm
Workshops on Islamic Mortgages, Personal Loans, and Employment Contracts

 

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Morning session, 9-12 am
Workshop on Contemporary Issues
What are the requirements for witnessing a contract, including the opinion/ijtihād of contemporary scholars; can a female Professor of Finance be a valid witness on her own for business contracts? how should documents be written to avoid fraud? how can meaningful consent between the partners to a contract be determined? what conditions void contracts?

Afternoon session, 1-4 pm
Exam and wrap up  

Books: 

Assigned and Recommended list of Books and Journals

Abū Zahra, Muhammad. Aqd al-zawāj. Marriage contracts; lectures to law students. [al-Qāhirah] Jāmi‘at al-duwal al-Arabiyyah, Ma‘had al-Dirāsāt al-Arabiyyah al-Āliyah, 1958.

---,  Family Law. In Majid Khadduri and Robert J. Liebesney, eds., Law in the Middle East. Washington, D.C.: Middle East Institute, 1955

‘Abd al-‘Ātī, Hammūdah. The Family Structure in Islam. American Trust Publications, 1977.

---,  Islam in Focus. Edmonton, Alberta: The Canadian Islamic Center, 1963

Abdul-Rauf, Muhammad, 1917. The Islamic View of Women and the Family. Alexandria, VA: Al-Saadawi Publications, 1995.

---,  Marriage in Islam: a manual. Kualu Lumpur: Pustaka Antara, 1989

 

Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate. New Haven: Yale University Press, c1992. 

Alkhateeb, Sharifa. Ending Domestic Violence in Muslim Families, in Journal of Religion and Abuse. Volume: 1. Issue: 4. 1999. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Pastoral Press, c1999.

Ali, Mary. Who Practices Polygamy? A pamphlet published by The Institute of Islamic Information and Education Chicago, Illinois, 19?

Badawi, Jamal A. Gender Equity in Islam: Basic Principles. Plainfield, Ind.: American Trust Publications, 1995

Beshir, Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir. Blissful Marriage. Beltsville, Maryland: Amana Publications, 2003

Bolton, Frank G. and Susan R. Bolton. Working with Violent Families: a Guide for Clinical and Legal Practitioners. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1987

Bossard, James H.S. and Boll, Eleanor S., One Marriage, Two Faiths: Guidance on Interfaith Marriage. New York: Ronald Press Co., 1957

Conroy, Kathryn. Child Witness to Domestic Violence. ©1994 Kathryn Conroy (revised: January 1996). Retrieved from: http://hosting.uaa.alaska.edu/afrhm1/wacan/CHDWITDV.pdf

Danner, Victor, 1926. The Islamic Tradition: an Introduction. Amity, N.Y.: Amity House, c1988

Doi, Abdur Rahman. Woman in Shari’a. 3rd ed. Kuala Lumpur: A.S. Noordeen, 1990

---,  Shariʻa the Islamic Law. London, United Kingdom: Ta Ha Publishers, 1984.

Eid, Talal. “Marriage, Divorce, and Child Custody as Experienced by American Muslims: Religious, Social, and Legal Considerations,” a dissertation submitted to Harvard Divinity School in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Theology. Harvard University 2005

Eissa, Dahlia. Construction of Notion of Male Superiority over Women in Islam. Published by (WLUML) Women Living Under Muslim Laws. Occasional Paper No. 11, November 1999. Retrieved from: http://www.wluml.org/english/pubs/pdf/occpaper/OCP-11.pdf

Esposito, John L. and Natana J. DeLong-Bas. Women in Muslim Family Law. Syracuse, N. Y.: Syracuse University Press, 2001

Farrukh, Umar. The family in Moslem Jurisprudence with a Chapter on the History of Jurisprudence from the Earliest times to the Rise of Islam.  1st ed. Beirut, Al-Ilmĩeh Library, 1951.

Al-Faruqi, Lamya Lois Ibsen, 1926-1986. Marriage in Islam, in Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Philadelphia, Temple University, 22:55-68, Winter 1985.

Friedell, Steven F. Jewish Divorce in American Courts—the New York Experience. Published in Jewish Law Association Studies I. The Touro Conference Volume / B.S. Jackson, ed. Chico, California; Scholars Press, c 1985.

Goldstein, Sidney E. Marriage and Family Counseling; a Manual for Ministers, Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers, Social Workers, and others Engaged in Counseling Service. 1st ed. New York, London, McGraw-Hill Book Company inc., 1945

Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck and Adair T. Lummis. Islamic Values in the United States: a Comparative Study.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck and John L. Esposito, eds. Muslims on the Americanization Path. Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1998.

