Book Review: Jasser Auda. Re-envisioning Islamic Scholarship: Maqasid Methodology as a New Approach. London: Claritas Books in association with Maqasid Institute, 2021. 282 pp. ISBN: 978-1-80011-977-2.

Abstract

Over the past three decades, Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah has emerged as a vibrant and evolving field of inquiry. It has expanded beyond its classical legal applications to engage with diverse epistemological, ethical, and sociopolitical dimensions. Jasser Auda’s Re-envisioning Islamic Scholarship contributes significantly to this intellectual development by offering a “New Maqāṣid Methodology” that seeks to reconfigure Islamic scholarship around purpose-based inquiry. In doing so, Auda joins a broader wave of scholars—including Aḥmad al-Raysūnī, Ṭaha al-ʿAlwānī, and Ibn ʿĀshūr—who have attempted to renew the tradition of maqāṣid-based reasoning for contemporary contexts.