This course introduces the students to the methodology of Ijtihad in Islamic law through the study of principles and objectives of Islamic law. The course introduces the students to the various Sharia sources and explains to them how Sharia financial rules are derived from the sources. The course is also designed to help students understand the bases of differences in Islamic Fiqh schools, the reasons why jurists differ, and the weight of different legal opinions. This course also aims to equip students with the necessary knowledge of the most important concepts in Maqasid al Sharia and their applications in Islamic finance.

The course is designed to aid graduate students to improve their writing and research skills and is specific to Islamic and Sustainable Finance. It includes an overview of the writing mechanics and process, how to properly conduct research, cite sources and guidelines for writing papers. This course is more suitable for students who want to conduct a dissertation using qualitative and quantitative research techniques and extend the basic knowledge students learned in the general research methods course.