The legal cause of “holding value” and its impact on islamic provisions regarding virtual currencies

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article discusses the Islamic juristic position of virtual currencies. In the classical period, jurists differed on the reason behind Islam’s prohibition of usury when dealing with precious metals and their derivatives, with the majority arguing that this is because they are considered to hold value (thamaniyya). The cause (illa) of “holding value” can therefore be applied through analogy (qiyās) to all things understood by the laity to hold value in any era. In the contemporary period, this cause can also be applied to virtual currencies such as Bitcoin if they fulfill the following ethical conditions: customary acceptance, legal validity, and value stability

The Qur’ān before the book - History and concepts of Qur’ānic variants (qirā’āt)

أهداف البحث: يتناول هذا البحث مسائل منهجية تتعلق بمفهوم "القراءات القرآنية"، وندرس فيه طريقة الحديث عن القراءات في النصوص الإسلامية الأولى، وفي مجال علوم القرآن، وأيضا الطريقة التي نظرت بها الدراسات القرآنية الغربية إلى القراءات في العقدين الأخيرين.  منهج الدراسة: يدرس البحث التطور التاريخي لمفهوم القراءات القرآنية في المجالات الثلاثة المذكورة آنفا: النصوص الإسلامية الأولى ودراسات علوم القرآن الإسلامية القديمة والدراسات القرآنية الغربية الحديثة والمعاصرة.  النتائج: يبين البحث ضرورة تقديم مقاربة جديدة لتاريخ القرآن والمفاهيم الرئيسية في هذا التاريخ، موضحًا أنه قد حان الوقت لكي تجدد الدراسات القرآنية الغربية أدواتها الإبستيمولوجية في دراستها تاريخ النص القرآني.  أصالة البحث: يتناول البحث مسائل إبستيمولوجية متعلقة بالدراسات القرآنية الغربية، في محاولة لتقييم وجوه التقدم الحاصلة في هذا المجال وطرح منظور جديد لتناول موضوع بعينه؛ ألا وهو: القراءات القرآنية.Purpose: This paper addresses methodological issues related to the concept of ‘Qur’ānic variants and readings’ (qirā’a pl. qirā’āt and ḥarf pl. aḥruf, respectively). I investigate the way they have been depicted in early Islamic narratives, developed in the field of medieval Islamic Qur’ānic sciences (ʿulūm al-Qur’ān), and discussed in Western Qur’ānic studies scholarship in the last two decades. Methodology: The paper proceeds chronologically by discussing variants in the three aforementioned fields: early narratives, classical Islamic Qur’ānic sciences (ʿulūm al-Qur’ān), and modern Western scholarship. Findings: The paper shows the necessity of generating a new approach to studying the history of the Qur’ān and its main concepts. The epistemological tools used in Western Qur’ānic studies on the history of the text of the Qur’ān need to be renewed. Originality: The paper addresses epistemological issues related to Western Qur’ānic studies. It seeks to assess the progress in the field and offers a new perspective on the study of specific topics: Qur’ānic variants and readings

Fact Book 2018 - 2019

The Strategy and Development Office is pleased to present to you the Qatar University (QU) Fact Book 2018-2019. The QU Fact Book is an annual publication that comprises institutional information about QU’s colleges, centers and departments. The primary purpose of the book is to guide and promote QU’s development and progress. A range of tables and graphs supports a large part of the information presented in this edition

Book Review: "Majālis al-Nūr fī Tadabbur al-Qurʾān al-Karīm wa Tafsirih bi Manhaj ʿIlmiyy wa Tarbawiyy Jadīd"

         &nbsp

FIRST YEAR SEMINAR FOSTERING 21ST CENTURY SKILLS: A STUDY OF QATAR UNIVERSITY FRESHMEN PERSPECTIVES

The overarching purpose of the present study was to investigate the perspectives of first-year students who are enrolled in First-Year Seminar (UNIV 100) course offered at Qatar University, with regard to the successfulness of the course in fostering 21st century skills; namely, study skills, critical thinking, problem solving, personal growth, collaboration, communication, digital information literacy, and civic engagement skills. A quantitative method design was utilized. A questionnaire including close-ended items was developed and administered online to all first-year students enrolled in the course during Fall 2018 semester. The close-ended questions comprised Likert-scale and rating scale multiple-choice items. A number of 307 first-year students voluntarily completed the questionnaire. SPSS V. 25 was used to run data analysis. Frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation, Welch's test and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The findings yielded that the majority of participants agreed that the course was successful in fostering the set of the 21st century skills being investigated. Results show statistical significant differences attributed to the variable of gender; in particular, differences among means of gender groups were significant for study skills, personal growth, collaboration and communication, digital information literacy, and social responsibility. However, no statistically significant differences among gender groups were reported in problem solving skills. It was noticed that the differences among means of students’ groups based on their nationality or college were not significant for all the skills. The study also revealed that the majority of first-year students perceived that the course was useful to them. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that the course was successful in fostering the 21st century skills. Implications and recommendations for further practice and future research are presented

