Imam Al-Shatibi's Theory of the Higher Objectives and Intents of Islamic Law With the end of the early Islamic period, Muslim scholars came to sense that a rift had begun to emerge between the teachings and principles of Islam and Muslims’ daily reality and practices. The most important means by which scholars sought to restore the intimate contact between Muslims and the Qur’an was to study the objectives of Islam, the causes behind Islamic legal rulings and the intentions and goals underlying the Shari'ah, or IslamicLaw. They made it clear that every legal ruling in Islam has a function which it performs, anaim which it realizes, a cause, be it explicit or implicit, and an intention which it seeks to fulfill, and all of this in order to realize benefit to human beings or to ward off harm or corruption. They showed how these intentions, and higher objectives might at times be contained explicitly in the texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, while at other times, scholars might bring them to light by means of independent reasoning based on their understanding of the Qur’an and the Sunnah within a framework of time and space. This book represents a pioneering contribution presenting a comprehensive theory of the objectives of Islamic law in its various aspects, as well as a painstaking study of objectives-based thought as pioneered by the father of objectives-based jurisprudence, Imam Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi; in addition, the author presents us with an important study of al-Shatibi himself which offers a wealth of new, beneficial information about the life, thought and method of this venerable man. Ahmad Al-Raysuni holds a doctorate in Islamic Studies from Muhammad al-Khamis University, Rabat, Morocco. He has worked at the Ministry of Justice, is the editor of al-Tajdid newspaper, and a member of Jam’iyat al-‘Ulama (the Association of Muslim Scholars) in Morocco. Professor Al-Raysuni has written a number of books and papers on al-Maqasid in Arabic, some of which have been translated into other languages. He currently teaches Usul al-Fiqh and Maqasid al-Shariah at the College of Arts and Humanities, University of Muhammad al-Khamis, Morocco. (2011).

Paperback: 978-1-56564-550-9 / Price: $4.50 eBook: 978-1-56564-522-6 / Open Access Size: 6x9 inches Pages: 28 Year of Publication: 2013