al-Taʾsīs al-Iʾtimanī li-ʿIlm al-Maqaṣid, written by Ṭāhā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān

Ṭāhā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān's critical engagement with the genre of maqāṣid can be traced back to 1990s, embodied in several articles and dispersed insights throughout his oeuvre (see for instance ʿAbd al- Raḥmān 2002, 41-64).In this book, al-Ta ʾsīs al-Iʾtimānī li-ʿIlm al-Maqā ṣid ("Fiduciarist Foundation of the Discipline of the Higher Objectives"), ʿAbd al-Raḥmān pulls together these various threads, with a view to reproducing a full-fledged theory of maqāṣid.Here he does not only aim at deepening the genre of maqāṣid, but also at broadening it to include theology, morality, and spirituality.In a lengthy book composed of three parts, divided into 12 chapters (512 pages), he moves back and forth between description and prescription.With the descriptive task, he begins by interrogating the chief architects of maqāṣid, most notably Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī (d.790/1388), ʿAllāl al-Fāsī (d.1394/1974), and al-Ṭāhir Ibn ʿĀshūr (d.1393/1973), demonstrating that while they struggled with the question of what God's intentions are behind His pronouncements, they did not struggle with the question of whether this very exercise per se is valid.Namely, are we allowed to verify God's intentions (14-15).ʿAbd al-Raḥmān contended that the scholars of maqāṣid took the latter for granted, thinking that if the scriptural texts provide rationale for some divine prescriptions and proscriptions, which is tantamount to giving legitimacy to the second question (19).Struggling with this question, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān answers in the affirmative.He distinguishes between two levels of discourse: the divine addressing of the human without intermediary (al-khiṭāb al-ilāhī) and the Prophet's conveying of the divine message (al-balāgh al-nabawī).It is the first level of discourse that permits the human to practice taqṣīd (pursuit of divine intentions), as it was granted to humans before they existed on earth through three Covenants (mawāthīq) or three direct encounters between the divine and the human.It is through those covenants that the human became entrusted (muʾtaman) not only with the universe but also with revelation when it was conveyed to them by prophets.Those three covenants are mīthāq al-ishhā d (Covenant of Attestation), mīthāq al-iʾtimān (Covenant of the Trusteeship), and mīthāq al-irsāl (Covenant of Messengership).Those three covenants constitute ʿAbd al-Raḥmān's theory of al-fiqh al-iʾtimānī (Trusteeship Paradigm), as opposed to al-fiqh al-iʾtimārī, which refers to the formalistic and literalistic execution of Islamic law.While the latter is limited to the outward formalities of the religious commandments and is primarily concerned with their proper