Kazakh: Дәстүрлі құқықтан тыс қоғамдық саясат Мақасид тәсілі (Books-in-Brief: Public Policy: Beyond Traditional Jurisprudence: A Maqasid Approach

Basma I. Abdelgafar

Jan 2023 · International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)

About this eBook

This work charts new territory in Islamic scholarship by attempting to address the field of public policy from a maqasid (higher objectives of the Shariah) perspective. Public Policy is an independent discipline from both law and politics. Thus, Public Policy in Islam is introduced here as a qualitatively different enterprise from both fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and siyasah shar’iyyah (Shariah-oriented politics). The book deals with a number of critical topics that include methodology, governance, human rights, ethics, political power, and reform and renewal. It highlights how the maqasid approach is indispensable to the theory and practice of public policy in Islam, how it could resolve some of the most persistent governance dilemmas throughout Muslim history, but more significantly, how it forces a re-conceptualisation of the wealth of knowledge available in Islam’s primary sources to introduce Public Policy in Islam to mainstream policy studies.

About the author

Basma I. Abdelgafar is Vice President of the Maqasid Institute and Associate Professor of Public Policy.

She is an international consultant on policy, governance and Muslim affairs, was Founding Head of the

Public Policy in Islam Masters Program in Qatar Foundation, has held various policy positions in the Canadian Federal Government, and lectured on Islamic governance in academic institutes in Canada, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa.