Question : A question was asked regarding [the validity of Muslims] learning about secular law.

Fatwa in Brief: It is not permitted to teach secular law as a general course in colleges of higher education. Rather, this subject should be limited to specialists, who are able to show how secular law deviates from the truth [of Muslim law].

The Permanent Committee, 12/34-35

Response:

There is nothing wrong in studying secular law providing that one’s study is guided by a legitimate interest, such as co-operating for the general good of society, fighting legal oppression, or comparing secular law with Islamic law to point out what is valid and invalid [according to Islam].

Commentary:

If education in secular law contributes towards the good, emphasizes truth and fights oppression, informs people of their human rights and responsibilities or as comparitive studies to discern between right and wrong and confirm the moral excellence of Islamic legislation then not only are such studies promoting values in keeping with Islam, but the learners are obeying God and deserve reward for doing so in accordance with their intentions and their firm belief in truth as defined by the Divine Legislature.

Those who study secular law should be attentive to God’s words:

“Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers”. (Q. 5: 44; cf. 5:45, in which they are described as “wrongdoers”; and 5: 47, in which they are described as “evil-livers”)[1]

And:

“And plead not on behalf of (people) who deceive themselves. Lo! Allah loveth not one his is treacherous and sinfull”. (Q. 4: 107)

And to another of God’s verses:

“Lo! Ye are they who pleaded for them in the life of the world. But who will plead with them for them on the Day of Resurrection, or who will then be their defender?”. (Q. 4: 109)

And to a hadith in the collections of Abu Dawud and Tubrani, with a sound chain of transmission, in which the Prophet is reported to have said that whoever argues – in another report, it is said whoever acts – on behalf of corruption will be cursed by God for the rest of his/her life.

In the Fatwa Centre under the Supervision of Dr. ‘Abdullah al-Faqih:

If the intention of the student is good, studying secular law is not, in itself, harmful. Hence, a student may study with the intention of showing how the Shari‘ah is better than secular law; or to benefit from it [secular law] in those areas in which it does not oppose Shari‘ah; or to benefit someone else. Studying secular law may only occur, however, under two conditions. First, that it does not prevent the student from learning and practicing his/her religious obligations; and, second, that when Islamic and secular legal systems oppose each other, s/he prefers the regulations of the former, and distances him/herself from those of the latter.[2]
 

Dr. Yassir ‘Abd al-‘Azim