Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA2132: Islamic Law and Society

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Introduction to Islamic law: What is Islamic law? Sources of Islamic Law
Philosophy of Islamic law and Islamic Legal Thought -Classic Islamic Law
Pre-Modern Reform, Colonialism and Modernity - Islamic Law and State Legislation
Islamic Legal Thought: Past and Present
Legal Institutions: Courts and Procedure
Contracts and Torts
Islamic Criminal Law
Islamic Marriage and Divorce Law
Islamic Inheritance Law
Islamic law and Muslim Communities in the West
Islamic legal revivalism and its consequences

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
27	123	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity	24	Lectures and small group discussion/ seminars, with use of ELE support materials. Interactive lectures, 2 hours per week, will provide students with guidance through key theories and foster critical commentary, alone or in group
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	3	Workshops: 1 hour three times a term. For each seminar, students are required to work independently and/ or as a group on oral presentations based on specific issues regarding Islamic Law. Issues for consideration, discussion and debate are provided in the module hand out. Students are required to engage in independent research
Guided Independent Study	15	Workshop presentation
Guided Independent Study	40	Reading
Guided Independent Study	68	Research for essay and class

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
12 x individual seminar presentations	15-20 minutes in total (consisting a text commentary and article summary)	1-9	Written and oral

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
50	50	0

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Exam	50	2 hours	1-9	Written and oral feedback
Essay	50	2000 words	1-9	Written comments and mark
	0
	0
	0
	0

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Exam	Exam (2 hours)	1-9	August/September reassessment period
Essay	Essay (2,000 words)	1-9	August/September reassessment period