A Structural Model for Human Development : Does Maqāṣid Al-Sharīʿah Matter !

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Islamic scholars agree that Islam have the ultimate goal of being a mercy to humanity. This is, in fact, the primary purpose of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah. To achieve this goal it is necessary to promote human well-being. The main purpose of this study is to test how Maqāṣids’ al-Sharīʿah contribute to promote human welfare. We use a Partial Least Squares-Path model that allows us to indentify the causal relationships between Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah components proposed by al-Ghazali (Hifth al Nafs, Hifhd al Dīn, Hidh al ʿAql, Hidh al Māl, Hidh al ʿAql) and their impact on human well-being. Using a sample of 30 Islamic countries, our empirical results show that dimensions used for Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah objectives are homogeneous and representative. Globally, we find that Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah contribute significantly to human wellbeing in Islamic countries. We show that Hifth al Nafs and Hifhd al Dīn are the most significant components that affect human well-being. While we find evidence that Hidh al ʿAql didn’t have a significant impact on human development index. This may be due to other factors that can affect the quality of life in some Islamic countries such as the effect of natural resource wealth.