MEMORANDUM I. SEMINAR PROPOSAL SEMINAR DESCRIPTION

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1 I. SEMINAR PROPOSAL MEMORANDUM This is a proposal to teach a new Seminario Jurídico Avançado (Advanced Juridical Seminar) intensive course/class for graduate (Masters) and undergraduate students for second seminar (9 hours program /3 classes each). Mohamed Arafa, a law faculty member at Alexandria University Faculty of Law (Egypt), a faculty member at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law at Indianapolis (USA). Recently he taught that class as a visiting law professor at the University of Brasília (UnB) School of Law (Brasil), in April-May 2016 and September- October 2016 has offered to teach the course again at the same prestigious institution as needed in the future. II. SEMINAR DESCRIPTION This course addresses students to key issues in Middle East legal systems and politics today. It introduces the current Middle East by drawing upon cutting-edge scholarships written from a diversity of disciplinary views. These include history, law, political science, as well as studies of religion, gender, mass media, sexuality, human rights, and urban life. It will emphasize the main tendencies and movements in modern Arabian World history. It will analyze both groundwork (basics) in Middle Eastern research and a common sense of modern directions and tracks in the field. It examines the people, traditions, society and politics of the area and the role that religion, gender, culture have played in designing and influencing contemporary issues. It discusses the fundamental internal and external performers in the region; peace and conflict (Israel/Palestine); the geo-strategic significance of the region; political economy matters; political transformation and development; the problem of identities in the Middle East and legal philosophies around this; family law issues (inheritance); drugs law and its scope of application; the politics of religion (appearance of political Islam); Arab constitutionalism, September 11 and the fall-out in the region from the US-led war on terrorism, the Arab Spring, and the unfolding uprisings in the Arab World. In addition to the new US elections and Trump s presidency. Also, this course will provide an introduction to the field of Islamic law. This term refers to a huge and diverse corpus of legal materials, spanning centuries and wide swaths of the globe, and our encounter with it will necessarily be selective. Thus, the sources of Islamic law, the formation of Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence), and the history of the development of Islamic law and legal institutions will be examined. Furthermore, we will sample several substantive legal areas: constitutional law; banking law and insurance; property law; contract law; business law; criminal law; family law; environmental law; elderly law; transnational justice (TJ) and Arab Spring context; terrorism, ISIS, and international law. These areas will include a study of various cases where Islamic law has been debated in American and European courts. It will also focus on human rights in the Islamic legal tradition and in the contemporary Islamic and Arab world, especially in countries of the Middle East. Concepts of human rights, women s rights, and minority rights in Islam will be analyzed in the light of international human rights standards. Class discussions will cover the following subjects:

2 o the appearance of the state system in the contemporary Middle East; o the military role in the State and politics; o the evolution of democratic politics and party systems and Islamism; o women in the Middle East and political life; gender equality and inheritance, and Other considerations include: How the U.S. deals with the ongoing democratic transition countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and Syria? What are the Insights of Islam and Islamic law, and its conformity with democratic and equality principles? Will the Arab Spring enforce the U.S. to discourse the pressure between values and interests manifest in its policies? In summation, this course highlights the sorts of Islamic law, modern State that have arisen in the region and people s fights to increase political freedoms and human, civil, and socio-economic rights. It illustrates why many Arab countries still suffer from economic injustice, political tyranny. III. SEMINAR OUTLINE (preliminary and subject to change) The following course outline represents the possible (tentative) coverage in the course. 1- The Arab Spring/Fall: Beginnings of Uprisings in the Arabian World a. Tunisia: Discussing the course of the Tunisian uprising from its early days, exploring current history of Tunisia, causes of revolt, the notion of impulsiveness, the role of neoliberal strategies and thy way to democracy b. Egypt: January 25th, 2011 Revolution and the ouster of President Mubarak. What are the current debates around gender dynamics in the uprisings? What is the relation between the State and our sexuality and how are State powers influencing gender relations? (women s justice, dignity, imperial feminism, and Islamophobia). The Trial of the Century (Mubarak trial). June 30th/July 3rd, 2013 Events: theocracy and the legitimacy of Morsi trial) c. Counter-Revolutions: International Intervention and its Paths (NATO and Libya): What about interpretations on the legal and political intervention and how was the responsibility to protect proven? What ensues when a conflict is internationalized and can a conflict continue to be local? What is the significance of sovereignty and State legitimacy in an international system? What were the claims for and against intrusion in Libya? What was the route of the Libyan rebellion? What factors might have led to North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) interference?

