Book Review: Maqasid-e Shari`at (Objectives of the Shariah), by: Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi, Review by: Abdul Azim Islahi مراجعة علمية لكتاب: مقاصد الشريعة (أهداف الشريعة) - بقلم: محمد نجاة الله صديقي - مراجعة: عبدالعظيم إصلاحي

“Maqasid-e-Shariat” (Objectives of the Shariah) is the latest work by Prof. M.N. Siddiqi, first published by the Islamic Research Academy, Islamabad, and republished by the Markazi Maktabah-e-Islami, New Delhi. We have before us the one published from New Delhi.The subject of Objectives of Shariah has assumed utmost importance these days in the wake of numerous new issues faced by the Ummah in recent years. The Urdu language is spoken by a very large number of Muslim population and scholars in the world. But writings on this topic are very few in this Islamically rich language. Prof. Siddiqi seeks to fill this gap and wants to address those who master only this language. Since long time Dr. Siddiqi held that “envisioning Islamic economy in twenty-first century is better done with reference to goals of Islamic law. This will enable us to handle issues like poverty and inequality (observed in his Keynote Address on Islamic Economics: Current State of Knowledge and Development of the Discipline delivered at the Round Table Discussion – Organized by IRTI during 26-27 May, 2004, Jeddah). He is of the view that there is need to differentiate between objectives of Islam as a way of life and objectives of Islamic jurisprudence. He realized that this point needed an extended study. Hence he authored this work.