Universal Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah and Their Modern Application: Towards Ensuring a Peaceful and Secured Environment

The maqāṣid theory is a popular trend in Islamic legal theories. Contemporary scholars view it as a valid method of interpreting the revealed text and as a valuable instrument for solving contemporary issues because it helps reform Islamic thought and civilization. Indeed, the idea of maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah has been widely studied and expanded by modern scholars of Islamic legal theory. Chiefly, Ibn ͑Ashur and contemporary MaqÉsid scholars renewed the scholarly discourse and ensured its proliferation and wide acceptance in legal studies. It has emerged as a new science that connects with all other legal disciplines. Thus, scholars firmly assert that the maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah constitute the most important intellectual means and methodologies for Islamic reform today. Consequently, the researchers aim to examine the modern discourse of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah and the latest developments beyond the universal MaqÉÎid. Mainly, the researchers scrutinize the two objectives namely the preservation of the environment via the protection of life and wealth. Accordingly, this article follows the qualitative method of data collection and analysis. Among the findings of the research is that the latest developments of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah, open the door of ijtihād widely to create ample areas for jurists to regulate the affairs of the Muslim ummah. Further, the maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah do not reflect only the objectives of Islamic law; their role goes beyond and is used to formulate basic principles and values related to global peace and human welfare. Hence, they have greatly contributed to the revival of Islamic thought and have opened a wider space for the application of Islamic law pertaining to peaceful environment.

The Triumph of the Second Leaders: Ahmad Khatib and Rashīd Riḍā in Islamic Reform in Indonesia

The advent of Islamic reform in Indonesia at the turn of the 20th century is to be attributed to two scholars or called the second Muslim leaders. They were Ahmad Khatib in Mecca and Rashīd Riḍā in Cairo. Ahmad Khatib was an intellectual leader of mainly Malay-Indonesian section of Jawa (Southeast Asians Muslims) in Mecca when the Islamic reform began to be voiced by Cairo ‘ulama, Muḥammad ‘Abduh and Rashīd Riḍā. One crucial point to discuss in this article is that the two scholars shared similar religious thoughts, which hold a determining role in the development of Islamic reform, much more than the role of Muḥammad ‘Abduh, the first leader of the movement. As can be gleaned from Ahmad Khatib’s works and his intellectual orientation, as well as from the fatwas of Rashīd Riḍā in al-Manār, both scholars emphasized the primacy of pristine Islam (salāf), different from the thought of ‘Abduh. In fact, it was in the hands of Ahmad Khatib’s students that the Islamic reform reached wider audiences in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. At the same time, the early 20th century also witnessed the mounting request for fatwas to Rashīd Riḍā in al-Manār, which greatly contributed to the transmission of reform ideas from Cairo to the region.

Islamic Book and Islam in Indonesia: a Historical Perspective

Alongside the advance of Islamic reformism in the early twentieth century, one central element to pay attention is the rise of printed media, Islamic book, which enhanced the shaping of the reformist Muslims. Written in Malay with Rumi script, the books with Islamic substance first appeared as part of Islamic reform movement. Nearly all the authors were the leading activists of reformist organizations. This trend continued to develop, leading the books to emerge as an important pillar in the formation of Islamic intellectual discourses. This study focuses on the historical study of the Islamic books development and progression, with strong emphasis given to the ideas behind their rising in the courses of Indonesian history. Based on the classical theory of discourse of Michel Foucault, as well as the one of post-linguistic turn historiography, this article demonstrates, in reference to the three time periods which each presented a specific mode of intellectual thinking, the growing importance of Islamic books in the making of print-based religious life, which paved the way for the strengthening of socio-religious plurality in modern Indonesia. Firstly, Islamic Book as the voice of Islamic reform, secondly, Islamic Books in 1950s-1960s, and lastly, Islamic Books in contemporary Indonesia.

Islam and the cognitive study of colonialism: The case of religious and educational reform at Egypt’s al-Azhar

This article argues that the emerging Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) provides a valuable new perspective on colonialism. CSR argues that humans are innately inclined towards certain types of religious belief (e.g., belief in spirit beings, belief in immortal souls) and certain types of non-utilitarian morality (e.g., belief in an obligation to care for kin, belief in an obligation to avoid ‘disgusting’ substances or behaviours). These innate inclinations underlie many religious and cultural traditions transformed by colonialism, including Islam. The article suggests that colonial power operates not only by suppressing traditional non-Western institutions but also by suppressing the natural inclinations underlying non-Western traditions. This claim is developed through a study of colonial efforts to transform Egypt’s al-Azhar, the world’s most influential institution of Islamic learning and scholarship. These efforts made al-Azhar into the centre of a global Islamic reform movement, which sought to integrate Islam with a colonial scientific-utilitarian worldview.

PENGEMBANGAN PENDIDIKAN ISLAM BERKEMAJUAN PERSPEKTIF MUHAMMADIYAH

This paper discuses the development of advanced Islamic education in the perspective of Muhammadiyah. The concept of advanced Islam is an opportunity for the challenges of the times to strengthen the strength of Islamic education itself. Muhammadiyah is one of the Islamic socio-religious organizations in Indonesia that has the spirit of Islamic reform, including part of the modernist Islamic organization in Indonesia. Muhammadiyah brings progressing Islam which carries the mission of building an advanced society in various aspects of life, both in social, social, economic, educational, cultural and political life. Therefore, Muhammadiyah continues to make serious efforts and endeavors tirelessly to create a true Islamic society. This study aims to identify and develop the current advanced Islamic education patterns. This type of research is using the library research method (library research) with data sources in the form of scientific articles, books, policy documents and circulars, journals, and other sources that are library in nature. The data collected was then analyzed in depth with content analysis techniques (Content Analysis) and presented descriptively. The results of the study indicate that advanced Islamic education is needed to be applied in Indonesia. Because the challenges of globalization require expertise on all fronts in responding to the problems of life today. Advancing Islamic education in the perspective of Muhammadiyah is Islamic education that integrates science with Islam. Education that integrates religion in the life of a holistic blend formed between faith and modernity.

The Influence of Muhammad Abduh in Indonesia

Muhammad Abduh had a remarkably profound and lasting impact in Indonesia. His reformist ideas had a strong repercussion in the political and social landscape of the region. They were readily adopted by major Islamic movements, notably Muhammadiyah, al-Irshad and Persatuan Islam (Persis). Abduh’s Tafsir al-Manar deeply influenced some momentous works of Qur’anic exegesis, such as Tafsir al-Azhar, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Madjid (Tafsir al-Nur), Tafsir al-Misbah and Tafsir al-Furqan. His Majallat al-Manar, which was planned and collaborated with Rashid Rida since 1898, highly inspired reform-oriented scholarship evident in journals such as al-Munir, and al-Dhakhirah al-Islamiyah. This study aims to analyze the influence of Abduh’s modernism in Indonesia. It attempts to discover the implication of his principle and philosophical tradition in the religious reform and modern movement in Indonesia. The method of study is based on qualitative approaches, using content analysis method. It was conducted based on library method to investigate the related data from primary and secondary sources. The data was analyzed using descriptive-analytical approaches, by way of inference (istisqa’) and deductive (istinbat) method. The paper concluded that Abduh had profound and extensive influence in the Archipelago, especially his impact on Islamic reform and renewal (islah and tajdid) in Indonesia.