The Covenant Before Command: Rethinking Maqāsid Al-Sharīʿa Through Taha Abdurrahman’s Philosophy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21111/tsaqafah.v22i2.16Keywords:
Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿa, Taha Abdurrahman, Ethical Approach, Trusteeship ParadigmAbstract
The study of maqāsid al-sharīʿa has become a significant topic in the contemporary Islamic legal discourse as an attempt to address modern legal issues from the perspective of Islamic law. The study of maqāsid al-sharīʿa was initially part of uṣūl al fiqh discussion that was implicitly explained among the classical Muslim scholars until it developed as a distinguished field of study after the publication of al-Shāṭibī’s work entitled al-Muwāfaqāt. However, contemporary maqāṣid discourse has developed into diverse intellectual discourse, which also raised concerns about the increasing emphasis on human reason, contemporary interests, and worldly maṣlaḥa. In order to address these developments, this article examines the ethical approach of maqāṣid al-sharīʿa by Taha Abdurrahman, a prominent Muslim scholar in Morocco. This research will first observe the social background of Taha Abdurrahman and continue with the notion of classical and contemporary maqāṣid trend before delving into understanding maqāṣid al-sharīʿa according to Taha, based on the ethical approach, to examine his response to contemporary developments in maqāṣid dicourse. This research will apply qualitative methodology through the analysis of books, journals, and related articles. This research finds that Taha Abdurrahman’s ethical approach cannot be simply identified with either classical or contemporary approaches. Rather, his ethical reconstruction of maqāṣid, grounded in the trusteeship paradigm, reconsiders the relationship between divine purposes, human responsibility, and legal rulings. His approach seeks to prevent maqāṣid from being reduced to changing human interests by emphasizing the ethical dimension of the sharīʿa.
References
Abderrahman, Taha. A Global Ethic: Its Scope and Limits. Tabah Papers Series, 2008.
Abderrahmane, Taha. Bu’s Al-Dahraniyyah Al-Naqd Al-I’timānī Li Faṣl Al-Akhlāq ʿan Al-Dīn. Arab Network for Research and Publishing, 2014.
Abdurrahman, Taha. Al-Ḥiwār Ufuqan Li al-Fikr al-Ḥiwār Ufuqan Li al-Fikr. Arab Network for Research and Publishing, 2013.
Abdurrahman, Taha. Al-Taʾsis al-Iʾtimani Li ʿIlm al-Maqasid. Markaz Nuhud li al-Dirasat wa al-Buhuth, 2022.
Abdurrahman, Taha. Dīn Al-Ḥayā’ Min al-Fiqh al-I’timārī Ilā al-Fiqh al-I’timānī. The Arabian Establishment for Thought and Innovations, 2017.
Abdurrahman, Taha. Rūḥ Al-Ḥadātha Al-Madkhal Ilā Taʾsīs Al-Hadātha Al-Islāmiyya. Al-Markaz al-Thaqāfī al-’Arabī, 2006.
Abdurrahman, Taha. Su’āl Al-Akhlāq Musāhamah Fī Al-Naqd Al-Akhlāqī Li Al-Ḥadāthah Al-Gharbiyyah. Al-Markaz al-Thaqāfī al-’Arabī, 2000.
Abdurrahman, Taha. Tajdīd Al-Manhaj Fī Taqwīm al-Turāt. Al-Markaz al-Thaqāfī al-’Arabī, 1994.
Abou El Fadl, Khaled. Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari‘ah in the Modern Age. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.
Alqurashi, Yousef. Is Taha Abdurrahman a Contractarian Philosopher? 3 (October 2022): 704–21. https://doi.org/10.17613/ngj0-4b06.
Al-Shatibi. Al-Muwafaqat. Vol. 1. Dar Ibn Affan, 2008.
Al-Shatibi. Al-Muwafaqat. Vol. 2. Dar Ibn Affan, 2008.
Al-ʿAlwānī, Ṭaha Jābir. Al-Jamʿu Bayna al-Qirā’atayn. Maktaba al-Shurūq al-Dawliyya, 2006.
Auda, Jasser. “A Maq??Id-Based Approach for New Independent Legal Reasoning (Ijtih?D).” In Islamic Perspectives on the Principles of Biomedical Ethics, Volume 1. Intercultural Dialogue in Bioethics, Volume 1. WORLD SCIENTIFIC (EUROPE)/IMPERIAL COLLEGE PRESS, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1142/9781786340481_0003.
Auda, Jasser. Maqasid Al-Shariah: A Beginner’s Guide. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), 2008.
Auda, Jasser. Maqasid Al-Shari’ah as Philosophy of Islamic Law. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), 2022.
Auda, Jasser. Re-envisioning Islamic Scholarship: Maqasid Methodology as a New Approach. Claritas Books, 2022.
Bakir, Ali Ahmad Muhammad. Kitab Dirasat Fi Usul Al-Fiqh. Majallat al-Jamia al-Islamiyyah bi al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, 1981.
Duderija, Adis. “Contemporary Muslim Reformist Thought and Maqāṣid Cum Maṣlaḥa Approaches to Islamic Law: An Introduction.” In Maqāṣid Al-Sharīʿa and Contemporary Reformist Muslim Thought: An Examination, edited by Adis Duderija. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137319418_1.
