Journal of Contemporary Maqasid Studies

Renewing Maqāṣid Thought: Human Life, Peace, Legal Methodology, and Sustainable Civilization

The latest issue of the Journal of Contemporary Maqasid Studies brings together a thought-provoking collection of studies that expand the application of Maqāṣid-based scholarship across psychology, peacebuilding, Islamic legal methodology, religious transformation, and environmental ethics. Through conceptual, textual, and sociological perspectives, the contributions demonstrate how engagement with revelation and the higher objectives of Islam can provide meaningful responses to contemporary human and civilizational challenges.

The issue opens with Bagus Riyono’s article, “Unveiling the Universal Law of Human Life: A Study with Maqasid Methodology.” Integrating scientific knowledge with revelation, the study identifies three fundamental realities of human existence—freedom, uncertainty, and vulnerability—and connects them with the corresponding values of responsibility, hope, and humility. The resulting framework offers insights relevant to education, parenting, social interaction, human rights, and broader human development.

The discussion of peace and Islamic ethics continues in Abdessamad Belhaj’s contribution, “Deontological Islamic Pacifism: ‘Abdallāh Bin Bayyah on Jurisprudence of Peace, Sufism and Covenants.” Through an examination of Bin Bayyah’s writings, the article explores how peace, security, Sufism, and covenantal principles form the foundations of an Islamic pacifist approach that prioritizes human welfare above political ideology.

Bilal Bugaje further advances contemporary Maqāṣid scholarship through “Extending the Maqasid Methodology: Mediation through Revelation-Grounded Scholarship.” The article proposes an extended methodological model that allows qualified revelation-grounded scholarship to mediate engagement with the Qur’an and Sunnah while maintaining critical verification, textual accountability, and purpose-oriented analysis. Its application to Fiqh al-Zakah demonstrates how the approach can support systematic principles for zakat assessment and other areas of Islamic scholarship.

Questions of contemporary Islamic legal reasoning are examined by Abdullah Hemmet Abdullah in “Juristic Retrievalism in Contemporary Sunni Fatwa: Toward Maqāṣid-Based Validation.” The study critiques the uncontextualized repetition of inherited juristic opinions and proposes a five-dimensional framework based on textual fidelity, juristic coherence, contextual adequacy, Maqāṣid realization, and institutional accountability. This framework seeks to strengthen the transparency, relevance, and ethical responsibility of contemporary fatwa-making.

The relationship between religious identity and broader social structures is explored in Abul Hasan’s article, “Religious Departure in India: A Sociological Study of Ex-Muslims Through the Maqasid Framework.” Drawing on conversion theory, postcolonial studies, religious sociology, and digital culture, the study investigates how intellectual, institutional, social, and political factors influence religious departure in India. It evaluates these dynamics through the Maqāṣid objectives of preserving faith and intellect while distinguishing personal religious transformation from political appropriation.

The issue concludes with Amjad Hussain’s article, “From Divine Trust to Sustainable Civilization: Reconstructing Consumption Ethics Through Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah in the Anthropocene.” Responding to ecological degradation, unsustainable consumption, and inequalities within global food systems, the study presents a Maqāṣid-based framework connecting divine trust, gratitude, moderation, social justice, responsible consumption, and environmental stewardship. It emphasizes that sustainable civilization requires moral transformation alongside technological and regulatory development.

Together, the articles in this issue illustrate the continuing development of Maqāṣid scholarship as a dynamic intellectual tradition. By engaging with the realities of human life, peace, legal authority, religious identity, responsible consumption, and ecological sustainability, these contributions demonstrate how revelation-grounded scholarship can inform ethical thought and constructive action in an increasingly complex world.