Brief Annual Report on the Activities of Department of Contemporary Jurisprudence (Fiqh) (2017-2018)

First: Development of Educational Texts in Contemporary Fiqh

In this regard, to date 150 sessions of the Scientific Council have been held with consistent and active participation of senior scholars. Alongside these sessions, more than 3,000 hours of scholarly and research work have been completed.

As a first step, the book al-Fāʾiq fī al-Uṣūl was compiled, addressing topics such as sīrat al-ʿuqalāʾ (the rational practice of reasonable people), sīrat al-mutasharriʿa (established religious practice), the principle of law kāna labāna (if it were relevant, it would have been stated), and the authoritativeness of general expressions (ḥujjiyyat al-iṭlāqāt) in newly emerging issues.

This work was taught during the 2018–2019 academic year to approximately 200 students at the level of Dars-e Khārij (advanced ijtihād-level classes) by esteemed professors, including Ayatollahs Aʿrāfī, Shab-Zendehdār, and ʿAndalīb, as well as a group of senior instructors. After collecting and reviewing all scholarly feedback, the book will be republished in the coming year in a revised edition.

In continuation of this effort, the Office has prepared preliminary teaching materials—following the development of detailed outlines—on a number of usūlī (principles of jurisprudence) topics requiring renewed analysis, including:
ilghāʾ al-khuṣūṣiyya (removal of specific qualification), tanqīḥ al-manāṭ (refinement of the effective cause), proportionality between ruling and subject, madhāq al-shāriʿ (the legislative ethos), qiyās (analogical reasoning), maqāṣid al-sharīʿa (objectives of Islamic law), and customary understanding (ʿurf) and its applications.

In addition, initial texts have been prepared on the fiqh topics of legal personality and its rulings, money and its jurisprudential rulings, and banking and new contractual forms. These works will be published after finalization and integrated into the Hawza educational curriculum.

Second: Launch of Public Dars-e Khārij Courses in Contemporary Fiqh

In this area, a specialized working group—drawing on both Hawza and university experts—was established to examine the nature of money. Following the preparation of a detailed syllabus and sources, a Dars-e Khārij course on the nature of money and its rulings was launched by Ayatollah Shahīdī.

Several additional Dars-e Khārij courses in contemporary fiqh are also scheduled to begin in the near future, addressing new social, economic, and medical issues.

Third: International Dissemination of Fiqh al-Jawāhirī

Given the remarkable depth and strength of the prevailing Hawza-based fiqh and uṣūl tradition in comparison with parallel international approaches, the Office has initiated field research projects aimed at presenting the rich heritage and innovations of Fiqh al-Jawāhirī—the classical Shiʿi jurisprudential methodology rooted in the Jawāhir al-Kalām tradition—in a language and framework accessible to an international audience.

Through collaboration with domestic and international experts, this initiative seeks to clearly demonstrate to scholars worldwide the true intellectual capacity of Shiʿi jurisprudence.

Strategic Objectives of the Department of Contemporary Jurisprudence (Fiqh)

1. Promoting transformation and advancement in advanced-level fiqh and uṣūl textbooks in the Hawza, while preserving authentic Shiʿi traditional and ijtihād-based methodologies;
2. Expanding Dars-e Khārij courses in contemporary fiqh and new methodologies of legal derivation;
3. Supporting the development and deepening of research projects, academic articles, and theses in contemporary fiqh;
4. Creating a dynamic scholarly environment that fosters creativity, intellectual vitality, and the training of capable and effective jurists;
5. Laying the groundwork for a more active role of the Hawza in knowledge production on contemporary issues.