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For more than a century, Muslim reformers have looked to Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah, the higher objectives of Islamic law, as a way of thinking through the challenges of modern life. As Muslim societies confronted new political and social realities, questions of democracy, citizenship, pluralism, and political participation became harder to ignore. Reformist thinkers increasingly asked how Islamic teachings could respond to these changes without losing their moral and religious foundations.

In this search, Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah offered a flexible and value-based framework. Rather than focusing only on individual legal rulings, it encouraged Muslim scholars to think about the broader purposes behind Islamic teachings. Over time, this way of thinking moved beyond legal circles and entered broader debates about public life. Today, Islamic movements, civil society organisations, scholars, and activists often draw on the language of maqāṣid when discussing social justice, community welfare, coexistence, political participation, and public responsibility.

Alongside this development, another related idea has gained growing attention: Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān, or the Qurʾān's higher purposes. While closely connected to Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah, this approach turns more directly to the Qurʾān itself. It asks a broader set of questions: What are the central purposes of the Qurʾānic message? What values and priorities does it seek to establish? And how can these guide Muslim thought and action in today’s world? What makes this development especially interesting is that many scholars who have written extensively on Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah have also explored Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān. This suggests the two discussions are not separate but part of a broader effort to rethink Islamic reform and renewal in changing times. This article looks at the growing discussion around Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān, how it differs from and relates to Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah, and why it may offer an important way of thinking about Islamic reform, social change, and renewal today.

Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān as Hermeneutics

Although classical and pre-modern Islamic scholars had already explored the purposes and objectives of the Qurʾān more broadly, Muslim scholars began in the modern period to discuss Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān more systematically as a distinct concept (Elatrash, 2016; Ahelali, 2016). Two leading figures in this development were Rashīd Riḍā and Ṭāhir Ibn ʿĀshūr . Both were reformist scholars who sought to renew Islamic thought in response to changing social, political, and intellectual conditions (Tanzul Islam, 2018). They advanced important discussions of Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān, but they treated it mainly as a method for understanding and interpreting the Qurʾān rather than as a broader framework for Islamic reform (Nafi, 2005). For broader questions of reform, they continued to rely largely on Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah. The distinction was clear: Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah addressed the broader purposes of Islamic law and guidance, while Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān focused more directly on the Qurʾān’s central purposes, values, and messages. In this sense, Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah functioned as the broader umbrella framework within which Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān was situated.

Rashīd Riḍā’s discussion of Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān grew partly out of his critical engagement with certain tendencies in classical tafsīr. He believed that excessive attention to grammar, linguistic debates, transmitted reports, and minor legal issues could distract readers from the Qurʾān’s larger message (Elatrash, 2016). A maqāṣid-based reading, therefore, sought to restore attention to its major concerns and guidance for human and social life. Ibn ʿĀshūr developed a similar approach in al-Taḥrīr wa-l-Tanwīr. He stressed that Qurʾānic interpreters should understand the objectives of the Qurʾān in order to read individual verses and chapters within its wider message. For both scholars, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān was therefore mainly a way of reading the Qurʾān through its larger purposes and values (Ahelali, 2016).

Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān as a Paradigm of Social Reform

When we compare the early discussions of Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān with more recent ones, an important change becomes clear. At first, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān was mainly understood as a way of interpreting the Qurʾān by identifying its larger purposes and messages. Over time, however, some scholars began to see it as something much broader.  They argued that the objectives of the Qurʾān should not only guide Qurʾānic interpretation but also provide a broader framework for Islamic thought and reform. In this view, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān can help assess legal reasoning, ethical questions, and even discussions within Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah itself. One reason for this shift is the growing concern that, although Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah has become an important framework for Islamic reform, it is still strongly shaped by its roots in Islamic legal thought. As a result, some scholars believe it may remain too closely tied to legal categories and reasoning. They therefore call for a fresh understanding of maqāṣid that begins more directly with the Qurʾān. They argue that such an approach can offer a broader, more balanced vision by giving greater attention to the Qurʾān’s moral, ethical, spiritual, and social concerns.

This new direction has been particularly emphasized by three contemporary scholars: Taha Jabir al-Alwani, Jasser Auda, and Ahmad al-Raysuni. All three have worked extensively on Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah and have contributed significantly to efforts to rethink its role in contemporary Islamic thought. At the same time, their writings point toward the need for a more comprehensive ethical and epistemological framework rooted directly in the Qurʾān, one that is not confined by the predominantly legal orientation with which Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah has often been associated.

In this respect, al-Alwani sought to develop Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān as an epistemological and reformist paradigm, which he articulated through the idea of a “Qurʾānic methodology” (manhajiyyah maʿrifiyyah Qurʾāniyyah). His project also emphasised restoring the “sovereignty of the Qurʾān” over other sources of Islamic knowledge and the accumulated intellectual heritage, thereby recentring the Qurʾān as the primary reference point for reformist thought (Al-Alwani, 2001, p. 135).

Jasser Auda, by contrast, has increasingly approached Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān from a multidimensional perspective, presenting it as a broader methodological framework capable of moving beyond what he regards as the structural limitations of conventional Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah discourse. In this formulation, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān opens a wider intellectual and ethical space for engaging questions that predominantly legal categories alone cannot adequately address (Auda, 2021, p.32).

