Maqasid Al-Shari'ah: A Civilizational Perspective

Mazen Hashem

Jun 2024 · International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)

About this ebook

The previous decade witnessed a plethora of books on the subject of maqasid (aims of Shariah), stressing that Islam’s commandments have overarching aims, and that the individual texts of Qur’an and hadith can only be adequality understood within the universal principles of Islam. While the classical work on maqasid is immense, that of Shatibi (d. 1388 C.E.) gained the utmost authority as it theorized for five general aims of Shariah, which can take one of three levels of priority. Since then most of the works on the subject of maqasid have been a variation on Shatibi’s approach. The major contribution of this book is to marry Ibn Khaldun’s perspective with that of Shatibi. In such a way, a new maqasid theory that attends to the insights of history and social sciences is constructed. The proposed theory is marked by a high degree of synthesis and maintains the major categories of Shatibi, but only after redefining and expanding them. Moreover, the new enhanced theory of maqasid is marked by being multidimensional, where the five goals of Shariah operate in an open space. In addition to its academic contribution, this new work hopes to make maqasid more amenable for appreciation and application in our time.

About the author

He is a sociologist who specializes in social theory and social change. His research falls within the areas of discourse analysis, social movement, and institutional analysis. He has published in refereed journals, and is the author of six books in Arabic in addition to many articles. Currently he is working on a series of five books on the subject of social sciences and the integration of knowledge.