Reconstructing the Concept of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah in Post-Colonial Pakistani Constitutional Thought

Abstract

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This article examines the evolving role of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah—the higher objectives of Islamic law—in shaping Pakistan’s constitutional discourse from independence in 1947 to the present. While Pakistan was founded as a homeland for South Asian Muslims, its constitutional journey has oscillated between secular modernism and Islamic idealism. This study argues that maqāṣid theory has served as a dynamic hermeneutical bridge, enabling jurists, scholars, and framers to reconcile Islamic ethical imperatives with the demands of a modern nation-state. Drawing on constitutional texts, judicial rulings, parliamentary debates, and scholarly commentaries, the article traces how maqāṣid—particularly the classical five necessities (ḍarūriyyāt: religion, life, intellect, progeny, and property)—have been reinterpreted to address contemporary challenges such as human rights, gender justice, economic equity, and minority protection. It demonstrates that maqāṣid-based reasoning has been instrumental in legitimizing progressive legal reforms while anchoring them in Islamic epistemology.