Hallaq, Wael. Reforming Modernity : Ethics and the New Human in the Philosophy of Abdurrahman Taha. Columbia University Press, 2019.
Harvey, Ramon. “1 The Trusteeship Paradigm.” In Qurʾanic Values and Modernity in Contemporary Islamic Ethics: Taha Abderrahmane and Fazlur Rahman in Conversation, edited by Mohammed Hashas and Mutaz al-Khatib. Brill, 2020.
Hashas, Mohammed. “1 The Trusteeship Paradigm.” In Islamic Ethics and the Trusteeship Paradigm: Taha Abderrahmane’s Philosophy in Comparative Perspectives, edited by Mohammed Hashas and Mutaz al-Khatib. Brill, 2020.
Ibn Al-Khuja, Muhammad al-Habib. Muhammad Al-Tahir Bin ’Ashur Wa Kitabuhu Maqasid al-Shari’a. Vol. 1. Wizarat al-Awqaf wa al-Shu’un al-Islamiyyah, 2004.
Ibn Ashur. Maqasid Al-Shariah al-Islamiyyah. Vol. 1. Dar al-Kutub al-Lubnan, 2011.
Kamali, Mohammad Hashim. Maqasid Al-Shariah Made Simple. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), 2008.
Kamali, Mohammad Hashim. “‘Maqāṣid Al-Sharī’ah’: The Objectives of Islamic Law.” Islamic Studies 38, no. 2 (1999): 193–208.
Kars, Aydogan. “Maqāṣid or Sharīʿa? Secularism, Islamic Reform, and Ethics in Modern Turkey.” In Maqāṣid Al-Sharīʿa and Contemporary Reformist Muslim Thought: An Examination, edited by Adis Duderija. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137319418_6.
Marakeby, Muhammad al-. “Al-Ḥadātha Wa Taḥawwulāt al-Khitāb al-Maqāṣidī: Naḥw Fiqh Sāʾil?” Journal of Islamic Ethics, ahead of print, March 13, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1163/24685542-12340028.
March, Andrew F. The Maqsad of Hifz Al-Din Is Liberal Religious Freedom Sufficient for the Shari’ah? | ICR Journal. October 18, 2020. https://icrjournal.org/index.php/icr/article/view/653.
Marzūqī, Abū Yaʿrub al-, and Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī. Ishkāliyyat Tajdīd Uṣūl Al-Fiqh. Dār al-Fikr, 2006.
Mas’Ud, M. Khalid. “Recent Studies of Shāṭibī’s Al-Muwāfaqāt.” Islamic Studies 14, no. 1 (1975): 65–75.
M.o, Mohammad, and Shahwan S. “The Objective of Islamic Economic and Islamic Banking in Light of Maqasid Al-Shariah: A Critical Review.” Scopus, ahead of print, 2013. https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.mejsr.2013.13.1885.
Mujib, Lalu Supriadi B., and Khairul Hamim. “Religious Freedom and Riddah through the Maqāṣidī Interpretation of Ibn ‘Āshūr.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 77, no. 4 (2021): 4. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i4.6928.
Rachid, Aouidad. “Arab Modernists and Maqasid Shariah: A Critical Analysis.” BALAGH - Journal of Islamic and Humanities Studies 1, no. 2 (2021): 330–52. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5552629.
Ramadan, Tariq. Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation. 1st edition. Oxford University Press, 2008.
Raysuni, Ahmad al-. Madkhal Ila Maqasid Al-Sharia. Dar al-Kalimah, 2010.
Salami, Farook. “The Maqasid Theory in Imam Ghazali’s View: Textual Analytical Study.” QURANICA - International Journal of Quranic Research 3, no. 2 (2012): 2.
Sulaiman, Adibah, Hisham Muhammad Taky Eldin Kandil, Mohd. Azmir Mohd. Nizah, Ahmad Norsyafwan Norawavi, and Ezad Azraai Jamsari. “Islamic Spiritual Ethics and Postmodernist Moral Thought: Can There Be A Reconciliation?” International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 9, no. 1 (2019): Pages 670-683. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v9-i1/5466.
Suleiman, Farid. “The Philosophy of Taha Abderrahman: A Critical Study.” Die Welt Des Islams 61, no. 1 (2020): 39–71. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700607-00600A10.
The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre. The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims, 2026. The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, 2025.
Utsany, Royan, Afrizal Tw, and Khamim. “Women’s Rights and Gender Equality: An Analysis of Jasser Auda’s Thoughts and His Contribution to Renewal of Islamic Family Law in Indonesia.” Journal of Islamic Law (JIL) 3 (2022): 54. https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v3i1.530.
Yaakub, Sabariyah, and Nik Ab Halim Nik Abdullah. “TOWARDS MAQASID SHARIAH IN SUSTAINING THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH IMPACTFUL STRATEGIES.” International Journal of Islamic Business 5, no. 1 (2020): 1. https://doi.org/10.32890/ijib2020.5.1.2.
Zain, Naura Safira Salsabila. “Conceptualizing Maqāṣid through an Ethical Framework : Theoretical Exploration of Taha Abdurrahman’s Philosophy.” Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2024. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14576/252.
Downloads
Submitted
Accepted
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Naura Safira Salsabila Zain, Ihwan Agustono
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
All articles in this proceeding are open access, the articles published in them are immediately and permanently free to read, download, copy and distribute. Each volume is published under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 user license.