Hartford, Hedaya. Initiating and Upholding an Islamic Marriage : Starting off on the Right Foot. Damascus: Dar al Fikr, 2000.

Hasan, Asma Gull. American Muslims : the New Generation. New York : Continuum, 2002

Hathout, Hassan. Reading the Muslim Mind ; with a foreword by Ahmad Zaki Yamani. Plainfield, Ind. : American Trust Publications, c1995.

Al-Hibri, Azizah, A study of Islamic Herstory: Or How did We ever Get into this Mess? in Women's studies international forum. Volume 5 Oxford ; New York : Pergamon, c1982

Al-Hibri, Azizah. “Muslim Women’s Rights in the Global Village:  Challenges and Opportunities.” An article published by KARAMAH (Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights), with permission of the Journal of Law and Religion. See: http://www.karamah.org/docs/JLRal-HibriFin.doc.

Hendricks, Shaykh Seraj. Authority and the Abuse of Power in Muslim Marriages. A lecture presented at the Women’s Conference of the 2nd International Islamic Unity Conference in Washington DC, held at Omni Shoreham Hotel on August 8, 1998. Retrieved from: http://sunnah.org/fiqh/marriage.htm

Johnson, Ida Mae. Wife Abuse: Factors Predictive of the Decision-Making Process of Battered Women. A dissertation submitted to the School of Criminology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The Florida State University. School of Criminology. Fall semester, 1987.

King, Andrea. If I'm Jewish and you're Christian, what are the kids?: a parenting guide for interfaith families. Foreword by Alexander M. Schindler. New York, N.Y.: UAHC Press, 1993

Mallat, Chibli & Jane Connors, editors. Islamic Family Law. London, UK ; Norwell, MA, USA : Graham & Trotman, c1990.

Mallon, Elias D. Neighbors : Muslims in North America. New York: Friendship Press, 1989.

Mawdoodi, Syed Abul ’Ala, 1903-1979. The laws of Marriage and Divorce in Islam; translation by Fazl Ahmed. Safat, Kuwait : Islamic Book Publishers, 1983.

McCloud, Aminah Beverly. African American Islam. New York: Routledge, 1995.

Memon, Kamran. “Wife Abuse in the Muslim Community,” in Islamic Horizons, p14, 1997. Plainfield, Ind. : Islamic Society of North America.

Mernissi, Fatima. Beyond the Veil : Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society. Revised Edition. Bloomington and Indianapolis : Indiana University Press, 1987.

Moore, Kathleen M. al-Mughtarĩbūn (the Immigrants): American Law and the Transformation of Muslim Life in the United States. Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, 1995.

Muhammad, Amir N. (Amir Nashid). Muslims in America: Seven Centuries of History, 1312-1998: Collections and Stories of American Muslims. Beltsville, MD : Amana Publications, 1998.

An-Na’im, Abdullahi A, ed. Islamic Family Law in a Changing World : a Global Resource Book. London ; New York : Zed Books ; New York : Distributed in the USA by Palgrave, 2002.

Nasir, Jamal J. The Status of Women Under Islamic Law and under Modern Islamic
Legislation. London ; Boston : Graham & Trotman, 1994.

Pearl, David and Werner Menski. Muslim Family Law, 3rd ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1998.

Philips, Abu Ameenah Bilaal and Jameelah Jones. Polygamy in Islaam : the Rationale and Laws Behind = Ta’addud al-zawjāt fī al-Islām. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia : Tawheed Publications, 1990.

Qaradāwī, Yūsuf. The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam. Translators, Kamal El-Helbawy, M. Moinuddin Siddiqui, Syed Shukry ; translation reviewed by Ahmad Zaki Hammad. Indianapolis, IN, USA : American Trust Publications, [198-].

Riskin, Shlomo. Women and Jewish Divorce : the Rebellious Wife, the Agunah, and the Right of Women to Initiate Divorce in Jewish Law, a Halakhic Solution. Hoboken, NJ : Ktav Pub. House, 1989.

Rouse, Carolyn Moxley, 1965- Engaged Surrender : African American Women and Islam. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2004.

El-Saadawi, Nawal. “Woman and Islam.” In Women's studies international forum. Volume 5. Oxford ; New York : Pergamon, c1982

Sābiq, al-Sayyid. Fiqh al-Sunnah. Beirut, Dār al-Kitāb al-Arabī 1983

Sābiq, al-Sayyid and al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Gharawī. Fiqh al-Sunnah wa-Fiqh al-Shī‘ah al-Tābi‘īn li-Madhhab Ahl al-Bayt. Volume 2. Bayrūt : Dār al-Hādī lil-tibā‘ah wa-al-Nashr, 2003.