Al-Raysuni’s discussion of Maqāṣid al-Maqāṣid is similarly significant. His approach seeks to expand the very notion of the “objectives of the objectives” by locating Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān as an overarching foundation within which other maqāṣid discourses should be situated. From this perspective, the objectives of the Qurʾān provide a broader normative framework to which the various formulations of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah and related maqāṣid approaches ultimately remain connected (Raysuni, 2013, p. 8-12).

Thematic Approach to Quran: A Bridging Discourse

Between these two stages, the earlier understanding of Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān primarily as a form of Qurʾānic hermeneutics and its later development into a methodological paradigm for Islamic reform, a number of important intellectual developments helped bridge the transition. One particularly significant development was the growing prominence of thematic approaches to the Qurʾān, which sought to identify its major themes, overarching concerns, and structural unity. This tendency can be seen, for example, in the works of the Egyptian scholar Muḥammad al-Ghazālī and Fazlur Rahman, both of whom emphasized the importance of reading the Qurʾān in light of its broader metaphysical, moral, and social themes, rather than approaching its verses in isolation (Ahelali, 2016).

Similarly, although Sayyid Qutb's and Abul Aʿla Mawdudi's Qurʾānic exegeses were not explicitly formulated within a Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān framework, they focused on understanding the Qurʾān as a coherent whole and identifying its central objectives, themes, and transformative message. Their writings therefore contributed to a wider intellectual environment in which structural, thematic, and purposive readings of the Qurʾān became increasingly prominent. These developments helped prepare the conceptual ground for the subsequent emergence of Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān not merely as an interpretive tool for understanding the Qurʾān, but as a broader methodological paradigm for contemporary Islamic reform (Ahelali, 2016).

Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān: Concept, Scope, and Methods

In simple terms, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān refers to the central concerns, purposes, and objectives that the Qurʾān seeks to realize in human life. It is an effort to understand not only what the Qurʾān says, but also why it says it and what kind of moral, spiritual, and social transformation its teachings seek to produce.

Scholars have proposed a multi-layered approach to understanding these Qurʾānic objectives (Raysuni, 2013, p. 8-16, Abū Zayd, 2019, p.22-32). The first level concerns the objective of an individual verse. Every verse conveys a message and serves a particular purpose within its context. The task is therefore to ask what the verse seeks to teach, correct, guide, or achieve.

The second level concerns the objective of a particular surah, or chapter of the Qurʾān. Many scholars argue that each surah has a central purpose or set of purposes around which its verses are organised. Individual verses can therefore be understood more fully when they are read in relation to the wider message of the chapter in which they appear.

The third level moves beyond individual verses and chapters to examine the major themes addressed throughout the Qurʾān. The Qurʾān repeatedly speaks about justice, family, women, economic life, the environment, human dignity, social relations, and relations between communities. From a Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān perspective, it is important to ask why the Qurʾān gives attention to these themes and what objectives it seeks to achieve through its guidance on them.

Finally, scholars seek to identify the overarching objectives of the Qurʾān as a whole by reflecting on these different layers. Taken together, they help us understand the Qurʾān as an integrated revelation in which individual verses, chapters, and themes contribute to broader and more comprehensive purposes.

This approach also helps explain what is meant by tafsīr al-maqāṣidī, or purposive interpretation of the Qurʾān. Wasfi Ashur Abu Zayd describes it as an approach in which individual verses, surahs, and Qurʾānic themes are interpreted in light of the Qurʾān’s wider and overarching objectives. In this sense, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān encourages readers to move beyond isolated readings of particular verses and understand them within the Qurʾān's broader moral and intellectual vision.

Major objectives of the Qurʾān

Drawing on a multi-layered understanding of Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān, modern Islamic scholars, from Rashīd Riḍā and Ṭāhir Ibn ʿĀshūr to Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī, Aḥmad al-Raysūnī, and ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Najjār, have attempted to identify  the Qurʾān’s overarching objectives (al-Qaraḍāwī, 2000, p.71-123, Tanzul Islam, 2018, Raysuni, 2013, p. 8-16, Al-Najjar, 2018). Read collectively and analytically, these contributions show that the Qurʾān's major objectives can be broadly organised into six interconnected areas.

First, a foundational objective of the Qurʾān is to articulate a clear and coherent Islamic worldview. In this regard, the Qurʾān addresses the reality of God, prophethood and final prophethood, the Day of Judgment, the relationship between this world and the Hereafter, and the relationship between God and the human being. Clarifying these fundamental questions constitutes the intellectual and spiritual foundation of the Qurʾānic worldview.

Second, the Qurʾān seeks to protect and nurture human dignity. This objective goes beyond the general protection of human rights and places particular emphasis on the marginalized, vulnerable, voiceless, and powerless sections of society. Qurʾānic justice therefore has a strong concern for those whose dignity and rights are most easily neglected.

