Page "Sharia" Paragraph 216

The origins of the Ijazah dates back to the ijazat attadris wa ' l-ifttd (" license to teach and issue legal opinions ") in the medieval Islamic legal education system, which was equivalent to the Doctor of Laws qualification and was developed during the 9th century after the formation of the Madh ' hab legal schools.

To obtain a doctorate, a student " had to study in a guild school of law, usually four years for the basic undergraduate course " and ten or more years for a post-graduate course.

The " doctorate was obtained after an oral examination to determine the originality of the candidate's theses ", and to test the student's " ability to defend them against all objections, in disputations set up for the purpose ," which were scholarly exercises practiced throughout the student's " career as a graduate student of law.

" After students completed their post-graduate education, they were awarded doctorates giving them the status of faqih ( meaning " master of law "), mufti ( meaning " professor of legal opinions ") and mudarris ( meaning " teacher "), which were later translated into Latin as magister, professor and doctor respectively.