On December 10, 2022, the International Institute of Islamic Thought East and Southeast Asia (IIIT-ESEA) organised a one-day symposium on “Applied Maqasid Studies” in Kuala Lumpur. Presenters during the symposium were recipients of IIIT Strategic Research Project (SRP) grants for the year 2021/2022. The symposium focused on the application of Maqasid al-Shariah in various academic disciplines and in tackling various social, economic, environmental and health issues facing humanity in the contemporary world.
During his keynote address, IIIT Secretary General Professor Omar Hasan Kasule highlighted the need for Muslim scholars to deepen their research and understanding of the Maqasid al-Shariah to further contribute to research on the “Integration of Knowledge” and its application for solving the problems of the Ummah and humanity. Professor Kasule also emphasised on the need for researchers to follow proper research methodology and utilise the Maqasid al-Shariah framework to come up with good and testable hypotheses which can then be empirically tested and analysed in the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Professor Kasule concluded by congratulating all the participants in the symposium for their efforts towards applying the Maqasid al-Shariah approach in studying and tackling real world problems.
Earlier during the opening speech for the symposium, the Director of IIIT-ESEA Professor Dato’ Dr Mohamad Fauzan Noordin reminded the participants that the application of the Maqasid al-Shariah framework is relevant both in the “real” world and the “virtual” world. Professor Fauzan urged the researchers to engage the Maqasid approach in researching issues in both areas as “Allah SW is the God for both the real world and the virtual world”.
The symposium was well attended and several papers on the application of the Maqasid approach were presented that covered a wide range of issues from climate crisis, genetic engineering, Islamic Finance and Banking, Politics, issues affecting children with disabilities, commercial advertising and many more.
