LLM Islamic Law
London, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 up to 3 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 25,740 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas student fees | home student fees: GBP 15,130 per year
Introduction
The SOAS LLM in Islamic Law offers a world-leading specialisation in a rapidly developing area of law that has increasing significance in Muslim-majority countries as well as in the lives of many Muslims living elsewhere.
The LLM deals in depth with issues such as those relating to families, financial markets, philanthropy, inter-state and international relations and globalisation. It offers a platform for viewing and understanding different parts of the Muslim world from multifaceted and diverse perspectives. Modules included in the programme investigate the meanings and applications of principles of Islamic law in South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and transnationally.
They explore jurisprudence and methodologies, family law, criminal law and financial law, and consider critical areas of intersection with international human rights law. Law and society more generally is a focus for the region-specific modules, interrogating the place and role of law in and its relationship with society, including but not limited to issues of gender, colonialism, constitutional law and plural legal systems.
Why study LLM Islamic Law at SOAS?
- We are ranked in the UK top 20 (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- Our research publications have been rated first in the UK - and our School of Law rated sixth in the UK - in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
- The LLM in Islamic law offers wide-ranging insights into the operation of norms and principles of Islamic law particularly in the global South and in its interaction with emerging international norms and regional mechanisms
- Our staff have years of experience advising governments, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, philanthropic foundations, law firms and financial institutions. Some have been or are legal practitioners in their specialised fields
- The modules attract students from across SOAS as well as from the School of Law, leading to vibrant, cross-fertilising discussions and exchanges that often add unexpected value to the learning experience.
Duration
One year (full-time), two or three years (part-time)
Gallery
Ideal Students
Why You?
The programme provides required expertise for anyone interested in pursuing a career in Islamic law or in law-related careers focused on Muslim majority countries or contexts. This expertise is much sought after in law, finance and media, international organisations and government.
Many students in the SOAS School of Law take at least one of the modules in this programme because of the way in which the substance of core modules engages with critical areas of law that are increasingly a focus of practitioners and policymakers. The LLM in Islamic Law offers a unique insight into the richness of the subject matter that will compel your attention to the complexities of historical and current interpretations, usages and repertoires of this most exciting set of laws, legal systems and legal processes.
Each LLM student is required to successfully complete 180 credits, which comprises 120 credits of taught modules and a 60-credit 12,000-word dissertation on a topic related to his or her specialisation.
Admissions
Curriculum
Students must take modules to a total value of 180 credits, consisting of a dissertation (60 credits) and 120 credits of taught modules. Taught modules are worth either 15 or 30 credits. Students who wish to graduate with a specialised LLM are required to take at least 60 credits associated with their specialised LLM, and the dissertation topic will be undertaken within the LLM specialisation.
Please note that not all modules listed will be available every year.
Compulsory Module
- LLM Dissertation in Law
Specialist Pathway Options
Students who wish to graduate with a specialised LLM in Islamic Law are required to take at least 60 credits from the following list:
- Gender, Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa
- Islamic Family Law
- Islamic Legal Theory
- Transnational Law, Finance and Technology
- Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa
- Law, Religion, and the State in South Asia
- Human Rights and Islamic Law
General Law Options
Students who wish to graduate with a specialised LLM in Islamic Law are required to take at least 30 credits from the following list:
- Gender and the Law of War
- Gender and the Law of Peace
- Human Rights of Women
- Law and Natural Resources
- Law, Religion, and the State in South Asia
- Israel, Palestine, and International Law
- International Human Rights Clinic
- Human Rights and Islamic Law
- International Commercial Arbitration
- Law and Development in Africa
- Intellectual Property Law
- International laws on the use of force
- Foundations of International Law
- The Law of Armed Conflict
- Colonialism, Empire and International Law
- Justice, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Post-Conflict Societies
- Water Justice: Rights, Access and Movements
- Comparative Constitutional Law
- Law and Society in Southeast Asia
- Law and Postcolonial Theory
- International Criminal Law
- Gender, Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa
- Gender, Sexuality and Law: Selected Topics
- Gender, Sexuality and Law: Theories and Methodologies
- International Investment Law
- Law, Rights & Social Change
- Human Rights of Women
- Law, Environment and Social Justice
- International Migration Law
- International Refugee Law
- Law, Environment, and the Global Commons: Ice, Sea, Space and Beyond
- The Prohibition of Torture in International Law
- Water and Development: Commodification, Ecology and Globalisation
- Multinational Enterprises and the Law I
- Multinational Enterprises and the Law II
- Business and Human Rights in the Global Economy
- Comparative Company Law
- Israel, Palestine, and International Law
- Palestine, Resistance, and the Law
- Alternative Dispute Resolution I
- Alternative Dispute Resolution II
- Law and the Climate Crisis
- International Protection of Human Rights
- Islamic Family Law
- Islamic Legal Theory
- Transnational Law, Finance and Technology
- Colonial Geographies of International Law
- Law and the Biodiversity Crisis
- Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa
Program Outcome
Knowledge and Understanding
- Students will acquire specialist knowledge of Islamic law.
- This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, knowledge and understanding of the following:
- The theoretical and practical underpinnings of Islamic law
- The context in which law is made, interpreted, adjudicated, and amended
- The role played by law, particularly Islamic law in different areas
- The Role and Function of Legal institutions in managing Islamic law
- The weight and significance of different sources and methodologies.
- Students will develop knowledge of how to locate relevant materials and assess their relevance and/or importance.
Intellectual (thinking) Skills
- Students should develop rigor in the analysis and assessment of legal arguments
- Students should develop the ability to understand, summarise and critically assess differing perspectives on theoretical debates
- Students should develop independence of thought and the confidence to challenge the accepted wisdom
- Students should learn to identify issues and formulate questions for further research through independent work
- Students will be encouraged to bring to bear their own previous experience and knowledge in addressing legal issues in an interdisciplinary manner.
Subject-Based Practical Skills
The programme will help students develop the ability to:
- Write clear research essays and dissertations
- Research in a variety of specialised research libraries and institutes and online, and retrieve, sift and select information from a variety of sources
- Present seminar papers and defend the arguments therein
- Discuss ideas introduced during seminars
- Develop essay and dissertation research questions
- Read legal source materials rapidly and critically
- Present legal arguments in moots and debates.
Transferable Skills
The programme will enable students to:
- Communicate effectively in writing
- Structure and communicate ideas and arguments effectively both orally and in writing
- Read and comprehend significant quantities of reading rapidly and effectively and develop critical faculties
- Find and use a variety of written and digital materials, especially legal materials, in libraries and research institutes
- Present (non–assessed) material orally
- Develop teamwork skills.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
SOAS Law graduates leave SOAS as civic minded and critically engaged individuals who can effectively contribute to their communities and societies. With a thorough understanding of the legal dimensions underlying many of our global challenges today, our Law students are valued by employers due to their analytical skills, specialist knowledge, and global perspective.
SOAS Law graduates have found the LLM a vital boost to their work as legal professionals and that this Law Master provides an excellent base for further study towards a research degree such as a PhD leading to an academic career.
Recent School of Law graduates have been hired by:
- PwC LLP
- BLM Law
- BloombergNEF
- British Medical Association
- Clifford Chance
- DAC Beachcroft LLP
- Department for Work and Pensions
- EY
- HM Treasury
- Latham & Watkins
- Legal Cheek
- Simpson Millar Solicitors
- The Economist
- Travers Smith
- Vodafone
- World Cancer Research Fund