At the Islamic Fiqh Academy annual session, held in Amman, I had an interesting conversation with Shaykh Ali Qurra-Daghi, a respected faqih, usuli, and specialist in Islamic finance.

Shaykh Qurra-Daghi expressed concern at the emergence of “al-fiqh al-maqasidi” (’goals-based fiqh’) in which fiqh is reduced down to simply a set of general maqasid (’primary goals’) of the Shariah, a handful of legal maxims (qawa`id fiqhiyya), and some general primary texts. He said that it is as if the scholars behind this push consider the general goals of the Shariah to be an independent, primary source of deriving rulings.

This simply isn’t the case, he explained, because the general goals of the Shariah are matters that underly the primary texts. And rulings are derived, by mujtahids, from the primary texts themselves. When applying these rulings or chosing certain positions over others, there is no doubt that it is imperative to consider these general goals of the Shariah–in order that one’s application of the rulings be in line with the spirit of the primary texts. However, he emphasized that it is very dangerous to take these general goals as independent sources for deriving rulings, because (a) it brings in a huge element of subjectivity into the Shariah; (b) this can lead to going against actual texts of the Qur’an and Sunna; and (c) this can be manipulated in ways that actual contravene the spirit and purpose of the Shariah.

Very interesting.