1 MAQASID AL-QUR’AN: A SEARCH FOR A SCHOLARLY DEFINITION By Tazul Islam * Abstract “Maqasid al-Qur’an” appears as an emerging science in the field of Islamic studies that promotes a particular understanding of the Qur’anic discourse. As scholars’ contributions in this subject are lacking a scholarly definition of this very science, this study aims to formulate its definition in a scholarly manner. In doing so, this research firstly presents the meaning of “maqasid” as well as the “Qur’an”; secondly, it explores the key elements for this definition in scholars’ views on this subject; finally, it formulates a definition for it in the light of these elements and explains them in brief. Introduction “Maqasid al-Qur’an” (objectives of the Qur’an) is an emerging concept which promotes a maqasidic understanding of the Qur’anic discourse. A number of prominent Muslim scholars like Abu Hamid al- Ghazali (d.1111C.E.), ‘Izz al-Din ibn ‘Abd al-Salam (d.1261C.E.), Fakhr al-Razi (d.606A.H.), Ibn al- Qayyim (d.751A.H.), Al-Shatibi (d.1388C.E.), Al-Biqa‘i (d.885A.H.) Muhammad ‘Abduh (d.1905C.E.), Rashid Rida (d.1935C.E.), Badi‘uzzaman Sa‘id Nursi (d.1960C.E.), Ibn ‘Ashur (d.1973C.E.), Hasan al-Banna (d.1949C.E.), Muhammad Iqbal (d.1938C.E.), Sayyid Qutb (d.1966C.E.), Abul ‘Ala Mawdudi (d.1989C.E.), ‘Izzat Darwazah (d.1987C.E.), Muhammad al- Ghazali (d.1996C.E.), Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b.1926C.E.) and others have significantly contributed in this subject. These valuable contributions by both traditional and contemporary Muslim scholars left a legacy of a sizable and insightful literature which bears witness of a brilliant breakthrough conceptual development of Maqasid al-Qur’an. However, the genesis of the concept of Maqasid al-Qur’an formally came to the light when an apparent use of the precise term “Maqasid al-Qur’an” perhaps for the first time occurred in al-Ghazali’s (d.1111C.E.) treatise Jawahir al-Qur’an. Since then, this very term keeps abreast with every pace of the fresh development in the Qur’anic literature and finally reached at a stage where it is argued to be included in the prerequisite principles of the Qur’anic exegesis (‘adab al-tafsir) by some prominent exegetes of the Qur’an like al-Tahir Ibn ‘Ashur (d.1973C.E.) and ‘Izzat Darwazah (d.1987C.E.). In addition, a popular maqasidic trend is almost commonly seen in a number of contemporary tafsir works such as Rashid Rida’s (d.1935C.E.) Tafsir al-Manar, Ibn ‘Ashur’s Tafsir al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir, Abul ‘Ala Mawdudi’s (d.1989C.E.) Tafhim al- Qur’an, Sayyid Qutb’s (d.1966C.E.) Fi Zilal al-Qur’an, ‘Izzat Darwazah’s al-Tafsir al-Hadith and others. Despite a steady conceptual developments, a prolonged succession of precise use of this term, its multi-dimensional relations with the Qur’anic exegesis and its sciences, a scholarly definition for “Maqasid al-Qur’an” is still beyond. This article therefore aims to formulate a definition for the term “Maqasid al-Qur’an” through a methodological process. Ironically, it will explore some key constituents for its definition which are borne in the views of some prominent Muslim scholars. It will again scrutinize how these constituents communicate with the fundamental concept of Maqasid al- Qur’an. The Meaning of “Maqasid” * Research Fellow Center of the Qur’anic Research (CQR) University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.