Towards Realization Of The Higher Intents Of Islamic Law

This book takes an important step "towards the realization of the higher intents of the Islamic law". First, it opens the door towards the integration of contemporary values and worldview into the maqasid terminology. This is carried out via the sections on "the role of reason and experience in identifying maqasid". Secondly, the book gives answers to the complex theoretical questions on the role of maqasid in ijtihad, juristic theorization (usul), and the Islamization of the human, social, and physical sciences. Last, but not least, the book highlights the role and the necessity of a 'maqasid-informed' mindset on the intellectual and communal levels, and takes a pioneering futuristic look into this very important branch of Islamic knowledge.Maqasid al-Shariah (Higher Intents of the Islamic Law) is the most promising tool for the 'contemporization' of Islamic law and its philosophical foundations. It is also - as this book reveals - a promising tool for the realization of Islamic values and principles in the realms of judiciary, society, and even science.

With the end of the early Islamic period, Muslim scholars came to sense that a rift had begun to emerge between the teachings and principles of Islam and Muslims’ daily reality and practices. The most important means by which scholars sought to restore the intimate contact between Muslims and the Qur’an was to study the objectives of Islam, the causes behind Islamic legal rulings and the intentions and goals underlying the Shari'ah, or Islamic Law. They made it clear that every legal ruling in Islam has a function which it performs, an aim which it realizes, a cause, be it explicit or implicit, and an intention which it seeks to fulfill, and all of this in order to realize benefit to human beings or to ward off harm or corruption. They showed how these intentions, and higher objectives might at times be contained explicitly in the texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, while at other times, scholars might bring them to light by means of independent reasoning based on their understanding of the Qur’an and the Sunnah within a framework of time and space. This book represents a pioneering contribution presenting a comprehensive theory of the objectives of Islamic law in its various aspects, as well as a painstaking study of objectives-based thought as pioneered by the father of objectives-based jurisprudence, Imam Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi; in addition, the author presents us with an important study of al-Shatibi himself which offers a wealth of new, beneficial information about the life, thought and method of this venerable man.

With the end of the early Islamic period, Muslim scholars came to sense that a rift had begun to emerge between the teachings and principles of Islam and Muslims’ daily reality and practices. The most important means by which scholars sought to restore the intimate contact between Muslims and the Qur’an was to study the objectives of Islam, the causes behind Islamic legal rulings and the intentions and goals underlying the Shari'ah, or Islamic Law. They made it clear that every legal ruling in Islam has a function which it performs, an aim which it realizes, a cause, be it explicit or implicit, and an intention which it seeks to fulfill, and all of this in order to realize benefit to human beings or to ward off harm or corruption. They showed how these intentions, and higher objectives might at times be contained explicitly in the texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, while at other times, scholars might bring them to light by means of independent reasoning based on their understanding of the Qur’an and the Sunnah within a framework of time and space. This book represents a pioneering contribution presenting a comprehensive theory of the objectives of Islamic law in its various aspects, as well as a painstaking study of objectives-based thought as pioneered by the father of objectives-based jurisprudence, Imam Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi; in addition, the author presents us with an important study of al-Shatibi himself which offers a wealth of new, beneficial information about the life, thought and method of this venerable man.

With the end of the early Islamic period, Muslim scholars came to sense that a rift had begun to ‎emerge between the teachings and principles of Islam and Muslims’ daily reality and practices. The ‎most important means by which scholars sought to restore the intimate contact between Muslims ‎and the Qur’an was to study the objectives of Islam, the causes behind Islamic legal rulings and the ‎intentions and goals underlying the Shari'ah, or Islamic Law. They made it clear that every legal ‎ruling in Islam has a function which it performs, an aim which it realizes, a cause, be it explicit or ‎implicit, and an intention which it seeks to fulfill, and all of this in order to realize benefit to human ‎beings or to ward off harm or corruption. They showed how these intentions, and higher objectives ‎might at times be contained explicitly in the texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, while at other ‎times, scholars might bring them to light by means of independent reasoning based on their ‎understanding of the Qur’an and the Sunnah within a framework of time and space.‎ This book represents a pioneering contribution presenting a comprehensive theory of the objectives ‎of Islamic law in its various aspects, as well as a painstaking study of objectives-based thought as ‎pioneered by the father of objectives-based jurisprudence, Imam Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi; in addition, ‎the author presents us with an important study of al-Shatibi himself which offers a wealth of new, ‎beneficial information about the life, thought and method of this venerable man.‎

In this path breaking study, Jasser Auda presents a systems approach to the philosophy and juridical theory of Islamic law based on its purposes, intents, and higher objectives (maqasid). For Islamic rulings to fulfill their original purposes of justice, freedom, rights, common good, and tolerance in today's context, Auda presents maqasid as the heart and the very philosophy of Islamic law. He also introduces a novel method for analysis and critique, one that utilizes relevant features from systems theory, such as, wholeness, multidimensionality, openness, and especially, purposefulness of systems. This book will benefit all those interested in the relationship between Islam and a wide variety of subjects, such as philosophy of law, morality, human rights, interfaith commonality, civil society, integration, development, feminism, modernism, postmodernism, systems theory, and culture.

In this path breaking study, Jasser Auda presents a systems approach to the philosophy and juridical theory of Islamic law based on its purposes, intents, and higher objectives (maqasid). For Islamic rulings to fulfill their original purposes of justice, freedom, rights, common good, and tolerance in today’s context, Auda presents maqasid as the heart and the very philosophy of Islamic law. He also introduces a novel method for analysis and critique, one that utilizes relevant features from systems theory, such as, wholeness, multidimensionality, openness, and especially, purposefulness of systems. This book will benefit all those interested in the relationship between Islam and a wide variety of subjects, such as philosophy of law, morality, human rights, interfaith commonality, civil society, integration, development, feminism, modernism, postmodernism, systems theory, and culture.

In this path breaking study, Jasser Auda presents a systems approach to the philosophy and juridical theory of Islamic law based on its purposes, intents, and higher objectives (maqasid). For Islamic rulings to fulfill their original purposes of justice, freedom, rights, common good, and tolerance in today’s context, Auda presents maqasid as the heart and the very philosophy of Islamic law. He also introduces a novel method for analysis and critique, one that utilizes relevant features from systems theory, such as, wholeness, multidimensionality, openness, and especially, purposefulness of systems. This book will benefit all those interested in the relationship between Islam and a wide variety of subjects, such as philosophy of law, morality, human rights, interfaith commonality, civil society, integration, development, feminism, modernism, postmodernism, systems theory, and culture.