Ibn Ashur

Shaikh Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur is the most renowned Zaytuna Imam and one of the great Islamic scholars of the 20th century. The publication of this translation of Shaikh Ibn Ashur’s Treatise on Maqasid al-Shari’ah is a breakthrough in studies on Islamic law in the English language. In this book, Ibn Ashur proposed Maqasid as a methodology for the renewal of the theory of Islamic law, which has not undergone any serious development since the era of the great imams. Ibn Ashur – quite courageously – also addressed the sensitive topic of the intents/Maqasid of Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) behind his actions and decisions. He introduced criteria to differentiate between the Prophetic traditions that were meant to be part of Islamic law and the Prophetic actions/ sayings that were meant to be for the sake of specific purposes such as political leadership, court judgment, friendly advice, and conflict resolution. But Ibn Ashur’s most significant contribution in this book has been the development of new Maqasid by coining new, contemporary, terminology that were never formulated in traditional usul al-fiqh. For example, Ibn Ashur developed the theory of the ‘preservation of lineage’ into ‘the preservation of the family system’, the ‘protection of true belief’ into ‘freedom of beliefs’, etc. He also introduced the concepts of ‘orderliness’, ‘natural disposition’, ‘freedom’, ‘rights’, ‘civility’, and ‘equality’ as Maqasid in their own right, and upon which the whole Islamic law is based. This development opens great opportunities for Islamic law to address current and real challenges for Muslim societies and Muslim minorities.

Shaikh Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur is the most renowned Zaytuna Imam and one of the great Islamic scholars of the 20th century. The publication of this translation of Shaikh Ibn Ashur’s Treatise on Maqasid al-Shari’ah is a breakthrough in studies on Islamic law in the English language. In this book, Ibn Ashur proposed Maqasid as a methodology for the renewal of the theory of Islamic law, which has not undergone any serious development since the era of the great imams. Ibn Ashur – quite courageously – also addressed the sensitive topic of the intents/Maqasid of Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) behind his actions and decisions. He introduced criteria to differentiate between the Prophetic traditions that were meant to be part of Islamic law and the Prophetic actions/ sayings that were meant to be for the sake of specific purposes such as political leadership, court judgment, friendly advice, and conflict resolution. But Ibn Ashur’s most significant contribution in this book has been the development of new Maqasid by coining new, contemporary, terminology that were never formulated in traditional Usûl al-Fiqh. For example, Ibn Ashur developed the theory of the ‘preservation of lineage’ into ‘the preservation of the family system’, the ‘protection of true belief’ into ‘freedom of beliefs’, etc. He also introduced the concepts of ‘orderliness’, ‘natural disposition’, ‘freedom’, ‘rights’, ‘civility’, and ‘equality’ as Maqasid in their own right, and upon which the whole Islamic law is based. This development opens great opportunities for Islamic law to address current and real challenges for Muslim societies and Muslim minorities.

Shaikh Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur is the most renowned Zaytuna Imam and one of the great Islamic scholars of the 20th century. The publication of this translation of Shaikh Ibn Ashur’s Treatise on Maqasid al-Shari’ah is a breakthrough in studies on Islamic law in the English language. In this book, Ibn Ashur proposed Maqasid as a methodology for the renewal of the theory of Islamic law, which has not undergone any serious development since the era of the great imams. Ibn Ashur – quite courageously – also addressed the sensitive topic of the intents/Maqasid of Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) behind his actions and decisions. He introduced criteria to differentiate between the Prophetic traditions that were meant to be part of Islamic law and the Prophetic actions/ sayings that were meant to be for the sake of specific purposes such as political leadership, court judgment, friendly advice, and conflict resolution. But Ibn Ashur’s most significant contribution in this book has been the development of new Maqasid by coining new, contemporary, terminology that were never formulated in traditional usul al-fiqh. For example, Ibn Ashur developed the theory of the ‘preservation of lineage’ into ‘the preservation of the family system’, the ‘protection of true belief’ into ‘freedom of beliefs’, etc. He also introduced the concepts of ‘orderliness’, ‘natural disposition’, ‘freedom’, ‘rights’, ‘civility’, and ‘equality’ as Maqasid in their own right, and upon which the whole Islamic law is based. This development opens great opportunities for Islamic law to address current and real challenges for Muslim societies and Muslim minorities.

