Training package on land, property and housing rights in the Muslim World

Over 20 percent of the world’s population is influenced to varying degrees by Islamic principles, which intersect customary, informal and statutory land laws. Despite their relevance, global land reviews and interventions rarely consider the application of Islamic land principles. This ignores the complex and distinctive forms of land tenure particular to Muslim societies derived from Islamic principles that co-exist alongside more easily recognizable patterns.This training course addresses this knowledge gap and seeks to build capacity in the field as a vehicle for enhanced rights, empowerment and sustainability. It engages with the positive implications of Islamic dimensions of land for programmes broadly relating to land administration, land registration, urban planning and environmental sustainability. In particular, it focuses on opportunities for developing innovative and authentic tools in a range of specific areas and disciplines including Islamic family law, women’s rights, inheritance systems, the waqf or Islamic endowment, human rights and development and Islamic credit/microfinance. 

The course consists of eight modules recognizing the diversity across Muslim countries in land and property rights and the distinctive weave of Islamic, customary, secular and cultural practices in different countries and regions. This training course is designed as an introductory training module, which would enable participants to equip themselves with foundation principles, further disseminate the knowledge or train others. The end users of the course are intended to be policy makers or an audience at a beginners or undergraduate level, without any pre-requisite knowledge of Islamic land law but those with basic experience on land issues in the Muslim world. While the course is foundational, it is possible to adapt the course content for advanced learners through more rigorous reading and case studies, and prior exchange and dissemination of reports and materials from participants which exemplify their work or contexts. In selecting participants, ensuring geographical and gender distribution, a range of expertise and experience as well as diversity of ethnic and religious backgrounds would augment the mutual learning experience.