Preservation of Life from the Prespective of Maqāṣhid Al-Sharīah
by Hana Arisesa
Nowadays, Islam faces modern challenges around the world. In the era of the cold war, capitalist and socialist ideologies are in a race to influence the rest of the world. The world separated by two big blocks. After the socialist block collapse marked by the disintegration of the USSR, the world needs a new rival which will we calculated threaten in the future. Islam seems to be positioned at this level. Islam has its long history with faced many problems in each era. Rooted based on faith to God ingrained in their belief, makes it solid to solve every problem in its time. Islam is predicted as the fastest-growing religion in the world. In the several next decades, its population exceeds compared of any other religion. These makes Islam to be viewed as the prominent enemy of the world. The 9/11 attack bring the war to Islam to gain its popularity. The general issue of terrorism become an international trend. The research about it has been reported. Abundant funding spends to identify the problem. Islam, it’s teaching, and Muslims were subject of research.
Terrorism is one of the major issues in modern days which rooted in false belief. Islam has provided an instrument to analyze this subject. One approach that can be used is related to the science of maqāṣhid al-sharīah (objective of the shariah). The maqāṣhid al-sharīah plays an important role in Islamic science which brings an integral part of the understanding of the Islamic teaching itself. Simply, it can be seen as a term for meaning and wisdom sought by the textual rulings of Shariah (Kamali, 2020). Therefore, maqāṣhid al-sharīah broadly applied to Islamic Law. It is found that maqāṣhid al-sharīah aim is to obtain maslahah and avoid mafsadah. It is common that traditionally maqāṣhid divided into three levels i.e: necessities (ḍarūrāt), needs (ẖajiyāt), and luxuries (taẖsiniyāt). Further, the first level necessities (ḍarūrāt) classified into preserving of faith, soul, wealth, mind, and offspring (Auda, 2008).
Maqāṣhid al-sharīah applied in many topics in human life. Aziz (2020) reported about application maqāsid related to environmental preservation. In addition, the maqāsid also portrayed in the field of the medical health institution. There are maqāsid in Islamic Chaplaincy. Healthcare professional chaplains urge to understand the science of maqasid in order to increase their quality of service (Abu-Shamsieh, 2020). In this report, I will mention two issues in which maqasid is applicable to the preservation of the soul. First I want to explain abortion and the next is topic of suicide bombing.
1. Abortion
One of the crucial issues in the world today is the higher rate of abortion. Abortion is common practice since ancient times. It one of the instruments to control fertility. There is a big controversy about its values from the aspect of legislation, religion, or society, although the benefit of abortion obvious in particular cases (Guillaume, 2018). In Muslim-majority country has a different opinion and legislation. Some of them accept abortion in specific cases such as in cases where the life of the pregnant women is threatened. From the point of view of Islamic Law, Islamic jurisprudence does not encourage abortion, however, there is no clear prohibition in the primary source of Islamic jurisprudence (Shapiro, 2014). In the content of maqasid, there are several mentions in the Quran. Allah said:
“Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.” (Quran, 5:32)
This verse explains a stipulation that killing a human being means killing all humans, just as maintaining the life of a human being means preserving the life of all humans. In the term of maqāṣhid al-sharīah to aim preservation of life, one of strong prove as legitimation of objective of shariah. In addition, it explains the fundamental theory of cooperation and guidance for social interaction. Every person must not do something that can endanger others, everyone must work together to become common security. Anything that can lead to destruction must be prevented. As an example, that atomic bomb used in the past World War should be banned in order to prevent the world destruction if there is an ignorance person used it in appropriate manner.
2. Suicide Bombing
The next particular example related to the understanding of maqasid is the issue of Suicide Bombing around the world. Suicide bombing can be described as the readiness to sacrifice one's life in the process of destroying or attempting to destroy a target to advance a political goal (Alvanou, n.d.), It close to the practice of jihadists group around the world., several of them are Al-Qaeda and The IS. Debating the legitimation of suicide bombing, Hasan (2017) reported a rebuttal of legitimation used by these groups. However, he argues that their legitimation is valid.
Allah mention in the Quran:
“O you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful”. (Quran, 4:29).
In this verse, Allah tells believers not to kill themselves. Although the explicit text is a prohibition not to kill ourselves, in order also applicable not to kills someone else life. Because if someone kill another without a valid reason, due to the law of Qishas, It means they will be killed also. Kill another person means to kill oneself.
In fact, the perpetrators ended in death, causing environmental destruction whatever huge or not. Moreover, sometimes, innocent people used to be victims in their operation, especially in not battlefield attack. This is obviously violates the correct teaching of Islam. In Islam, the life of one Muslim is worth more than the value of this world. Even, in the context of the battlefield, the enemy who holds the guarantee of security from the authority, must not be attracted. So, it is true that some authorities make a tight procedure to kill directly the perpetrators of this crime. This is in accordance with the principle of maslahah and maqasid of preservation of life.
Conclusion
The example of maqāṣhid al-sharīah for preservation of life has been discussed. Two example here are issue about abortion and suicide bombing. These two issue are chosen due to it has become international issues. In the term of maqāṣhid al-sharīah, these problems do not fit the intent of the maqasid shariah especially the goal from preservation of life. The science of maqasid should be studied comprehensively in order to prevent the destruction of these problems.
Bibliography
Auda, Jasser, “Maqāṣhid Al-Sharīah a Beginner Guide”, International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2008. 4-5.
Abu-Shamsieh, Kamal. “The Application of Maqāsid in Islamic Chaplaincy.” In Islamic Law and Ethics, edited by David R Vishanoff, 2020, 76–108. International Institute of Islamic Thought.
Alvanou, Maria. “Terrorism through Suicide Bombings”.
Aziz, Sumayyah Abdul, Hapiz Mahaiyadin, Rahimah Embong, and nurul Amirah Alias.. “Maqasid Daruriyyah Al-Kulliyah (Universal Essential Objectives) in the Preservation of Nature.” Journal of Critical Reviews, 2020, 7 (11): 487–91. https://doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.11.87.
Guillaume, Agnes, and Clementine Rossier. 2018. “Abortion around the World an Overview of Legislation, Measures, Trends, and Consequences.” Population 73 (2): 217–306. https://doi.org/10.3917/pope.1802.0217.
Hassan, Muhammad Haniff. 2017. “A Rebuttal of Al-Qaeda and IS’ Theological Justification of Suicide Bombing.” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 9 (7). http://www.jstor.org/stable/26351535.
Kamali, Mohammad Hashim. “Actualization (Taf’il) of the Higher Purposes (Maqāṣid) of Shariah.” In Definition and Meaning of Maqāṣid. International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2020, 4-6.
Shapiro, Gilla K. 2014. “Abortion Law in Muslim-Majority Countries: An Overview of the Islamic Discourse with Policy Implications.” Health Policy and Planning 29 (4): 483–94. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czt040.