What is in the Qur’an? Message of the Qur’an in Simple English

        &nbsp

Undergraduate Prospectus 2018

Qatar University is the national institution of higher education in Qatar. It provides high quality undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare competent graduates, destined to shape the future of Qatar. The university community has diverse and committed faculty who teach and conduct research, which addresses relevant local and regional challenges, advances knowledge, and contributes actively to the needs and aspirations of society

Digital Humanities and Qur’ãnic Manuscript Studies: New Perspectives and Challenges for Collaborative Spaces and Plural Views

أهداف البحث: يهدف هذا البحث إلى استعراض الدراسات الحديثة حول المخطوطات القرآنية المبكرة والتي استخدمت فيها المؤلفة الأدوات الرقمية الحديثة؛ من قبيل برامج معالجة الصور، ووضع علامات على النص، وفهم المخطوطات عبر استخدام برمجيات شجرة التطور (Phylogenetic software) – ومن ثم فقد بيّنت الآثار المنهجية للتحرير الرقمي للمخطوطات وإمكانية إيجاد مساحة للتعاون تُعرض فيها البيانات كما فسرها العديد من العلماء.  منهج الدراسة: في استعراضه للأبحاث السابقة والأبحاث المستقبلية حول مخطوطات القرآن الكريم؛ يرتكز هذا البحث على النهج المعرفي الذي يقدمه لنا التحرير الرقمي لنصوص مخطوطات القرآن الكريم باستخدام نظام لوضع العلامات لترميز الإصدارات وتبادلها، ويتناول هذا المنهج بالدراسة والتمحيص. لا يقف وضع العلامات والرموز على النص عند كونهما مجرد أداتين لإنجاز المهمة السيميائية أو الرمزية، ولكنهما تعكسان وتنتجان بُعدًا سيميائيًا مستقلاً. النتائج: يتبنى هذا البحث في عرض فرضيات الدراسة أسلوب إصدارات المخطوطات بوصفه مجالًا لإمكانية مصاغة بذكاء يُتاح للقارئ من خلالها اختبار عملية نشر المخطوطة وجدلية النص. لقد طُبّقت تكنولوجيا المعلومات المستعارة من علم الأحياء وكذلك التحليل الرقمي على بعض مخطوطات القرآن، ومن ثم ثبتت مزايا تحرير إصدار المخطوطات من قيود الصفحات الخطية المحدودة والجامدة للنص المطبوع، وقدمت المؤلفة بالتالي حلاً لمشكلة عرض تعددية المخطوطات. أصالة البحث: يتضح من البحث الحديث في الترميز الرقمي والتحليل الرائد المستعار من علم الأحياء لنصوص مخطوطات القرآن أن المنظور الرقمي قادر على تقديم منهج معرفي جديد لدراسات مخطوطات القرآن من خلال منصة تتسع لكمّ ضخم من الفرضيات المتنوعة وتعترف بتجاوز الحدود الجامدة، وهو ما يمنحنا منظومة عابرة للحدود والثقافات وقدرة على العمل باستخدام أنظمة تشغيل مختلفة في ظل تعددية البيانات التي يجري عرضها بكل شفافية.Purpose: This article aims at giving an overview of recent research projects carried out by the author in early Qurʾānic manuscripts applying digital tools – in terms of imaging processing, tagging of the text and phylogenetics – thus showing the methodological implications in digitally editing manuscripts and the feasibility of a collaborative space that displays data interpreted by several scholars. Methodology: In outlining previous and future projects in early Qurʾānic manuscripts, this article is based on and discusses the new epistemological approach offered by digital editing of Qurʾānic manuscript texts by using a mark-up language to encode and share editions. The mark-up and tagging of the text are not only instruments for achieving semiotic tasks but also represent and produce a separate semiotic dimension. Findings: This research endorses the theory of manuscript editions as a field of intelligently structured possibility that displays hypotheses and allows the reader to experience the manuscript transmission and debatedness of the text. Digital philology and analysis have been applied to some Qurʾānic manuscripts proving the advantages of freeing manuscripts’ edition from the constraints of the linear, circumscribed and static page of the printed text thus offering a solution to the problem of rendering manuscript movement. Originality: This is a cutting-edge research in digital encoding and pioneer phylogenetic analysis of Qurʾānic manuscript texts. It demonstrates that the digital paradigm can offer a new epistemological approach in Qurʾānic manuscript studies through a platform that admits a great quantity of varied hypotheses and crossing boundaries. This offers a transnational and transcultural system, working with different operating systems in a plurality of transparently displayed data

