Objectives of the Shari'a (maqasid al-shari'a)

Summary

The maqasid of the Shari'a are the purposes and wisdoms that the usul scholars take the Lawgiver to intend across all or most of the rulings, not confined to a single kind of ruling. ¹

Kinds

Al-Shatibi holds that the duties of the Shari'a return to the preservation of its purposes among people, and that these fall into three kinds: necessities, needs and refinements. The detail is in the usul appendix. ¹

Herbage and pasture (kala')

Kala' means herbage, dry or green; in law it is grass that grows without human work. The jurists agree that grass growing on open land such as valleys, mountains and unowned ground is shared, and no one may forbid another to take it or to graze his animals there, on the hadith that Muslims share three things: water, fire and herbage. Grass on owned land belongs to its owner, who may bar entry, though no one may be stopped from taking grass he cannot find elsewhere; the Malikis allow grazing on unplanted ground and do not allow grass in unplanted land to be stopped unless a field nearby is at risk. The imam may reserve unowned land for the herds of the poor-tax and the sadaqa and for the weak, according to the Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis and the sounder Shafi'i view, and most jurists allow grazing in the sanctuary of Mecca.

Objectives of the Shari'a (maqasid al-shari'a)

At a glance

Summary

Kinds

People and things also explored

Sources

Ideas

Herbage and pasture (kala')