Maslahah and the Purpose of the Law ─ Islamic Discourse on Legal Change from the 4th/10th to 8th/14th Century

Focusing on writings of legal theory by leading jurisprudents from al-Jassas (d. 370/980) to al-Shatibi (d. 790/1388), this study traces the Islamic discourse on legal change. It looks at the concept of maslaha (people's well-being) as a method of extending and adapting God's law, showing how it evolves from an obscure legal principle to being interpreted as the all-encompassing purpose of God's law. Discussions on maslaha's epistemology, its role in the law-finding process, the limits of human investigation into divine commands, and the delineation of the sphere of religious law in Muslim society highlight the interplay between law, theology, logic, and politics that make maslaha a viable vehicle of legal change up to the present.

Felicitas Opwis, Ph.D. (2001) in Arabic and Islamic Studies, Yale University, is Assistant Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. Her publications address the development of Islamic legal theory in light of intellectual currents and historical environment.