Arab Modernists and Maqasid Shariah: a Critical Analysis

Abstract Maqasid Shariah witnessed a progress and expansion in contemporary religious discourse. Arab modernists took place in this discourse too; however, their affiliation to modernism philosophy and epistemology appoints for them specific objectives in using MaqÉÎid SharÊÑah. This paper investigates the literature of Arab modernists in the theory of MaqÉÎid SharÊÑah to assess their comprehension of the theory and their sources for its establishment as well as to evaluate the outcomes of their use of the theory. This paper used inductive, comparative and critical analysis methods to investigate the issue under study. This paper proved that Arab modernists misinterpret many aspects of the theory of MaqÉÎid because they misunderstand the foundations of UÎËl Fiqh. In addition, it demonstrated that Arab modernist use MaqÉÎid SharÊÑah to get free from SharÊÑah detailed legal rulings and legislation. It also confirmed that Arab modernists use MaqÉÎid SharÊÑah as an excuse to escape the constraints of the conditions of reading and interpreting divine texts, as well as to escape the requirements of IjtihÉd. Furthermore, this paper confirmed their misunderstanding of the Islamic epistemology and methodology progress throughout the successive generations of Muslim scholars. To escape all these limitations, this paper indicated that Arab modernist claim that MaqÉÎid SharÊÑah are a substitute of UÎËl Fiqh and its rules, regulations and maxims. In addition, it revealed that Arab modernists while aiming to abuse the foundations of the theory of MaqÉÎid SharÊÑah they wrongly argue with some branches of Islamic knowledge such as causes of revelation and abrogation to support the historicity of the SharÊÑah legislation through its MaqÉÎid.

Keywords:

Maqasid Shariah, Usul al fiqh, Ijtihad epistemology,

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