The Concept of Maqāsid al-Shari’ah

Abstract

Reading Islam, from a Sharīʿah (law) perspective, reveals a direct correlation between human interest and objectives of the Sharīʿah (Islamic law) stipulated by Allah (sw). The objective of Islamic law, comprehensively takes into consideration the worldly existence of man as well as the afterlife, both of which are interrelated, to achieve success in both worlds. Therefore, the main objectives of Islamic law are to protect human lives, their intellect, wealth, religion, progeny and dignity and provide all the necessary principles to govern themselves by a justice system, laid out by Divine revelation. On the other hand, ignoring the pursuit of such objectives renders the practice of Islamic law as ineffective. The early Islamic scholars endorsed the examination of the Islamic rules and its principles (Fiqh & Usūl al- Fiqh), with little emphasis on Sharīʿah. As a result of which, they neither explicitly elaborated nor presented the science in their works. Modernity was a turning point in Islamic science, the Muslim intellectuals (ʿUlāmā) adopted various approaches to develop the Islamic legal system attempting to comprehend the performance of the Qur'an and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the context of new challenges, which resulted in exploring the overall understanding of the objectives of the entire Sharīʿah and its rules.This paper’s research methodology entails presenting a review of the contemporary literature on the pioneers of the theory of Maqᾱsịd al-shari’ah and to suggest a few research directions for future developments. The paper will employ a historical and content analysis method to achieve its objective. The expected outcome of the paper is that it will serve as a base for future studies in Islamic jurisprudence.