The Epistemic Capacity of Islamic Law and the Progress Model
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Jurisprudence Without Progress Is Not Jurisprudence
Our conviction is that the authoritative sources of Islamic law—the Qur’an, the Sunnah, reason (‘aql), and consensus (ijmā‘)—possess such epistemic capacity that there is no need to turn to non-authoritative sources or to depart from the well-established methodological framework of the jurists (fuqahā’).
An examination of the various sections of the foundational document of the “Progress Model”—from principles to policy measures—shows that the jurisprudential foundations and principles of progress have been properly taken into account. (For context, the ‘Progress Model’ refers to the Iranian-Islamic Progress Model—a 50-year strategic blueprint designed to guide the nation’s development based on local culture and Islamic teachings). There is, therefore, no part of this document in which the absence of jurisprudential considerations related to progress can be discerned. From this perspective, the proposed model is both comprehensive and complete.
Core Jurisprudential Foundations
These foundations include:
- attention to all the spiritual and material dimensions of human beings;
- the supremacy of Sharī‘a norms over all policies and strategies;
- recognition of the human being as both a bearer of rights and of responsibilities;
- the principle of divine unity in legislation and the rejection of any lawmaking authority not sanctioned by God.
Principles of Progress Based on Islamic Jurisprudence
The principles of progress based on Islamic jurisprudence and law include:
- the inviolability of individual privacy and the impermissibility of undermining human dignity under the pretext of progress;
- the honor of Islam and Muslims;
- the principle of nafy al-sabīl (the denial of domination over Muslims);
- human freedom and mastery within the bounds of Sharī‘a, coupled with responsibility before divine will;
- the obligation of fulfilling covenants;
- the duty to preserve societal order (niẓām) and the prohibition of disrupting it;
- meritocracy (the requirement of competence and integrity in public officials);
- the principle of justice and the prohibition of both oppression and submission to oppression;
- dignity and spiritual self-sufficiency;
- environmental preservation and intergenerational justice;
- trustworthiness;
- rejection of extravagance, wastefulness, and competitive accumulation of wealth;
- valuing piety and knowledge to the exclusion of all else;
- the protection of the family;
- recognition of motherhood and spousal roles as essential to womanhood; the rejection of objectifying or instrumentalizing women;
- combating consumerism;
- monitoring of public officials;
- the principle of kafālah (the government’s commitment to fulfilling the needs of the people and the corresponding responsibility of the public treasury);
- the necessity of ensuring that the livelihood of rulers and officials comes from lawful sources;
- the principle of promoting religion by allowing people to experience its spiritual beauty and rationality;
- and preventing the unrestrained mixing of men and women in social contexts; and institutionalizing modesty (ḥijāb) and chastity (‘iffah) in society.
The Structure of Islam and the Process of Ijtihād
Islam, in its broadest division, consists of two fundamental parts: doctrines (i‘tiqādāt) and the Sharī‘a. The Sharī‘a comprises the normative propositions whose reality derives from the will and decree of the Divine Lawgiver. The institutions recognized by all Islamic legal schools in this regard are the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Within Imāmī jurisprudence, the Qur’an, the Sunnah of the infallibles (ma‘sūmīn), reason (‘aql), and consensus (ijmā‘) are all considered authoritative sources articulating the Sharī‘a. Jurisprudence (fiqh) is the discipline responsible for discovering these normative injunctions from the mentioned sources. The process of discovery is termed ijtihād or istinbāṭ (deduction), and the individual engaged in this process is the mustanbiṭ or faqīh (jurist).
Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘a: The Guarantor of Authentic Progress
The jurist, in addition to consulting these sources of discovery, must also attend to the maqāṣid al-sharī‘a—the higher objectives of the Sharī‘a. These objectives include nurturing and educating human beings, cultivating insight, realizing justice, eliminating superstitions and constraints, and so on. The inseparability of the maqāṣid from jurisprudence ensures that Islamic fiqh serves as the guarantor of progress in Muslim societies, in such a way that progress devoid of fiqh is not genuine progress, and fiqh bereft of progress is not authentic fiqh.
The Holy Qur’an endows Islamic jurisprudence and law with immense capacity. With this rich intellectual heritage, the faqīh can formulate the theoretical foundations and principles of a fundamental and comprehensive model of progress—one that, if implemented, can present an authentically Islamic paradigm to the world.
