Tolou International Institute

Artificial intelligence (AI) raises questions about its relationship with religion. Shiite scholars have studied its impact on religious sciences, including jurisprudence. Advanced courses have addressed AI’s role in education, stock market transactions, judging, and its jurisprudential implications. A course on AI responsibility explores scenarios where AI is accountable for its actions, considering self-learning capabilities.

The jurisprudence of ethics is an emerging field that addresses moral duties and requires precise definition. It aims to apply ijtihād in ethical issues, clarify the relationship between jurisprudence and ethics, and examine moral qualities and behaviors. A specific course in 2023 focuses on the moral vice of ʿujb, considering its common occurrence and destructive effects.

The economic system of Islam encompasses an Islamic economic worldview, the school of Islam, and Islamic economics. Exploring its comprehensiveness and characteristics raises questions due to limited discussions and scarcity of narrations. The course addresses the existence of an Islamic economic system, its goals, the role of the Islamic government, financial resources, economic policies, and property regulation.

Jurisprudence is traditionally divided into acts of worship and transactions. Acts of worship focus on religious practices, while transactions deal with everyday worldly matters. In recent times, the emergence of new contracts, such as insurance, has garnered attention from Shiite and Sunni jurists. Questions regarding the legitimacy and conditions of insurance as a religious contract are explored, covering topics like its definition, principles, pillars, and potential obstacles.

Fiqh al-tarbiya is an Islamic jurisprudence branch focusing on education, training, and upbringing. It explores principles and regulations for nurturing individuals within an Islamic framework. This field addresses pedagogical methods, curriculum design, and educator responsibilities. Fiqh al-tarbiya aims to integrate Islamic teachings into education, guiding practices accordingly.

The economic system of Islam has three main elements: Islamic economic worldview, the economic school of Islam, and Islamic economics. Economic jurisprudence focuses on the second element, which explains the relations between economic elements in society. It covers topics such as income, including khums, zakat, taxes, anfal, and the banking system. Ayatollah Sayyid Muḥammad Riḍā Mudarrisī Yazdī discussed these points in his book on the tax and budget system in Islam.

Modern advancements in science and changing lifestyles present ongoing challenges to jurists. To address these issues, specialized interdisciplinary jurisprudence, such as medical jurisprudence, has emerged. It covers a wide range of topics including healthcare, research, and legal responsibilities of medical professionals. Shaykh Muḥammad Qāʾinī teaches an advanced course on medical jurisprudence, exploring subjects like medical experiments and sensitive medical rulings.

Jurisprudential issues are traditionally divided into acts of worship and transactions. The first category includes acts like prayer and fasting, while the second category involves commercial transactions. New contracts, known as “al-ʿuqūd al-mustaḥditha,” have emerged due to evolving transactions. These contracts, such as insurance, Islamic banking, and stock exchange, are important in today’s economy. In a specific course on goodwill, or “sarquflī,” taught by Shaykh Muḥammad Taqī Shahīdī, the definition, background, legitimacy, and conditions of the sarquflī contract are discussed.

Political jurisprudence is a branch of Islamic jurisprudence that deals with the Islamic laws and regulations regarding political issues, including communication between citizens, the relationship between the government and citizens, and the relations between an Islamic state and other governments. The course, which is held at the Dar al-Shifa Seminary School in Qom, Iran, is taught by Ayatollah Abolqasim Alidoust, a renowned Iranian scholar, Fiqh professor and jurist at the Research Institute of Islamic Culture and Thought. The course covers topics such as various political systems, the rights and duties of the government and citizens, and foreign policy, and draws on the principles of both Sunni and Shia political jurisprudence. Professor Alidoust has written extensively on the subject and has a long history of studying and teaching Islamic jurisprudence.

An advanced course on the jurisprudence of social relations from the Islamic point of view.