Shaikh Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur is the most renowned Zaytuna Imam and one of the great Islamic scholars of ‎the 20th century. The publication of this translation of Shaikh Ibn Ashur’s Treatise on Maqasid al-Shari’ah is a ‎breakthrough in studies on Islamic law in the English language. In this book, Ibn Ashur proposed Maqasid as a ‎methodology for the renewal of the theory of Islamic law, which has not undergone any serious development since ‎the era of the great imams. Ibn Ashur – quite courageously – also addressed the sensitive topic of the ‎intents/Maqasid of Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) behind his actions and decisions. ‎ He introduced criteria to differentiate between the Prophetic traditions that were meant to be part of Islamic law and ‎the Prophetic actions/ sayings that were meant to be for the sake of specific purposes such as political leadership, ‎court judgment, friendly advice, and conflict resolution. But Ibn Ashur’s most significant contribution in this book has ‎been the development of new Maqasid by coining new, contemporary, terminology that were never formulated in ‎traditional Usûl al-Fiqh. For example, Ibn Ashur developed the theory of the ‘preservation of lineage’ into ‘the ‎preservation of the family system’, the ‘protection of true belief’ into ‘freedom of beliefs’, etc. He also introduced the ‎concepts of ‘orderliness’, ‘natural disposition’, ‘freedom’, ‘rights’, ‘civility’, and ‘equality’ as Maqasid in their own ‎right, and upon which the whole Islamic law is based. This development opens great opportunities for Islamic law to ‎address current and real challenges for Muslim societies and Muslim minorities.‎

Shaikh Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur is the most renowned Zaytuna Imam and one of the great ‎Islamic scholars of the 20th century. The publication of this translation of Shaikh Ibn Ashur’s ‎Treatise on Maqasid al-Shari’ah is a breakthrough in studies on Islamic law in the English language. ‎In this book, Ibn Ashur proposed Maqasid as a methodology for the renewal of the theory of ‎Islamic law, which has not undergone any serious development since the era of the great imams. ‎Ibn Ashur – quite courageously – also addressed the sensitive topic of the intents/Maqasid of ‎Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) behind his actions and decisions. ‎ He introduced criteria to differentiate between the Prophetic traditions that were meant to be part of ‎Islamic law and the Prophetic actions/ sayings that were meant to be for the sake of specific ‎purposes such as political leadership, court judgment, friendly advice, and conflict resolution. But ‎Ibn Ashur’s most significant contribution in this book has been the development of new Maqasid ‎by coining new, contemporary, terminology that were never formulated in traditional Usûl al-Fiqh. ‎For example, Ibn Ashur developed the theory of the ‘preservation of lineage’ into ‘the preservation ‎of the family system’, the ‘protection of true belief’ into ‘freedom of beliefs’, etc. He also ‎introduced the concepts of ‘orderliness’, ‘natural disposition’, ‘freedom’, ‘rights’, ‘civility’, and ‎‎‘equality’ as Maqasid in their own right, and upon which the whole Islamic law is based. This ‎development opens great opportunities for Islamic law to address current and real challenges for ‎Muslim societies and Muslim minorities.‎

Current applications (or rather, misapplications) of Islamic law are reductionist rather than holistic, literal rather than moral, one-dimensional rather than multidimensional, binary rather than multi-valued, deconstructionist rather than reconstructionist, and causal rather than teleological. There is lack of consideration and functionality of the overall purposes and underlying principles of the Islamic law as a whole. Further, exaggerated claims of ‘rational certainty’ (or else, ‘irrationality’) and ‘consensus of the infallible’ (or else, ‘historicity of the scripts’) add to lack of spirituality, intolerance, violent ideologies, suppressed freedoms, and authoritarianism. Thus, a maqasidi approach takes juridical issues to a higher philosophical ground, and hence, overcomes (historical) differences over politics between Islamic schools of law, and encourages a much-needed culture of conciliation and peaceful coexistence. Moreover, the realization of purposes should be the core objective of all fundamental linguistic and rational methodologies of ijtihad, regardless of their various names and approaches. Thus, the validity of any ijtihad should be determined based on its level of achieving ‘purposefulness,’ or realizing maqasid al-shari’ah.