Najran University is to have a Faculty of Shariah and Principles of Religion with classes set to begin in October of this year, the acting dean of the future faculty has revealed. Abed Al-Sufyani said that approval for the institution had come from Khalid Bin Al-Anqari, Minister of Higher Education, and a team from Shariah faculties around the Kingdom is due to be formed to prepare the curricula. “The faculty will be similar to its counterparts in other Saudi universities, with departments of Shariah Law, Principles of Religion (Usoul Al-Deen) and jurisprudence (Fiqh),” Al-Sufyani said. “About 100 students have applied to the faculty for and others have registered for the second semester.” Al-Sufyani responded to views circulating in some quarters that Shariah faculties do not match the needs of the labor market in the Kingdom by saying that they are “hasty personal opinions that are extremist in their opposition to religious knowledge.” “Without Shariah people's aims would not be achieved. The Ulema, judges and Shariah consultants graduate from these colleges, along with specialists working at the Commission for Investigation and Prosecution and teachers of Shariah sciences,” Al-Sufyani said. “The faculties provide ministry departments connected to religion with staff, foremost of course the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and the Ministry of Justice. Furthermore, lawyers and legal consultants graduate from these faculties, and Shariah Law students can go on to join the teaching staff at faculties of Shariah. All these people are needed by the country in all fields.” “Shariah is a specialized subject valid for all times and places and is not restricted to certain types of people or a certain period of time,” Al
