''Istislah'' (Arabic استصلاح "to deem proper") is a method employed by

Islamic jurists Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main ...

to solve problems that find no clear answer in sacred religious texts. It is related to the term مصلحة ''

Maslaha Maslaha or maslahah ( ar, مصلحة, lit=public interest) is a concept in shari'ah ( Islamic divine law) regarded as a basis of law.I. Doi, Abdul Rahman. (1995). "Mașlahah". In John L. Esposito. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic W ...

'', or "public interest" (both words being derived from the same

triconsonantal root The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or "radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowels ...

, "ṣ-l-ḥ"). Extratextual pragmatic considerations are commonly accepted in

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ex ...

concerning areas where the ''

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

'' and the practices of the earliest Muslim generations (''

Salaf Salaf ( ar, سلف, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of "al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ" (, "the pious predecessors") are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises Muhamm ...

'') provide no specific guidance. ''Istislah'' bears some similarities to the

natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

tradition in the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, as exemplified by

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...

. However, whereas natural law deems good that which is known self-evidently to be good, according as it tends towards the fulfilment of the person, ''istislah'' calls good whatever is connected to one of five "basic goods".

Al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian poly ...

abstracted these "basic goods" from the five legal precepts in the ''

'' and ''

Sunnah In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...

''—religion, life, reason, lineage (or offspring), and property. In this classical formulation, ''istislah'' differs from

utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different chara ...

—"the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people"—because something that results in "the greatest happiness" may infringe any one of the five basic values. The legal concepts of ''Istislah'' and ''

'' attained significant attention in the works of the 20th century Sunni jurist Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā (d. 1354 A.H/ 1935 C.E), who considered the "''no harm no retribution''" ''

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

'' to be an important textual principle. Citing the Andalusian Malikite jurist

Al-Shatibi Al-Shatibi is an Arabic name indicating an origin in Xàtiva (Spain). It may refer to: *Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā al-Shāṭibī (720 – 790 A.H./1320 – 1388 C.E.) was an Andalusí Sunni Islamic legal schola ...

(d. 790 A.H/ 1388 C.E), Rida elaborated ''Maslaha'' as a "basic principle" in legal derivation and distinguished affairs into issues of '' 'Ibadat'' (rituals) and '' Mu'amalat'' (transactions). The former consists of absolute, unchanging rules; while rules regarding issues of ''Mu'amalat'' may vary with time since Revelation is not absolute in all of them. However, unlike the expansive scope of ''Mu'amalat'' by Al-Shatibi; Rida divided ''Mu'amalat'' issues into two types: i) those that are moral norms and ii) those which are morally irrelevant. The former are similar to the '''Ibadat'' rules which were Revealed by God who defined moral norms and hence, fixed. Those who break these rules are sinful transgressors. The latter category of issues, can be solved through the process of ''

Qiyas In Islamic jurisprudence, qiyas ( ar, قياس , " analogy") is the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Quran, in order to apply a known injunction ('' nass'') to a ...

''. In the contemporary era, some

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

are considered "Islamic" using the methods of ''Istislah'' and ''Maslaha''. In

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, this approach has been backed by the Supreme Constitutional Court, which has ratified equitable measures benefiting women even where these seemingly conflict with principles of classical ''

Shari'ah Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and th ...

''.

References

{{Reflist Sharia legal terminology

See also

References