Established in 1970, the Faculty of Sharia and Law was among the first faculties established at Sana’a University. Dedicated to the study of Islamic law and legal sciences, the faculty has undergone several academic systems since its inception, reflecting the evolving academic landscape. Initially, the faculty adopted a five-year system of study modeled after Al-Azhar University’s Faculty of Sharia and Law. However, practical implementation revealed a low intake of students, necessitating the university to reassess the aforementioned study system and reduce the duration to four years. This revised study system was implemented starting in the 1972–1973 academic year. Both systems ran concurrently until the graduation of the last batch admitted under the original five-year study system in the 1976–1977 academic year.

In 1975, the university decided to divide the study into a two-track specialization system within the Faculty of Sharia and Law: one for Islamic Sharia and the other for law. Upon reaching the third level of study, students were required to choose one of these specialization tracks. However, the implementation of this system revealed a significant drawback: the enrollment of only a single student in the Islamic Sharia specialization. This enrollment disparity necessitated the abandonment of the two-track system and a return to a general specialization approach, without any distinction between Islamic Sharia and law. This unified system remains in effect today, as it is considered the most suitable for fostering a strong connection between Islamic Sharia and law in Yemen, where the legal system derives its constitutional provisions from the principles of Islamic Sharia.

In 1982, the university adopted the credit hour system, which was implemented in the Faculty of Sharia and Law alongside the semester system. However, this system proved to be incompatible with the nature of the faculty’s academic courses, as they were not conducive to segmentation but instead highly integrated. Consequently, the Faculty of Sharia and Law reverted to the full academic year system, which is an exception to the semester system that remains in place for the university’s other faculties. This full-year academic system is still in place today.     

Recognizing the profound impact that graduates of the Faculty of Sharia and Law have on society and interpersonal relationships, the study programs have been meticulously designed to equip students with the requisite knowledge and expertise to fulfill their professional responsibilities effectively. Each course entails a minimum of two hours of weekly instruction, ensuring that graduates are adequately prepared for further studies at non-Yemeni universities. Recently, in 2020, the number of hours was adjusted to three hours, as reflected in the updated specifications of the study courses.