Third, the Qurʾān aims to establish and preserve a stable family institution as a foundation of social life. At the same time, family stability should not come at the expense of justice, dignity, or women's social role. The protection of the family must therefore be read together with the Qurʾānic commitment to justice and the recognition of women’s rights and responsibilities within society.

Fourth, the Qurʾān seeks to develop and empower a Muslim community capable of bearing witness to its ethical and spiritual message. This requires intellectual, spiritual, social, and institutional development so that the Muslim community can contribute responsibly to wider humanity.

Fifth, the Qurʾān envisions a world order rooted in justice, liberation, peace, and mutual recognition among communities and nations. Such an order requires respect for the dignity, voice, and knowledge traditions of different peoples rather than domination by a single power or worldview.

Finally, the Qurʾān aims to provide a framework for an Islamic civilizational perspective capable of engaging contemporary global challenges. This perspective encourages Muslims to draw upon Qurʾānic moral and intellectual resources in developing responses to global crises, while at the same time recognising and respecting other civilizational traditions. It calls for dialogue and cooperation across traditions to develop shared responses to challenges affecting humanity as a whole. Rather than promoting any form of civilizational hegemony, the Qurʾānic vision encourages mutual learning, ethical engagement, cooperation, and respect for difference.

Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān: Islamic Intellectual and Social Reform

The emerging discourse of Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān has the potential to provide a grounded framework for Islamic social reform, enabling Islamic organisations and movements to rethink both the conceptual foundations and the practical scope of their activities. In this sense, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān is both community-centred and universal in orientation. It broadens the worldview of Islamic social organisations by challenging the assumption that Islamic activism is concerned only with serving Muslim communities. Instead, it encourages Islamic movements and organisations to see their mission as extending to broader human concerns, including social justice, human dignity, peace, environmental responsibility, and global solidarity. Such an approach also calls upon Muslim organisations to express solidarity with communities and groups facing injustice, marginalisation, and vulnerability, regardless of religious or cultural differences. At the same time, it encourages greater openness to new ideas, intellectual debates, and collaborative approaches in responding to contemporary global challenges. Beyond this, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān can expand space for Islamic engagement with global agendas, such as the Sustainable Development Goals and emerging debates on the future of AI.

The discourse can also contribute to the development of new systems for assessing the performance and social impact of Muslim governments, institutions, movements, and organisations. Rather than relying exclusively on conventional management and strategic-planning models developed within secular institutional frameworks, organisations could develop evaluation criteria informed by the objectives of the Qurʾān. Such an approach would ask not only whether an organisation has achieved its operational targets, but also whether its activities have advanced justice, protected human dignity, strengthened families and communities, empowered vulnerable groups, and contributed to the wider good of humanity. This does not require rejecting existing management or evaluation systems. Instead, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān can be integrated with relevant contemporary frameworks to develop more ethically grounded models of planning, implementation, and institutional appraisal.

However, two important concerns should be kept in mind when further developing and applying Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān.

First, Islamic reformist actors and social organisations should treat it as a critical and normative framework rather than using it apologetically to validate every emerging global agenda as automatically compatible with Islam. Otherwise, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān risks becoming merely an instrument for providing Islamic justification to frameworks formulated elsewhere simply because they are expressed in universal language. Hence, greater attention is needed to understanding how the Qurʾān articulates its broader objectives, how these objectives relate to one another, and what spiritual, moral, and ethical foundations give them meaning. Such an approach would allow Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān to function not only as a framework for participating in and contributing to global debates, but also as a critical standpoint from which to evaluate, question, and, where necessary, challenge existing global frameworks.

Second, Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān should not be presented as a break from the Islamic intellectual tradition. Scholars who develop this discourse, and reformist actors who apply it to contemporary socio-economic and political challenges, need to engage more seriously with the ways in which similar objectives were discussed across the broader Islamic intellectual heritage. Many concerns now associated with Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān, such as human dignity, justice, moral cultivation, social responsibility, spiritual development, and the common good, were explored in different forms within fields such as taṣawwuf, ethics, theology, philosophy, uṣūl al-fiqh, and other strands of Islamic scholarship. A contemporary discourse on Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān should therefore seek to recover and critically engage these intellectual genealogies rather than presenting itself as an entirely new framework without historical roots. Such engagement can strengthen the discourse by grounding contemporary reform in the Islamic tradition's accumulated intellectual resources while allowing those resources to be reinterpreted in light of present challenges.

This article draws broadly on contemporary scholarship on Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān, Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah, and Islamic reform. The following works are recommended for readers who wish to explore the subject in greater depth.

About the author:

Mohamed Fouz Mohamed Zacky is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Madani Studies at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). His academic work lies at the intersection of political theory, Islamic socio-political thought, Security and the study of Muslim minorities. He has published research articles, book reviews, and conceptual essays in several high-impact journals, including the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Social Epistemology, Asian Affairs, Islamic Studies, Al-Shajarah: ISTAC Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, Intellectual Discourse, and Hamdard Islamicus. He can be contacted at zackyfouz@iium.edu.my

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AI Declaration: The ideas, arguments, organization, analysis, and data presented in this article are the original work of the author. The author used generative AI tools solely for language editing and to enhance the clarity, readability, and presentation of the manuscript.