The aim of this study is to discuss the specific requirements for the corporate governance of Islamic banks by clarifying the concept of corporate governance and its legislative and historical framework. It also discusses the most prominent supervisory authorities in the world and Islamic world, which issue standards for corporate governance. Then it discusses the additional requirements of the corporate governance in regulatory and supervisory authorities in Qatar. It also focuses on analysis of the Qatar Islamic banks’ capacity to apply the standards of corporate governance. The researchers use the inductive method for collecting information related to the study, and descriptive and analytical methods to analyze the corporate governance reports of Islamic banks of Qatar and compare them with the additional requirements for the corporate governance of Islamic banks mentioned in the guidelines of Central Qatar Bank. It will also highlight the applications of these guidelines in Islamic banks of Qatar. The study concludes that Qatar Islamic banks are implementing the additional requirements for Islamic banking corporate governance.

Issuance of religious verdict (fatwa) has been approved divinely and is also a Prophetic function. It is a heavy responsibility that requires total trustworthiness. Establishing this religious verdict should not be done except by qualified people. Despite that, in the recent decades, chaos has been occurring in giving religious verdicts all over the world, as this has become a global phenomenon. This is because most of those who have recently produced religious verdicts have not considered the eligibility or requirements needed before doing so. They proceed with this task in different forms, such as media channels, webs, posts and booklets, which has led to contradictions in fatwa, confusion and dispute among Muslims, coupled with the societal instability. Considering the danger of giving religious verdicts by unqualified people, the classical jurists issued a fatwa for interdiction of these unqualified people by preventing them from their action and cancelling their verdicts, in order to save the public from their danger. This situation has led to the appearance of a terminology known as “interdiction of the shameless mufti”. This study aims at defining the shameless mufti and describing the Shari`ah ruling and reason for his interdiction, who should interdict him and how this rule could be implemented in our contemporary life. This research adopts both the inductive and analytical approaches.

In 2004, the State Islamic Religious Council (SIRC) in Malaysia stated their concern on jurisdiction pertaining to control of state waqf assets, which were different among the states in Malaysia. Based on discussions with the legal experts, they have proposed the adoption of the agency principle in order to cater to the issue of control over the waqf fund. This study discusses the feasibility of waqf (Islamic endowment)-based takaful products to be practiced in Malaysia by considering the opinions of SIRC and legal experts in the industry. In order to achieve the research objective, this research adopts a qualitative methodology and focus group discussions with the SIRC representatives and legal experts. Overall, it is found that all respondents have agreed with the proposed waqf-based takaful model as it has special values that may inculcate the culture of brotherhood in society as this concept encourages people to give something to others without receiving any financial return. This study contributes to the discussion of the feasibility of waqf (endowment) principle to be introduced in the takaful products from the legal perspective.

The legal maxims are an integral part of Islamic jurisprudence. These maxims combine the various issues of jurisprudence, from different sections and diverse topics, so that the particulars (al-juz’iyyat) are referred to the universals (al-kulliyyat) and the branches (al-furu?) to the basic principles (al-u?ul). Hence, the research seeks to clarify the impact of a major Islamic legal maxim which is “Custom is an arbitrator” in the Iraqi civil law, using the inductive, analytical and descriptive methods. The research has shown that since this maxim and other maxims branching from it have been mentioned and referred to in the law, these maxims therefore have profoundly affected Iraqi civil law. Then, the study reviews the most prominent articles of the Iraqi civil law which are applications of this major maxim and its subsidiary maxims, especially in the selling and buying, lease, sharecropping contract and work contract. The research concludes that the Islamic legal maxim “Custom is an arbitrator” and its subsidiary maxims influenced the Iraqi civil law and made it strong in its formulation and articles. This research recommends the codifiers and decision-makers of the Islamic world to return to the wellspring of Islamic legal maxims and use them in codifying laws in various spheres of life.

This research aims to study the topic of marital guardianship (qiwamah) as practiced by Muslims of Bangkok, Thailand, who wrongly understand that the qiwamah means to have absolute control over their women. This research focuses on providing solutions for this problem for the Muslims in Bangkok. The researchers have adopted the inductive and analytical methods, as well as a field study consisting of questionnaires, interviews, visits to common Muslims, judges, imams of mosques and members of the Islamic Committee in Bangkok. The research is divided into two sections: first, the study of qiwamah, its concepts and implications in the Islamic law; and second, the problems faced by Muslims of Bangkok due to their wrong understanding of the concepts and how to solve them from the perspective of the Islamic law and a field study. The research concludes that Muslims of Bangkok are a minority ruled by Buddhist authorities of Thailand. As a result, they are largely ignorant about the rules of family in Islam and the sound understanding of qiwamah.

This paper highlights some of the mechanisms that contribute to the promotion of economic security and social peace and lead to the stabilization of the society and prosperity of its economy from the Islamic perspective inspired by the Shari`ah texts as well as the practices of the first Muslim generation who lived in peace and spread peace in the world. The primary research problem is a fundamental question: does Islam have a vision in achieving economic security and social peace? Adapting inductive and analytical approaches, the researchers have dealt with these mechanisms, the most important of which are the prohibition and criminalization of wars, the prohibition of gambling, the prohibition of division of society into classes, and all that would nourish enmities and lead to missing the Legislator’s [Allah’s] objective of property and wealth. Among the most important findings of this research is that Islam strictly prohibits monopoly and excessive profit, requires equitable distribution of wealth so that it is not accumulated in a few hands and to refrain from accumulating huge profits by means of exploiting the need of the consumer and that our religion calls us to close the economic differences among individuals so that there is neither excessive wealth, nor extreme poverty.

