Shari’ah Objectives (Maqasid Al-Shari’ah) in Mu’amalat and Contracts

Abstract

The objective of the Shari’ah or maqasid al-Shari’ah is to promote the welfare of human beings through safeguarding the five fundamentals: faith, life, intellect, posterity, and wealth (Al-Ghazali, 1356/1937, pp. 139-140; Chapra, 1998 & 2008). The scope and application of maqasid al-Shari’ah is very wide yet as Kamali (2014) asserts, it has remained underdeveloped in Islamic legal thought. It did attract some attention only in the latter part of 20th century but that too has largely remained in the realm of methodology, not so much on the applications of maqasid to particular subjects. Currently, maqasid al-Shari’ah is considered to be the guiding principle of Islamic finance, but the current discourse on maqasid is confined to generalities such as dharuriyyat, hajiyyat and tahsiniyyat without much attention paid to the particularities of mu’amalat and contracts that are currently in practice. This lacunae is filled somewhat by the International Conference on ‘Shari’ah Objectives (Maqasid Al-Shari'ah) in Mu’amalat and Contracts. It was jointly organized by International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia and Securities Commission Malaysia along with Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM) and International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) and was held at IAIS auditorium on 28 & 29 January 2014 (Tuesday & Wednesday). The theme of the Conference was “Identification – Classification – Criteria and Applications to Mu’amalat” and its objectives were : 1) to promote a better understanding and application of maqasid al-Shari’ah in the light of contemporary needs; 2) to underline the significance of maqasid al-Shari’ah in Islamic financial transactions (mu’amalat); 3) to address the challenges of maqasid- compliance in Islamic financial institutions, and to provide solutions so as to uphold the principles and the spirit of Islamic law; 4) and to propose a unified regime of compliance for Islamic financial institutions, and governance policies which they may adhere to.