US embassy cable - 05MUSCAT930

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000930 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PI, NEA/ARPI 
ABU DHABI FOR MEPI 
USDOC FOR JAMES FILPI, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL, KMPI, KISL, PGOV, ECON, MU, Domestic Politics 
SUBJECT: TAKING SHARIA OUT OF LAW SCHOOL? 
 
 
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Summary 
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1. (SBU) The Dean of the College of Sharia and Law has 
confirmed rumors that the government will split up his 
institution, folding the law college into Sultan Qaboos 
University while the Sharia students will be sent to a 
religious institute.  While the Dean expects the 
organizational shift to be accompanied by a new emphasis in 
the law curriculum on modern commercial law, with the help of 
the U.S Department of Commerce, a leading law practitioner 
cautions that a background in Sharia remains essential for 
lawyers in Oman.  Public reactions to the rumors largely 
voice concern on the government's move away from Islamic 
education.  End summary. 
 
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A Coming Split 
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2. (SBU) Rumors have persisted for weeks on the local 
Internet message boards about the dissolution of the College 
of Sharia and Law, Oman's most prominent training institution 
for lawyers and judges.  Dr. Mubarak al-Rashdi (protect), 
Dean of the College and a participant in 2004 in Southern 
Methodist University's Rule of Law Forum, confirmed the 
rumors in a recent meeting with Embassy staff.  Although not 
yet made public, the Higher Education Council, chaired by 
Minister of the Diwan of the Royal Court Sayyid Ali 
al-Busaidi, has decided to split the college in two as part 
of an effort to de-emphasize Sharia law education.  The 
current college buildings will be devoted entirely to law 
students, and will come under the umbrella of Sultan Qaboos 
University (SQU), Oman's leading public university.  The 
Sharia students will be transferred to the Institute of 
Sharia Studies, run by the Royal Diwan.  Among other things, 
it means the law students will graduate with university 
degrees, while the Sharia students will still only be awarded 
a diploma. 
 
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Following the U.S. Model? 
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3. (SBU) Dr. Mubarak indicated that the general expectation 
is that the new law school will teach commercial, private and 
public law.  Indeed, the U.S. Department of Commerce's 
Commercial Law Development Program has been working closely 
with the College on developing a new curriculum.  Dr. Mubarak 
and two other College officials traveled to Washington and 
Kansas earlier this year at CLDP's behest, and were so 
impressed with the University of Kansas' law school that they 
decided to emulate the U.S. system rather than the Australian 
model they had previously decided to copy. 
 
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Sharia Not Without Supporters 
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4. (SBU) Said al-Shahry (protect), chairman of the Majlis 
al-Shura (Consultative Council) Legal Affairs Committee and 
head of one of Oman's largest private law firms, has somewhat 
different expectations.  Having received an education in both 
Sharia and law at Ain Shams University (Egypt), al-Shahry 
told us on June 6 that having a Sharia background is 
essential to practicing law in Oman, even in the commercial 
realm in which his firm almost exclusively operates.  Having 
worked for the past two years as a guest lecturer in law at 
Sultan Qaboos University, he predicted that Sharia would 
remain at least a part of the law school curriculum.  He 
nevertheless strongly praised the decision to bring the law 
college under SQU's aegis, saying it will have a strongly 
beneficial impact to both the College and the University. 
 
5. (U) Reactions on the Internet message board Al-Sablah, 
however, were less effusive.  Many respondents charged that 
it is a blatant attempt by the government to curb Islamic 
education or even to prevent citizens from "learning their 
rights."  (Note: Some Omanis remain upset at the Education 
Ministry's abrupt decision in 2004 to change the "Islamic 
Studies" curriculum in grades 11 and 12 to "Islamic Culture." 
 End note.)  A few voices, however, speculated that the 
government's move was intended to limit the number of 
unemployed Sharia school graduates in the labor market. 
 
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Comment 
 
6. (SBU)  The break-up of the College of Sharia and Law, once 
announced, may either usher in a major reform of the law 
school curriculum or just represent an organizational 
restructuring to bring the isolated college under university 
administration.  There have been widespread discussions among 
legal and business professionals, particularly following 
Oman's 2000 accession to the WTO and its active efforts to 
adopt Free Trade Agreements with the U.S. and other states, 
on the need for an Omani legal framework steeped in the 
globalized economy.  It is therefore difficult to believe 
that Oman would pass up this golden opportunity to effect a 
paradigm shift in the way they educate their legal and 
judicial class.  That said, Oman's Personal Status Law, 
effecting family law, inheritance and other critical social 
issues, remains founded on Sharia. 
BALTIMORE