Na`ar¥yŒt al-îukm and Ma§Œdir al-Shar¥`ah On 17 October 2008, the Academy of Islamic Studies held its first seminar on Na`ar¥yŒt al-îukm and Ma§Œdir al-Shar¥`ah (NAZMAS1/2008) at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We would like to thank all of the lecturers and students of the Department of Shari`ah and Law, espe- cially Ahmad Hidayat Buang (dean of the Apium) and Siti Mashitoh bt Mahamood (head, Department of Shari`ah and Law), for their support and encouragement. The seminar originally sought to bring together students, researchers, and scholars interested in Islamic law studies from all over the world. Due to the limited time available for academicians and scholars to prepare their papers, as well as holding it right after Ramadan, however, was the event to be scaled down to a local seminar limited to the Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya. It was, nevertheless, a highly fruitful and successful event. Given the international focus on Islamic studies and law, the seminar was structured around the fundamental principles of Islamic law and how they can be embraced by elaborating upon their vital principles to make them better understood. After the chairmen’s introductory remarks, seminar director Saim Kaya- dibi (senior lecturer, Department of Shari`ah and Law) gave an opening speech that emphasized the importance of studying the Shari`ah’s funda- mental principles and how the seminar could make a constructive contribu- tion to advancing the participants’ knowledge and understanding of the inner dimension of the aúkŒm and ma§Œdir al-Shar¥`ah. Mahamood then opened the seminar. The first session, “Classification of îukm Shar`¥ and Some Unani- mously Accepted Fundamental Principles of Islamic Law,” featured a group of students from the Academy of Islamic Studies who provided a detailed understanding of the context. Groups A and F interpreted the context of obligatory (wŒjib) activities within the different schools of thought, giving special emphasis to the Hanafi school. Group B sought to identify the rec- ommendation (nadb), the communication that indecisively demands the per- formance of a particular act. The group stated that the legal effects are also called “recommendations.” Group C presented the Sunnah, one of the unan- imously accepted sources of Islamic law. Its members stressed the impor- 158 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 25:4 PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.software-partners.co.uk http://www.software-partners.co.uk http://www.software-partners.co.uk Conference, Symposium, and Panel Reports 159 tance of all verbal (qawl¥), actual (fi`l¥), and tacitly approved (taqr¥r¥) under- takings vis-à-vis the Shari`ah. Group D analyzed the rulings or judgments (aúkŒm) in general. Its def- inition and division by juristic scholars and their functions within the Shari`ah were elaborated upon by presenting concrete examples. One part of the declaratory law (úukm al-waè`i), impediment (al-mŒni`), was identified by giving extra attention to the division of the declaratory law. After a short break, the second session began with Group A’s analysis of condition (shar‹). The consideration of public interest (ma§laúah al- mursalah) was delivered by group B, whose members placed special emphasis upon the Shari`ah’s goals of protecting religion, life, intellect, lineage, and property. They pointed out that any measures that secures these five values are ma§laúah, and that any measures that violate them are mafsadah (evil). A little attention was given to the concept of qiyŒs (anal- ogy). Despite some similarities between these two concepts, however, the former differs from the latter because the Lawgiver has neither upheld nor nullified the former in the Qur’an or in the Sunnah; the latter, however, has similarities in the sources. The Qur’an, the first and fundamental source of Islamic law, was well presented by a group of young scholars. Following this, Group D elabo- rated upon and fully explained the concept of legal capacity (ahl¥yah) with- in the context of maúkum ̀ alayh (the person to whom the Shari`ah command is addressed). The participants were very impressed by the capacity of obli- gation and the capacity of execution. Before the closing remarks, awards were presented to the three winners of the seminar for the quality of their papers and presentations. The seminar concluded with closing remarks by Ammar Abdullah Naseh Alwan (University of Malaya), who spoke on the importance of na`ar¥yŒt al-úukm. He also mentioned, among many other things, that all Islamic science departments and institutes should stress the teaching of these fundamental sources of Islamic law, for without knowing these elements the concept of aúkŒm and the Shari`ah cannot be embraced and applied correctly. Saim Kayadibi, Senior Lecturer Raihanah Omar, Graduate Student Department of Shari`ah and Law Department of Shari`ah and Law Academy of Islamic Studies Academy of Islamic Studies University of Malaya University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.software-partners.co.uk http://www.software-partners.co.uk http://www.software-partners.co.uk