By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani Translated by Mateen A. Khan Translators comment: Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah refers to the set of objectives and goals which the Sharī‘ah strives to establish. For example, the preservation of faith, life, lineage, intellect and property are essential objectives of the Sharī‘ah as propagated by Imam al-Ghazālī. These objectives establish benefits (al-masālih) and remove harms (al-mafāsid) for the individual and community. However, we find that some misconstrue their place and derive rulings from the objectives while going against the primary textual evidences i.e. the Qur’an and Sunnah. For clarification, we turn towards a translated chapter from “Usūl…