MAQASID-E-SHARIAH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - BEYOND SHARIAH

COMPLIANCE FOR SHARIAH BASED SOLUTIONS

Abstract
Muhammad Arsalan * and Mehmet Asutay **

The present day economist, thinkers and policy makers have all recognized the value-based
contours of economic development, based not only on growth but also on the distributive
equity to achieve the eventual goal of shared prosperity and well-being. In this equation, faith
plays a key role in shaping the business ethics, towards the broader spiritual sense of wellbeing.
In this conceptual paper, we aim to systematically model the interplay of the conventional
development actors i.e. government, firm and labour to that of key axioms and maqasid-eshariah. Instead of adapting the literal approach that incites differentiation to develop a rule
based and mechanistic compliance approach, we would weave it around the similarities to
highlight the Islamic world-view of morally responsible market rationality, as practiced by
the Muslims during 7th to 13th century. This would be corroborated by the fact that the basic
factors of the much ostentatious ethics of capitalism are already embedded in a subset of
axioms i.e. ikhtiyar (free will), fard (responsibility), haqq (right), amanah (trust)

islah

(reform), equilibrated by Adal wal-ihsan (equilibrium), optimized by Rububiyah

(sustenance) and Tazkiyah(purification) and governed by Khilafah (Gods Vicegerence),
Akhirah (life after death), under the tawhidi frame. In an exploratory effort to articulate the
interaction of the contemporary development model to the one idealized by the Islamic
ontological sources, we would be assessing the following:
-

An evaluation of the existing functionaries of Islamic Finance, i.e. Islamic Banks,

Takaful and Islamic Mutual Funds for their adherence to the ideals of maqasid-e-

shariah.
The operationalization of Maqasid-e-Shariah to strengthen the social contract at the

micro, meso and macro levels of the economy.

The role of faith and social formations as an enabler for the means of production to

redefine the superstructure conducive for economic development.

In the discursive pursuit, we intend to inspect the Maqasid-e-Shariah and its mapping
to economic development on three dimensions :

* Post Graduate student, Durham University

**Professor Mehmet Asutay
Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Political Economy & Finance

o Methodological

Deepening:

Re-interpretation

of

Maqasid-e-Shariah

employing ijtihadi efforts based on methodologies of Istiqra (inductive

reasoning), Istihsan (equity), Istishab (presumption of fact, unless contrary is
proven) and Maslahah (public interest) to foster creativity and innovation to
achieve broader development goals, beyond financial intermediation such as
right to education, health, security and shared prosperity.
o Maqasid Improvisation: The integration of Islamic Axioms beyond the
protectionist Maqasid to be embellished by Adl, Tazkiya, Ihsan and Tawhid to
restore the broken link between economic growth and Income inequality and
social exclusion.
o Approach Deepening: An analysis of challenges posed to the convergence of
Usul-Ul-Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence literalist approach) approach to that of
Maqasid-e-Shariah to reconcile the Wasaail (Means) versus Maqasid (ends)
and forms versus substance.
o Reflections on the popular development models by Muslim Scholars such as
Ibn-e-Khaldoon and Al-Ghazali; and their applicability towards present day
globalized and dynamic capitalistic economy.

* Post Graduate student, Durham University

**Professor Mehmet Asutay
Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Political Economy & Finance