Criteria of Maslahah in the Three Arenas of Inference, Legislation, and Implementation

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Fiqh and Law, Islamic Culture and Thought Research Institute, Qom, Iran.

2 Kharij-level Seminary Student & M.A. in Philosophy of Religion, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Ambiguity in the concept of maslahah has allowed many actors to claim that they act in accordance with it. Clarifying criteria for identifying maslahah is therefore essential. Although various criteria have been proposed, they have often not been matched to the role of maslahah in different arenas. This descriptive-analytical study, based on library sources and the Islamic epistemic system, identifies five functions of maslahah: the criterion underlying the object of rulings, the subject of governmental rulings, a qualification of the object of a ruling or law, a secondary title, and a remover of conflict between duties. These functions are examined in the three arenas of inference, legislation, and implementation. In inference, maslahah is identified through revelation, reason, and rational custom. In legislation, criteria are divided into foundational, structural, and substantive categories. In implementation, foundational and substantive criteria apply where maslahah qualifies the object of a ruling or law; harm and necessity, hardship and difficulty, and the rule of more important and important govern secondary titles and conflicts.

Keywords

References

 

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Studies of Islamic Jurisprudence and Basis of Law
Volume 19, Issue 52 - Serial Number 52
January 2025
Pages 241-264

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