Maqāṣid and Qawāʿid
Maqāṣid and Qawāʿid

Objectives and Canons in Islamic Law

Author(s): Jerzy Zdanowski
Subject(s): Cultural history
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Islamic law; Objectives; Canons; legal reasoning; ethical reasoning
Summary/Abstract: This chapter deals with Muslim law and the specific branch of Muslim jurisprudence which is the study of objectives and canons of law. Objectives (maqāṣid) provide an interpretative framework in which Muslim jurists create legal norms (qawāʿid). The chapter states that objectives and canons are organically related and stresses the stability of objectives and diversity of canons. Part of canons that can be defined as universal due to the broadest and most general nature of their content have the character of moral and ethical norms rather than legal rules. Since canons are formulated by reasoning, we can speak of ethical reasoning that precedes legal reasoning.

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