Penalty and Compensation in Financial Commitments - A Critical Shariah Review

أهداف البحث: يهدف هذا البحث إلى مراجعة الاجتهادات المعاصرة في قضية التعويض والشرط الجزائي، وكيف أن بعض هذه الاجتهادات فرق بين متماثلات ووسع دائرة التعويضات؛ لتشمل ما قضت أصول الشريعة بمنع التعويض فيه، مما يحتم مراجعة تلك الاجتهادات التي ربما أثقلت العمل المصرفي الإسلامي دون ضرورة أو حمّلت الشريعة ما لا تحتمل. منهج الدراسة: اتبع البحث المنهجي الاستقرائي المقارن للنصوص المتعلقة بالتعويض والشرط الجزائي. ويتناول البحث المسألة أيضًا بمنظار مقاصدي لا يغفل حاجات السوق وطبيعة المعاملات المالية المعاصرة. النتائج: توصل البحث إلى أن الإطار المقبول للشرط الجزائي هو في حصره في دائرة التعويض عن الضرر الفعلي، لا التكسب، وإلى الأصول الشرعية تنافي التكسب بالشرط، كما هو حال الربا. أصالة البحث: على الرغم من وجود بعض الدراسات السابقة في المسألة، إلا أن أهمية البحث تكمن في وضع الضوابط المعيارية لجواز الشرط الجزائي، وربط ذلك بأصول الشريعة ومقاصدها، وهو الأمر غير المسبوق، فضلًا عن إظهار مواطن الاضطراب في الاجتهادات المعاصرة المتعلقة بهذه المسألة المالية المهمة وذات التطبيق الواسع في الصيرفة الإسلامية.Purpose: The aim of this paper is to critically review the position of Shariah and contemporary ijtihād on penalty provisions in financial commitments. It is also to show that some relevant fiqh resolutions have dealt differently with similar issues despite the absence of any grounds for such differentiation and to show how penalty provision in contracts has been expanded to include what cannot be accommodated by Shariah principles. All this necessitates a review of those stances, as they may have both unnecessarily burdened the Islamic finance industry and challenged some Shariah principles. Methodology: This paper employs a qualitative research methodology that adopts textual and fiqh comparative analysis approaches. The methodology also incorporates a macro perspective for treating the subject by analyzing the issues being examined from the perspective of Maqāṣid al-Shariah (Shariah objectives) in consideration of existing market practices and needs. Findings: This study primarily indicates that penalties or compensation provisions in contracts are accepted if they are intended to prevent actual harm rather than for gain, because profiting merely through stipulation is forbidden in Islamic law. Originality: Although this paper addresses an issue that has been addressed before, it acquires significance and value by setting the basis for what constitutes a valid penalty provision in Islamic finance and by showing areas of conflict and inconsistency in some of the contemporary stands on the matter, thus necessitating a review of these stances

The Mock Application of the Insolvency Law by the Jordanian Courts: Lessons Learnt from Indonesia

Jordan is currently going through difficult economic conditions whose features have begun to crystallize clearly since the outbreak of crises and wars in Syria and Iraq. In addition to that, the year 2020 brought with it the unknown to further complicate the Jordanian economic situation. In order to find a comprehensive solution, the Jordanian legislator used some international references, such as the principles of effective systems of creditors’ rights and insolvency issued by the World Bank and the Legislative Guide to the Insolvency Law issued by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to rescue faltering economic projects or those that are about to stumble. The study resulted in the issuance of the Jordanian Insolvency Law No. 21 of 2018. This paper aims to identify the insolvency standard of the Jordanian courts and its impact on Jordan's economy. By applying a qualitative legal approach, this paper analyses the mock application of the Insolvency Law by the Jordanian courts. It also examines the insolvency standard followed by the Jordanian courts via juridical-normative with descriptive analysis. The finding shows that applying the insolvency law in Jordan is still a theory. Jordanian courts should cautiously extend the scope of insolvency theory for the law to achieve the purpose for which it was issued. Comparing the practice in Indonesia, which has switched from the insolvency test concept to the presumption of bankruptcy, this is a lesson because, in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies will find it challenging to request reports due to uncertain situations. According to the financial aspect, large companies are still good, but companies are reluctant to pay debts. This condition means that if the system used is a bankruptcy test, this case cannot be brought to the Commercial Court, so the court cannot force debtors who are reluctant to pay their debt obligations