Dimensions of Maqasid

Dimensions of Maqasid

Purposes or maqasid of the Islamic law themselves are classified in various ways, according to a number of dimensions. The following are some of these dimensions:
1. Levels of necessity, which is the traditional classification
2. Scope of the rulings aiming to achieve purposes.
3. Scope of people included in purposes.
4. Level of universality of the purposes.
Traditional classifications of maqasid divide them into three ‘levels of necessity’, which are 7 necessities (darurat), needs (hajiyat), and luxuries (tahsiniyyat). Necessities are further classified into what ‘preserves one’s faith, soul, wealth, mind, and offspring. Some jurists added ‘the preservation of honor’ to the above five widely popular necessities. These necessities were considered essential matters for human life itself. Thus, human life is in jeopardy if the minds of people are in jeopardy. That is why Islam is strict about banning alcohol and intoxicants. Human life is also in jeopardy if no measures are taken to protect people’s ‘souls’ by protecting their health and their environment. That is why the Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) prohibited all shapes and forms of ‘harm’ to another human being, other animals, or even plants. Human life is also in danger when in the case of financial (i.e. economic) crisis. That is why Islam bans monopoly, usury, and all shapes and forms of corruption and fraud. The high status given to the preservation of ‘offspring’ here also explains the many Islamic rulings that regulate and promote an excellent education and kind care for children. Finally, the ‘preservation of faith’ is a necessity for human life, albeit in the afterlife sense! Islam looks at life as a journey, part of which is on this earth and the rest of it is indeed in the afterlife! There is also a general agreement that the preservation of these necessities is the ‘objective behind any revealed law’, not just the Islamic law.
Purposes at the level of needs are less essential for human life. Examples of this are marriage, trade, and means of transportation. Islam encourages and regulates these needs. However, the lack of any of these needs is not a matter of life and death, especially on an individual basis. Human life, as a whole, is not in danger if some individuals choose not to marry or travel. However, if the lack of any of these ‘needs’ becomes widespread, then they move from the level of needs to the level of necessities. The fundamental rule in the Islamic law states: ‘A need that is widespread should be treated as a necessity’.
Purposes at the level of luxuries are ‘beautifying purposes’, such as using perfume, stylish clothing, and beautiful homes. These are things that Islam encourage, and considers to be further signs and proofs for God’s endless mercy and generosity with human beings, but also asserts how they should take a lower priority in one’s life.
The levels in the hierarchy are overlapping and interrelated, so noticed Imam al-Shatibi (who will be introduced shortly). In addition, each level should serve the level(s) below. For example, both marriage and trade (from the level of needs) serve, and are highly related with, the necessities of the preservation of offsprings and wealth. And so on. Therefore, the general lack of one item from a certain level moves it to the level above. For example, the decline of trade on a global level, i.e. during the time of global economic crises, moves ‘trade’ from a ‘need’ into a ‘life necessity’, and so on. That is why some jurists preferred to perceive necessities in terms of ‘overlapping circles’, rather than a strict hierarchy. See following chart.
Purposes of Islamic Law (levels of necessity)
- > Necessities - > preserving of faith, soul, wealth, mind, offspring, honor
- > Needs
- > Luxuries
Hierarchy of the purposes of the Islamic law (dimension of levels of necessity)
I find the levels of necessity reminiscent of the twentieth century’s Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human (rather than ‘divine’) objectives or ‘basic goals’, which he called, ‘hierarchy of needs’. Human needs, according to Maslow, range from basic physiological requirements and safety, to love and esteem, and, finally, ‘self-actualisation’. In 1943, Maslow suggested five levels for these needs. Then, in 1970, he revised his ideas and suggested a seven level hierarchy. The similarity between al-Shatibi’s and Maslow’s theory in terms of the levels of goals is interesting. Moreover, the second version of Maslow’s theory reveals another interesting similarity with Islamic ‘goal’ theories, which is the capacity to evolve with time.
Islamic theories of goals (maqasid) evolved over the centuries, especially in the twentieth century. Contemporary theorists criticised the above traditional classification of necessities for a number of reasons, including the following:
1. The scope of traditional maqasid is the entire Islamic law. However, they fall short to include specific purposes for single scripture / rulings or groups of scripture that cover certain topics or ‘chapters’ of Islamic law. For example, the traditional theory outlined above does not answer many of the detailed questions of ‘why’ mentioned before.
2. Traditional maqasid are concerned with individuals rather than families, societies, and humans, in general, i.e., the subject of the traditional Islamic criminal law is an individual’s soul, honor, or money, rather than the society’s life, the society’s honor and dignity, or the society’s wealth and economy, respectively.
3. The traditional maqasid classification did not include the most universal and basic values, such as justice and freedom, in its basic theory of levels of necessities.
4. Traditional maqasid were deduced from the Islamic legal heritage itself, rather than the original sources / scripture. In traditional accounts of maqasid, reference is always made to rulings of the Islamic law as decided by various Islamic schools of law, rather than referring to the original Islamic scripts (verses of the Qur’an, for example) for bases for maqasid.
To remedy the above shortcomings, modern scholarship introduced new conceptions and classifications of al-maqasid by giving consideration to new dimensions. Firstly, considering the scope of rulings they cover, contemporary classifications divide maqasid into three levels:
1. General maqasid: These maqasid are observed throughout the entire body of the Islamic law, such as the necessities and needs mentioned above and newly proposed maqasid, such as ‘justice’, ‘universality’, and ‘facilitation’.
2. Specific maqasid: These maqasid are observed throughout a certain ‘chapter’ of the Islamic law such as the welfare of children in family law, preventing criminals in criminal law, and preventing monopoly in financial transactions law.
3. Partial maqasid: These maqasid are the ‘intents’ behind specific scripture or rulings, such as the intent of discovering the truth in seeking a certain number of witnesses in certain court cases, the intent of alleviating difficulty in allowing an ill and fasting person to break his or her fasting, and the intent of feeding the poor in banning Muslims from storing meat during Eid / festival days.
In order to remedy the individuality drawback, the notion of maqasid has been expanded to include a wider scope of people – the community, nation, or humanity, in general. Ibn Ashur (introduced shortly), for example, gave maqasid that are concerned with the ‘nation’ (ummah) priority over maqasid that are concerned with individuals. Rashid Rida, for a second example, included ‘reform’ and ‘women rights’ in his theory of maqasid. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, for a third example included ‘human dignity and rights’ in his theory of maqasid.
The above expansions of the scope of maqasid allows them to respond to global issues and concerns, and to evolve from ‘wisdoms behind the rulings’ to practical plans for reform and renewal. They also put maqasid and its system of values in the centre of the debates over citizenship, integration, and civil rights for Muslim minorities in non-Muslim-majority societies.
Finally, contemporary scholarship has introduces new universal maqasid that were directly induced from the scripture, rather than from the body of fiqh literature in the schools of Islamic law. This approach, significantly, allowed maqasid to overcome the historicity of fiqh edicts and represent the scripture’s higher values and principles. Detailed rulings would, then, stem from these universal principles. The following are examples of these new universal maqasid deduced directly from the Islamic scripts: