The College of Sharia: How to Build a College the Future Needs? (3–3)
In the first article of this series, we paused at the declining enrollment in the College of Sharia, noting that the number itself is not the problem, but rather an indicator urging us to read what lies beneath it. In the second article, we discussed the responsibility for the environment that led students to reconsider their choices, concluding that responsibility is shared among public policies, the labor market, the university, and the college itself. However, after diagnosing the problem and assigning responsibilities, the most important question remains: If we do not want the College of Sharia to shrink, how do we rebuild it to become a college needed by the future? The answer begins with a clear truth: We do not need a less Sharia-oriented College of Sharia, but rather a College of Sharia more capable of presence in the future. The problem is not with the authenticity or value of Islamic sciences, but with the fact that the world is changing rapidly, while some of our educational institutions still treat the future as if it were a copy of the past.
First: From Defending the College to Rebuilding It
The question is no longer: Is the College of Sharia important? The human need for religion, values, and ethics remains as long as humanity exists. The real question is: How do we translate this importance into programs, graduates, and institutions that society needs? Defending the college is not achieved by repeatedly talking about the status of Islamic sciences, but by proving its ability to understand reality and provide answers to the issues of individuals, society, and the state. A college that trusts in its knowledge does not fear review; rather, it makes review a condition for survival and influence. From here, reform begins with a single question: What kind of graduate do we want?
Second: A New Graduate for a New Era
We need a graduate who possesses solid Islamic grounding, but also possesses the tools of work and influence: research and analysis, writing and communication, understanding reality and systems, dealing with technology, institutional work, and awareness of the economy, family, and society. What is required is not to dilute Islamic sciences, but to add skills that enable their holder to apply their knowledge to reality. From a graduate who waits for a job, to a graduate whom the job market needs.
Third: From a Single Major to Interdisciplinary Pathways
Preserving the identity of the College of Sharia does not mean trapping the student in a single academic path. After building a solid Islamic foundation, interdisciplinary pathways can be opened that combine Sharia with fields needed by society, such as: law, Islamic finance and economics, digital media, family and social reform, endowments and charitable work, public policy, and the ethics of professions and technology. The future does not need a specialist who knows only one field, but someone who can connect sciences and provide composite solutions to complex problems.
Fourth: The Labor Market as a Partner, Not a Final Stop
It is a mistake to wait for the student to graduate and then ask: Where will they work? The relationship with the labor market should begin before the student enters university, and programs should be reviewed based on the needs of society and the state. Here, partnerships with government, judicial, financial, endowment, social, media, and research centers become genuine partnerships, transforming into field training, joint projects, application opportunities, and continuous identification of required skills.
Fifth: Artificial Intelligence as an Opportunity to Shape the Role
Artificial intelligence will not be just a new technology; it will raise deep questions about ethics, responsibility, privacy, justice, benefit, and harm. Here, the College of Sharia must not be merely a recipient of what others create, but a partner in shaping the ethical and legislative frameworks that govern technology, and in producing knowledge that helps society deal with it.
Sixth: Graduate Studies – From Repetition to Knowledge Production
Graduate studies should transform into a laboratory for addressing real issues: the family and social transformations, Islamic finance, contemporary legislation, technology, religious discourse, professional ethics, endowments, and development. Graduate study is not just a path to an academic title, but a responsibility to produce beneficial knowledge and applicable solutions.
Seventh: Authenticity Is Not Against the Future
We do not have two choices: preserving authenticity or keeping up with the times. This is a false choice. Authenticity is not freezing the past, and renewal is not cutting ties with the roots. Rather, strength lies in taking from our heritage its methodology, values, and principles, and then using them to address the questions of our era. This is what the College of Sharia should be: rooted in its principles, present in its era, and influential in its future.
Eighth: We Need a Decision and a Reform Project
The college is not saved by adding one course or deleting another; it requires a comprehensive project that asks: What does society need from the College of Sharia in the next twenty years? Then, based on the answer, build a clear vision for the graduate, periodic review of programs, new interdisciplinary pathways, practical training, partnerships with the labor market, development of scientific research, and indicators that measure graduate employment and the impact of programs. Professors of the college and university, government entities, the labor market, graduates, and students must participate in this project; those who live the problem are part of the solution.
Ninth: Who Will Protect the Future of the College of Sharia?
In the first article, we asked about the numbers, and in the second, about responsibility. Today, we arrive at the final question: Who will protect the future of the College of Sharia? Emotional defense, nostalgia for the past, or administrative decisions alone will not protect it. What protects its future is being important to society, beneficial to the state, attractive to students, and capable of answering the questions of the era. The issue is not: How do we preserve the College of Sharia? But: How do we make society need it more? If we succeed in that, the student will not choose merely a degree, but authentic knowledge, a viable profession, and a mission that society needs. This is the future that the College of Sharia deserves in our beloved country, the State of Kuwait.
Al-Zubdah
1. The future of the College of Sharia is not saved by increasing the number of accepted students, but by rebuilding its academic and professional project according to future needs.
2. We need a graduate who combines solid Islamic grounding with skills that enable work and influence.
3. Interdisciplinary pathways expand application areas without diluting the identity of the major.
4. The labor market should become a partner in building programs, not an entity we seek after graduation.
5. Artificial intelligence opens a new role for the College of Sharia in shaping the ethical and legislative frameworks of technology.
6. Graduate studies should move from repeating topics to producing knowledge that addresses societal problems.
7. The goal is not to preserve the college because it exists, but to make society need it because it is capable of serving its future.
Dr. Abdulhamid Al-Shaiji
