Following the success of the first international conference on the “State: between tradition and future”, which tackled issues related to the concept of the “State” in general, the organisers agreed to continue to address those issues along more detailed and deeper themes, with discussion framed in light of the objectives of Islamic Law (maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah).
The International Conference under the title “The State and the Society in the Scope of the Objectives of Sharīʿah” was organised by Sultan Mohammed al-Fatih University, in collaboration with Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, the National Association for Studies and Research and the Syrian Business Forum, from the 6th until 8th April 2014, in Istanbul - Turkey
The Conference discussed Islamic concepts in relation to modern issues, where it endeavoured to confront contemporary necessities. It also represented a new methodological step for tackling current problems through laying a contemporary foundation that contributes to enriching Islamic civilisational thought.
The Conference comprised a number of lectures that may be classified into two types; the first type was characterised by a descriptive approach along with juristic evidencing, while the second adopted an analytical approach that extracts new ideas from within Islamic studies.
The Conference discussed several issues under three themes:
1. Religious and civil conceptions of the state, and the common ground shared by both.
2. State foundations: parliamentary, constitutional, legal, and institutional; e.g. ahl al-ḥal wa al-‘aqd or the body of experts and consultants, the Consultative (shūrā) organs, and security apparatus.
3. State functions: such as application of the Islamic legal framework (al-Sharīʿah) and punishments (al-ḥudūd); wisely confronting some concepts, such as extremism (al-ghuluww); and prioritising the concepts relating to sovereignty and governance, in addition to maintaining law and order, e.g. security of society and state.
The key lecturers in this conference were: Dr Abdul Majeed al-Najjar, Dr Nour al-Din Mukhtar al-Khadimi, Dr Ibrahim al-Bayoumi Ghanem, Dr Abdul Salam Ballaji, Dr Jasser Auda, Dr Muhammad bin al-Mukhtar al-Shanqiti, Dr Saad-al-Din al-Uthmani, Dr Imad al-Din Khalil, Shaykh Muhammad Hassan al-Deddo, Dr Muhammad Ayash al-Kubaisi, Dr Mazen Hashem, Shaykh Muhammad Abul Huda al-Yaqoubi, as well as other academics and scholars.