Treatise on Maqasid al-Shariah

This is the English translation of Shaykh Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn Ashur’s (1879-1973) treatise on Maqasid al-Shari’ah. Ibn Ashur proposed Maqasid as the methodology for the renewal of the theory of the Islamic law, which has not undergone any serious development since the era of the great Imams. The author, one of twentieth century’s great Islamic scholars and the most renowned Zaytuna Imam, also addressed the sensitive topic of the intents/Maqasid of Prophet Muhammad behind his actions and decisions. He introduced criteria to differentiate between the Prophetic traditions that were meant to be part of the Islamic law and the Prophetic actions/sayings that were meant to be for the sake of specific purposes such as political leadership, court judgment, friendly advice, conflict resolution, etc. Ibn Ashur’s most significant contribution in this book has been the development of new Maqasid by coining new terminology that were never formulated in traditional jurisprudence.