Reinterpretasi Konsep Maṣlaḥah Dalam Mazhab Mālikī dan Relevansinya Terhadap Problematika Hukum Islam Kontemporer

A Reinterpretation of the Concept of Maṣlaḥah in the Mālikī School and Its Relevance to Contemporary Issues in Islamic Law

Abstract

This article examines the reinterpretation of maṣlaḥah in the Mālikī School of Law and its relevance to contemporary Islamic legal issues in a global context. It departs from the tension between textual-normative reasoning and the increasing need to contextualize Islamic law. The study argues that maṣlaḥah is not merely a utilitarian instrument, but a methodological principle rooted in the Mālikī uṣūl al-fiqh tradition and oriented toward the realization of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah. Historically, maṣlaḥah developed through three phases. The first was a practical phase grounded in the social reality of Madinah and the tradition of ʿamal ahl al-Madīnah. The second was a systematic phase in which maṣlaḥah was integrated with the maqāṣid framework, especially in medieval legal thought. The third was a contemporary phase marked by the demand for contextual reinterpretation. Using library research and a conceptual-historical approach, this article analyzes the thought of Mālikī scholars, especially Mālik ibn Anas and al-Shāṭibī, and its development in contemporary scholarship. This study finds that many previous works discuss maṣlaḥah in a normative, abstract, and cross-madhhab manner, which obscures the distinctive epistemological character of the Mālikī tradition. The findings show that reinterpretating Mālikī maṣlaḥah through maqāṣid al-sharīʿah provides a controlled evaluative framework for addressing global issues, such as human rights, social justice, bioethics, public governance, and digital technology ethics. This article contributes a systematic and applicable framework for moderate, contextual, and substantively just Islamic legal ijtihad, while preserving legal continuity, methodological accountability, and the normative authority of Islamic law in modern societies.