Analysis of Justice through Maqāṣid Theory

The notion of Justice (a l-ʿA dl) is one of the basic objectives (maq āsid) ofIslam and an inherent right of all human beings under the Sha r īʿa h toestablish a just society . It exists in Islamic resources from all perspectiveseven in S hia theology of Islam it has been given a separate place underthe basic tenets and principles of Islam (uṣūl a l-dīn). There are variousQur ’ānic verses and a ḥādīth explaining this very essential principle of Islamand it has been asserted that one of the basic purposes of the Divinerevelation is to achieve Justice and welfare of mankind and other creatures. Itis also certain that this very essence of Sha r īʿa h-which is justice and welfareof earthly beings-cannot be achieved without a sincere attempt to follow theS ha r īʿa h in accordance with the Divine will and wisdom. This is the reasonwhy Maq āṣid a l-S ha r īʿa h (higher objectives of Shar īʿah ) and the notionof justice have been elaborated side b y side by innumerable scholarssince just after the time of the Prophet. Maq āṣid a l-Shar īʿa h aims to promotethe Sha r īʿa h in accordance with the Divine will of Allah and develop astrong sense of justice and society among all human beings. In theproposed paper an attempt will be made to study the notion of justice in thelight of Holy Quran and the Prophetic traditions and illustrate its relationshipwith the Ma qāṣid theory . It will also focus on analy zing the contemporaryliteralist groups who insist on reference to the Texts but opposeinterpretations based on the objectives (ma qṣid). In this anal y sis, the paperwill hig hlight how these contemporary literalist approaches lack the veryspirit and essence of Sha r īʿa h in their elicitations and references and willemphasis on the need to interpret the S ha r īʿa h in the light of Maq āsidin order to establish an intrinsic sense of justice and equality in the society .Focusing on textual and material resources, this study will apply theexploratory and descriptive design using the content analy sis method.

کلیدواژه ها:

Justice ، Sharīʿah ، Maq āṣid a l-Shar īʿa h ، Maqāṣid Theory