Maṣlaḥa and the Purpose of the Law: Islamic Discourse on Legal Change from the 4th/10th to 8th/14th Century

Contents
List of Tables and Diagrams
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter One: The Emergence of Maslaḥa as a Legal Concept
	I. Maṣlaḥa and Istiṣlāḥ and their Relationship to Juristic Preference (Istiḥsān)
	II. Maṣlaḥa and Istiṣlāḥ in Legal Writings Prior to the 5th/11th Century
		1. Ibn al-Muqaffa'
		2. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Khwārazmī
		3. Abū Bakr al-Jasṣạ̄ṣ
			3.1. Ratio Legis and Analogy
			3.2. The Relationship of Maṣlaḥa to Rulings
			3.3. Ijtihād
	III. The Intellectual Background of the Discourse on Maṣlaḥa in Legal Theory
		1. Moral Knowledge: Revealed or Rational?
		2. Two Models of the Ratio Legis
	IV. Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Basṛī
		1. The Epistemology of Maṣlaḥa
		2. The Ratio Legis as an Aspect (Wajh) of Maṣlaḥa
	V. Imām al-Ḥaramayn al-Juwaynī
		1. The All-Encompassing Religious Law
		2. Considerations of Maṣlaḥa in the Procedure of Legal Analogy
		3. Five Categories of Rationes Legis and their Ability to Extend the Law
Chapter Two: Integrating Masḷaḥa into Legal Analogy Qiyās
	I. Formal and Substantive Rationality in Incorporating Maṣlaḥa into Legal Theory
	II. Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī
		1. Introduction
		2. The Purpose of the Sharī'a
		3. Verifying the Ratio Legis by its Suitability
	III. Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī
		1. Defining Analogy (Qiyās) in Terms of Logic
		2. Identifying the Ratio Legis of Rulings by Suitability
			2.1. Defining Suitability
			2.2. Determining Suitability
				2.2.1. Being a Real Maṣlaḥa
				2.2.2. The Law’s Consideration
				2.2.3. Relevance
				2.2.4. No Countervailing Factors
			2.3. Giving Preference in Case of Multiple Suitable Characteristics
		3. Is There Causality in God’s Law?
			3.1. Arguments by the Proponents of Causality
			3.2. Arguments by the Opponents of Causality
		4. Including the Unattested Maṣlaḥa into Analogy
Chapter Three: Applying Masḷaḥa in Legal Precepts (Qawā'id)
	I. Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. Idrīs al-Qarāfī
		1. Introduction
		2. Maṣlaḥa as a Legal Precept
			2.1. Legal License Based on Maṣlaḥa
			2.2. Giving Priority to Analogy (Qiyās) over the Singular Tradition Based on Maṣlaḥa
			2.3. Justifying the Elimination of Pretexts (Sadd al-Dharā'i') on Account of Maṣlaḥa
		3. Maṣlaḥa as Element of Legal Analogy
			3.1. The Criteria of Necessity, Need, and Complementarity
			3.2. The Criterion of the Law’s Consideration
			3.3. The Criteria of General ('Āmm) and Specific (Khāṣṣ)
			3.4. Maṣlaḥa Mursala
Chapter Four: Using Substantive Legal Reasoning to Integrate Maṣlaḥa into the Law
	I. A Shift in Epistemology
	II. Ibn Taymiyya
		1. Introduction
		2. Maṣlaḥa in Law-Finding
		3. The Unattested Maṣlaḥa
		4. The Intellect’s Ability to Know Good (Ḥasan) and Bad (Qabīḥ)
	III. Najm al-Dīn al-Ṭūfī
		1. Introduction
		2. The Hadīth “lā ḍarar wa-lā ḍirār”
		3. Maṣlaḥa as the Strongest Legal Indicant
			3.1. The Meaning of Maṣlaḥa and its Importance in the Law
			3.2. The Legal Strength of Consensus Versus Maṣlaḥa
		4. Giving Priority to Maṣlaḥa in the Law-Finding Process
			4.1. Rulings Concerning Acts of Worship and Fixed Ordinances
			4.2. Rulings Concerning Civil Transactions and Customs
		5. The Relationship between Specification (Takhṣīṣ) and Legal License (Rukhṣa)
Chapter Five: A Comprehensive Theory of Masḷaḥa
	I. IbrāhĪm b. Mūsá al-Shāṭibī
		1. Introduction
		2. The Epistemology of Maṣlaḥa: Certainty and Universality
		3. The Purposes of the Sharī'a
			3.1. The Certainty of Causality in God’s Law
			3.2. The Purposes of the Sharī'a
			3.3. The Purposes of the Divine Law and the Maṣlaḥa of Humankind
				3.3.1. Mundane and Legal Maṣlaḥas
				3.3.2. The Nature of Religious Accountability (Taklīf)
		4. How to Know God’s Intentions
			4.1. The Intelligibility of God’s Law: Acts of Worship and Customs
			4.2. Knowing God’s Intentions
			4.3. Judging the Legality of Acts by the Intention of the Actor
		5. The Law-Finding Process
			5.1. The Relationship between Universal and Particular Legal Indicants
			5.2. Identifying Legal Indicants
				5.2.1. Textual Indicants
				5.2.2. Al-Shāṭibī’s Typology of Textual Indicants
			5.3. Independent Reasoning Based on Non-Textual Indicants
			5.4. Establishing Priority Among Contradictory Indicants
Conclusions
References
Index