How does a Muslim jurist think the law and how, accordingly, he judges a fact? Using Alice in Wonderland as hermeneutical device to explore the logic of fiqh, this article identifies a divergence between Western and Islamic legal thinking in the application of abduction as key form of inference in the law of Islam. In particular, looking at the fact/law relation in symbolic terms, the article highlights how, while a dichotomy between fact and law characterizes Western legal thinking, fiqh upholds (...) a connection between the “real” and the “right”, where the effort in understanding sharī‘ah postulates the actualization of the “rule” in God’s creation. Thus, if sharī‘ahpre-scribes the Law, not only is the rule discovered through the sources, but the right has to be justified through a verdict de-scribing the fact, for the law to be validly stated for the given situation. In this sense, abduction as explanatory “hypothesis” and “inference to the best explanation” of sharī‘ah provides an account for the probabilistic nature of fiqh, its ramification through verdicts, as well as for the epistemic and narrative function of the tradition as core aspects of the logic of Islamic law. At the same time, doubts can be raised about the compatibility between this logic and the deductive logic of modern state law, as a sub-product of Western legal thinking. (shrink)

Scholars in Islamic Finance Industry have been calling for the integration of Islamic morality with legal theories in the industry. Among the reasons for this call is an unethical trend in product innovation. Implementing Islamic banking and financial practices would require adopting their undergirding Islamic legal and moral frameworks. Departing from these foundations of Islamic law could render the activities conducted under its name religiously unacceptable. Many approaches have been put forward to achieve this cause. One of the most complex (...) yet subjective approaches is the quest for Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah. This paper critically examines the feasibility of harmonising morality with legality in Islamic finance. In doing so, it will reveal what constitutes morality and legality in Islamic legal theory, and critically examine the approaches of Muslim classical scholars in fusing the two elements together for the realisation and actualisation of the very objectives of Sharī‘ah. Questions of the relationship between morality and legality are raised, and samples of Islamic finance products are evaluated to expose their moral and legal dimensions. Lastly, the role of Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah in the process of harmonisation is discussed with some observations and reservations on the practicality of their implementation. (shrink)