The human mind is a tool of human knowledge, or rather; it is the stronghold and the basis of accountability. However, it merely stands dumbfounded before the realm of the visible world, bewildered to be able to reach the hidden landmarks of the unseen, the knowledge of which belongs exclusively to the Lord the Exalted, unless He reveals it to someone He chooses to carry His message to His creation. He says: “He is the Knower of the Unseen, and He reveals unto none His secret, except a messenger whom He has chosen: and then He makes a band of watchers march before him and behind him” [The Jinn: 26, 27]. Accordingly, throughout the history, prophecy has acted as the guide and mentor, which is "necessary for the existence and survival of man". There is no way for reason to comprehend the issue of divinity, destiny and the principles of monotheism except through the revelation. Otherwise, it would miss the realm of truth and fall into the realm of wandering and loss. If revelation is the source of different sciences and directs energies towards detailing these sciences and proving them, then it doubtlessly needs to establish its truth in a number of its associated applications. The need for further studies, therefore, is more obvious with regard to the revelation vocabulary emanating from the Prophetic tradition. This is because the incidents of the Sunnah are so abundant, and the truth of their revelation and how they relate to legislation need to be proved. This is a difficult issue in the Usuli lessons today, which, with the presence of rational and other trends in the field of research and publication, needs a careful investigation. Hence, I’m going to take the initiative to write this research paper on the subject of revelation vocabulary of the Sunnah and be honored by its publication in this eminent journal. To study this topic, the researcher uses deductive, analytical and critical methods. This study has concluded several results, most notable among them is the determination that the proof (al-thubut) is the reference (al-marja?) in determining the extent of relating the material (al-maddah) to the Sunnah that contains act, saying or silent consent (taqrir) of the Prophet (pbuh); and that the statement that “this is a Sunnah” means that the legislation on its basis is authentic, but it does not establish an obligation because proving a sunnah is a matter, and its indication [to a ruling], which is an obligation, is something else.

This research aims at identifying social and political rights of the disabled, especially, with the consideration of increasing number of disabled and ignorance of some people in the society about their rights and needs, which causes them to face negligence and hardship and leads them to isolation, which is rejected by Islam. The inductive method is used in this research to find the evidences in jurisprudential and social references on the concern of Islamic Shari?ah about the issue, as well as the analytical approach, by analyzing the texts of Islamic rules through the extrapolation of their rights. Indeed, the disabled have been given some special rights, and other common public rights, as hardship has been lifted from them regarding some other rights. These are the areas to be addressed in this research. Therefore, this study revolves around their social rights, such as the right to social solidarity, right to freedom of movement, right to rehabilitation and qualification; as well as their political rights, such as the right of nationality and citizenship, judicial right, freedom of expression and the right to vote and to be members of the Shura Council. Likewise, it will state that the disabled are entitled to enjoy these rights like others, unless they are exempted from them by the law.

A solid governance in Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) is reflected in their efficient and sound operations. Due to the significant role of Shari‘ah governance in enhancing and developing the operations and transactions of IFIs according to Shari‘ah rules and principles, every IFI must have a sound Shari‘ah governance framework. The key players of this governance should be defined and mentioned clearly. This paper discusses the role of key functions of Shari‘ah governance in IFIs such as the Shari‘ah Supervisory Board (SSB), Shari‘ah review and Shari‘ah audit. Moreover, this paper provides brief information about models of Shari‘ah governance worldwide. The main objective of this study is to provide a clear insight about the key elements of Shari‘ah governance in IFIs. In order to give this clear insight of the Shari‘ah governance models, this study describes radically different models of Shari‘ah governance, and focuses on their similarities and differences.

Shaykh Yusuf ?Abd Allah al-Qara?awi is a notable erudite Islamic legist (faqih) in the contemporary Islamic world of the fifteenth century after Hijrah. His rich and wide scholarship and intelligibility have immensely benefitted the Muslim world. He is, most of the time, a controversial scholar as a result of his preference of situational Neo-Ijtihad to traditional juristic approaches of medieval legists. This has indeed created an interesting landmark in the contemporary development of various areas of Islamic law and jurisprudence which calls for thorough research. The objective of this paper is to examine the opinion of al-Qara?awi on neo-Ijtihad. This study explores the legal position of Ijtihad and Neo-Ijtihad in the contemporary Islamic legal system and al-Qara?awi’s approach to the necessity, methodology and employment of Neo-Ijtihad in the modern day Islamic legal theory. He premises this on a certain legal assumption of Tajdid al-Fiqh. The research methods used in this study are expository, descriptive and analytical. This research paper concludes that the situational jurisprudential issues should be better handled by contemporary seasoned Islamic jurists who are fully aware of the situation and circumstances surrounding the issues in relation to time and place. Also, the researcher maintains that this paper could be used as a reference to prove that contemporary jurisprudential issues are limited by time and are geographically binding, and thus medieval juristic materials would be lacking in addressing them.