"Associate Professor – Fiqh and Society Program"

Job Role Description:

• Conduct assigned courses or seminars to contribute to student learning
• Supervise independent study activities to guide students in achieving their academic and professional goal
• Serve as academic advisor to students to guide them in course and thesis selection
• Serve on and chair university and College committees
• Render service to the professional or lay community relevant to academic specialty
• Direct research programs of undergraduate/graduate students and advise on research matters
• Conduct research in the field of specialization and publish findings in scholarly journals or books
• May serve on faculty committees dealing with such matters as curriculum planning and degree requirements, and perform a variety of administrative duties
• Participate in curriculum development activities including the development of curricular materials and special instructional methods to further improve the university/college teaching material
• Conduct research or undertake comparable scholarly activity to contribute to HBKU becoming a leading research university
• Supervise research projects and theses to ensure success of research projects and students
• Seek funding support for research to help make HBKU a world-class research university
• Other reasonable tasks as assigned by supervisor

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. or terminal degree in Fiqh or Usul al-Fiqh from an accredited institution
• 10 – 12 years plus of relevant full-time university teaching experience in research, higher education, or closely related areas in industry (additional experience may be required to show equivalency), with evidence of increasing professional maturity and productivity
• Strong evidence of proficiency in teaching, student supervision, and curriculum and program development
• Research and scholarly achievements judged competent and adequate for the rank of Professor in comparison with peers active in the same field at major research universities
• Continued evidence of participation in the scholarly and academic affairs of a university or other appropriate organization, or in an appropriate professional society or organization
• Strong growing portfolio of scholarly endeavors (funded research grants, publications, IP/patents, etc.) in comparison with peers active in the same field at a major research university
• Strong evidence for an increasing regional and international reputation in the scholarly discipline
• Ability to work with and lead diverse groups, cultures and communities
• Active participation to develop networks and collaboration within HBKU, and with program partners and branch campuses in both teaching and research activities
• Arabic proficiency is an advantage

Additional Requirements:

• To contribute to the graduate curriculum by teaching and developing courses that tackle how Islamic Fiqh addresses societal challenges. These include areas such as family law, social justice, political theory, public policy and now, their intersection with emerging disciplines such as digital humanities and AI
• Teach core graduate courses at Masters and PhD levels such as Usul al-Fiqh, Textual Studies, Non-Textual Legal Sources, Fatwa, Family and Society, Islamic Jurisprudence, Politics and the State, The Higher Objectives of Sharia and Public Interest and Nawāzil and Novel Legal Issues
• Supervise master’s theses and PhD dissertations related to the above fields
• Contribute to curriculum design integrating classical Islamic legal scholarship with contemporary social realities
• Conduct original research and publish in internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals
• Participate in interdisciplinary and policy-relevant research initiatives
• Mentor students on academic planning, research design, and career development
• Serve on academic committees within CIS and HBKU
• Engage the wider community through public education on Islamic legal thought
• Be able to apply for external research funding to support programmatic and institutional goals
• Support the mission of CIS in becoming a globally recognized hub for socially engaged Islamic legal scholarship