Maqasid Al-Qur an and Maqasid Al-Shari’ah: An Analytical Presentation

The phrases Maqasid al-Qur’an (objectives of the Qur’an) and Maqasid al-Shari’ah (objectives of the Islamic law) are two popular terms in the disciplines of Islamic revealed knowledge. While the latter is derived from the former, however, there are cases where the two terms are used interchangeably. This study aims to present an analytical account of these two concepts; it commences to examine the semantic meaning of the Qur’anic use of the term “Qur’an” and “Shari’ah”, then the definition of the terms Maqasid al-Qur’an and MaqÉÎid al-SharÊÑah. The paper then illustrates the function and the scope of Maqasid (objectives) of al-Shari‘ah and Maqasid of al-Qur’an. This paper argues that though Maqasid al-Qur’an and Maqasid alshari’aheventually lead to the same end, and thus cannot be separated from each other, however, in the operational level there are number of semantic and functional differences between these two terms.