3 d. Syria: Revolution or Imperialism? Vagueness of power and supremacy, genocide and crimes against humanity by the régime and the use of chemical weapons and its prohibitions (global violations). What about the status quo of the business networking under totalitarianism? e. Yemen: Analyzing and Criticizing Chronicles. Society, Authority, and Performance. e. The Way Forward and Coming Soon: Waiting for Change in Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Jordan, Bahrain, some Gulf Arab regions (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait), and Palestine? Also, this class will help in understanding the basic principles of Islamic law; the influence of Islamic law in Muslim countries; the main differences between Islamic law on the one side and Western legal systems on the other in key areas of interest, in particular constitutional law, contracts and torts, commercial transactions, banking law, insurance law, family law, trusts and estates, criminal law, etc. Also, it will discuss contemporary issues relating to Islamic criminal law, including corruption, bribery, money laundering, organ transplantation, human trafficking, cybercrimes, and political crimes; and recognize the essential techniques of interpreting the classical concepts and terminology of Islamic criminal law and procedure. Other Topics Will be covered in the Course: I. Overview of Islamic Law (Basic Concepts: Origin of Islam, Historical Development, and the General Characteristics of Islam as a Divine Law, Definition, Nature, Sources of Islamic Law, Interpretation of Islamic Texts: The Theory of Interpretation, Islamic Jurisprudence (Concept of Ijtihad in Islamic Fiqh), Islamic Schools of Law (Hanafi, Maliki, Shaif i, and Hanbali Schools) II. Sources of Islamic Law: (Qur an, Sunnah, Ijmaa, Qiyas, Sad el Tharaea, Qaul Al Sahaby, Al Istihsan, Al Masaleh Al Mursala, etc ) III. Islamic Constitutional Law The principle of non-separation of state and religion in the Islamic legal system (the establishment clause); the relationship between Islamic Shari a and the constitutional provisions (the supremacy clause); the independence of the judicial authority and the relationship between the executive and the legislative branches of government; does Islamic law recognize the theory of separation of powers? IV. Property Law God and wealth; freedom and right to private ownership; property vs. ownership; public property vs private property; protecting and restricting private ownership; inheritance and wills

4 V. Commercial and Contract Law The role of custom and practice; importance of honesty and fair dealing; broad definition of contract ; freedom of contract within religious boundaries; contract formation; prohibited and voidable contracts; advanced types of contracts; frustration of contracts; economic hardship; termination of contract; performance, liability, remedies for nonfulfillment VI. Islamic Banking and Insurance: The Islamic economic order; Riba (unlawful advantage by way of excess or deferment); the financial system based on Islamic ethics (Musharaka, Murabaha, Ijara, Qard hasan, Mudaraba); the prospects for success of an Islamic Banking system; insurance: is it a valid contract under Islamic Law? VII. Islamic Family Law: Marriage, Divorce, and Child Custody Marriage; dowry agreements; polygamy; problems of reforming the personal status law in contemporary Middle Eastern legal systems. Judicial and non-judicial divorce; parental rights and the issue of adoption; community property; child custody rules in Islamic law: are they applicable in American courts? IX. Islamic Theory of Crimes and Punishment Categories of criminal acts (Hudud offenses, Quesas crimes, and Taa zir); classification of Hudud offenses (theft, adultery and fornication, defamation, highway robbery, use of alcohol, apostasy and rebellion); Al-Quesas (death penalty); the conditions of implementation; honor killings; mercy killing and the right to die; destruction of the unborn child; trafficking in persons, especially women and children. The Criminal Process and the Protection of Individual Rights, The Individual and International Protection of Human Rights in Islam, Personal Security Under Islamic Theories of Incrimination and Penology (Basic Islamic principles of justice in enforcing states criminal laws), The Right to Individual Security in Islamic Criminal Procedure, General Rules of Criminal Evidence in Islamic Jurisprudence. X. Islamic Law and Human Rights: Women s Rights Women as Equals in Islam; personal status laws in contemporary Islamic Codes; the Quranic view of gender relations; marital consent and the right of women to contract her own marriage; dowry; marriage; polygamy; the right of the wife to initiate divorce; maintenance; the right to education; right to employment; right to inheritance. XI. Islamic Law and Human Rights: International Human Rights International Human Rights Standards; the concept of Human Rights in Islamic Law; relativism v. universalism; is international human rights law compatible with Islamic law? the right to political asylum on the basis of fear of persecution; conversion from Islam to Christianity. XII. Islamic Law and Human Rights: Minority Rights (Religious dissidents under Islamic law; religious discrimination and the rights of non-muslims; foreign workers in Saudi Arabia: does the American law apply? the rights of Copts in Egypt).

5 XIii. Islamic International Law: Siyar and the classic Islamic law of nations; modern sources of international law, particularly treaties, customary international law, and the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations; international humanitarian law and Islamic law of war; ius ad bellum, Jihad, and the concept of just war. ==============