ISLAMABAD: A delegation of 27 judges from lower courts in Pakistan will visit Saudi Arabia for legal training from next month, a Pakistani coordinator for the visit said on Wednesday.

The Islamic International University Islamabad (IIUI) with the support of the Imam Muhammad Bin Al Saud Islamic University in Riyadh is arranging the trip for the group of judges from the Pakistani capital city and provinces to bring them up to date on the various disciplines of Shari’ah knowledge and apprise them of modern understandings of Islamic law and jurisprudence.

“The delegation will visit from September 13 to 28,” said Sohail Khan, a lecturer at the Shariah Academy at IIUI and the coordinator of the trip. “This course was initiated with the help of the Saudi ministry of justice … will help Pakistani delegation to learn and benefit from the Saudi justice system.”

Dr. Ahmad Yousif Al-Draiweesh, President International Islamic University Islamabad, said in a press statement that the aim of the visit was to provide training to the Pakistani judges on the different chapters of Islamic Laws.

“During the visit, experts and members of Pakistani delegation will participate in different types of dialogues on different concerned topics,” Al-Draiweesh said, adding that the visit would provide an opportunity to learn from each other’s expertise and find ways to resolve differences faced by the Muslim Ummah in light of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

“The judicial system of Saudi Arabia is working more actively as compared to the Roman laws and Pakistani society could learn a lot from the Saudi judicial system,” Al-Draiweesh said. 

Thousands of Pakistani judges have received training at the IIUI’s Shariah Academy which was initially founded as an Institute of Training in Shari’ah and Legal Profession in 1981. Later the Institute was elevated to the status of an academy and became a constituent unit of the International Islamic University in 1985.

Since its inception, the Academy was given the mandate to promote “Islamic legal philosophy, orientation in Islamic law and the Islamic concept of justice through the training of judges, attorneys, prosecutors, lawyers and other legal professionals who play a key role in the judicial system of the country,” the IIUI says on its website.