Sharia Knowledge: Characteristics and Barriers to Acquisition – A Didactic Approach

Abstract

Anyone who follows the development of Sharia sciences departments in Islamic and Arab universities can clearly observe the valuable academic accumulation they have achieved and the significant progress they have experienced. This progress is reflected in the graduation of qualified cadres, the production of research and studies, and their contribution to the development of societies. However, this trajectory has not been without evaluative moments aimed at renewal, development, and overcoming existing gaps.

With the rapid transformations taking place across various fields of knowledge—particularly in educational sciences and related disciplines such as pedagogy, didactics, teaching methods, and curricula—several manifestations of this crisis have emerged. Among the most important are: the detachment of Sharia sciences from their functional purpose, the absence of a maqasid-oriented dimension in their study, fragmentation and lack of integration among their branches, disconnection from reality, excessive focus on historical aspects and abstraction, and separation from contemporary life and the development of modern sciences.

In addition, traditional teaching methods dominate, while innovation remains largely absent. To overcome this crisis and the epistemological and didactic obstacles, the study proposes reorganizing the curricula for teaching Sharia sciences according to the following principles: coherence, integration, and precision in formulating objectives within the course descriptions of various Sharia subjects.