“Purposes and Reasoning in the Islamic Law”; a symposium organised by Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation - Centre for the Study of the Philosophy of Islamic Law, on 31st October 2007, at Semiramis Hotel in Cairo, Egypt
he development of new Islamic juridical reasoning (ijtihad), which should always be practised by scholars, depends primarily on a comprehensive understanding of the maqasid of the Islamic law and their prioritisation in practise. The correctness of rulings that are reached through ijtihad depends on the correctness of this understanding. Hence, ijtihad is in real need of maqasid, in order to achieve the objectives for which Prophet Mohammed (peace and praise be upon him) was sent.
In this context, the Centre for the Study of the Philosophy of Islamic Law held a symposium under the theme Purposes and Reasoning in the Islamic Law, which took place in Cairo, on 31st October 2007.
The symposium was divided into two parts:
The first part included papers on the theoretical side of the topic, or the theory of purpose-based reasoning, such as:
- Purposes/Maqasid of the Islamic Law in Light of the Bibliography by Dr Mohammed Kamaleddin Imam
- Reasoning about applied Islamic Law: Understanding the Fundamentals by Prof. Farid Choukri
- The Debate Over the Qur’anic Purpose Versus Juridical Purpose by Prof. Souad Koreim
The second part addressed three applications in the works of three great Islamic jurists, namely:
- Purposes/Maqasid is the Qibla of Jurists; Abu Hamid al-Ghazali as an Example by Dr Mohammed Abdou
- Purposes and Reasoning According to al-Tirmidhi al-Hakeem by Dr Khalid Zahri
- Universal Purposes/Maqasid According to Sheikh Mahdi Shamsuddin by Dr Hasan Jaber
