Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah (the higher objectives of islamic law) as an alternative perspective for contemporary environmental sustainability

Abstract

This study examines the Higher Objectives of Islamic Law (Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah) as an integrated and alternative perspective for contemporary environmental sustainability, especially considering emerging global environmental crises and the resulting challenges that threaten the foundations of human life and sustainable development. The study aims to re-theorize the concept of environmental sustainability within the Maqāṣid framework of Islamic Law (Shariʿah) through articulating the structural relationship between environmental protection and the preservation of the Five Essentials (al-Darūriyyāt al-Khamsah)—specifically the preservation of life, progeny, wealth, and the cosmic order. Adopting a qualitative, foundational-analytical methodology, the study extrapolates from primary Shariah texts, analyzes the Maqāṣid and jurisprudential heritage, and compares these findings with contemporary literature on environmental sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The research results suggest that it is not only that Maqāṣid al-Sharīah presents general ethical justifications concerning the need to ensure environmental protection, but according to the research findings, it actually constitutes a comprehensive normative framework, which entails the interconnection between environmental sustainability and the ultimate goals of legislation and the long-term outcomes of actions and policies. Moreover, the results suggest the possibility to develop a particular goal: the Preservation of the Ecological and Universal Order, which will increase the explanatory and forecasting power of Islamic jurisprudence in the context of the contemporary environmental issues. The paper has found that the Maqā Shahid approach is a meaningful qualitative contribution to the sustainability discourse of the global community, as it is a complementary approach to the international models, which also adds a moral and spiritual layer to the internal motivation of sustainable environmental conduct, especially in the reference frame of an Islamic society.