This module aims to provide a strategic perspective to Muslim societies and organizations based on contemporary reflections of the Quran and a framework of maqasid al-shariah.
The module, at the
outset, covers interrelated concepts; whilst the one is an Arabic concept known
as Ummah, the other two are sociologically tied. The first of the two reflects
on selected Muslim (majority and minority) societies, whilst the second zooms
in on certain Muslim (big and small) organizations. It unpacks the concept
‘Ummah’ in some detail and then explores a Muslim’s perspective of ‘society’
and ‘organization’. When tackling these, a multidisciplinary approach is
adopted in order to get a fair insight into each of them.
Since they are
sociological categories, the module, moreover, reviews these by taking into
account - where necessary – the diverse juridical, political, social, and
economic challenges. While it considers these categories and their assorted
elements within a Maqasid Shari-ah framework, it places emphasis on
problematics associated with Muslim (majority and minority) societies, on the
one hand, and those related, on the other, to Muslim organizations (generally
also referred to Faith Based Organizations [FBOs] or Non=Governmental
Organizations [NGOs]).