Ascarya: Journal of Islamic Science, Culture and Social Studies
Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026)

Beyond Maṣlaḥah and Utilitarianism: Reassessing Rashīd Riḍā’s Legal Reasoning in Tafsīr al-Manār

Saifullah Saifullah (Universitas Islam Negeri Kiai Ageng Muhammad Besari Ponorogo)
Anjar Kususiyanah (Universitas Islam Negeri Kiai Ageng Muhammad Besari Ponorogo)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Jul 2026

Abstract

Recent scholarship has clarified Rashīd Riḍā’s maqāṣid- and maṣlaḥah-oriented reformism, the rational and empirical dimensions of individual discussions in Tafsīr al-Manār, and the colonial setting of his political and legal thought. However, it remains unclear whether attention to consequences makes his legal reasoning utilitarian or performs more limited juridical tasks within an Islamic legal framework. This article uses a qualitative, cross-case analysis of six clusters—intoxicants and gambling; zakāt allocation and public finance; ribā under collective need; polygamy; political loyalty and counter-mission funding; and Muslim judges and participation in colonial government. Each cluster is reconstructed through the relation among ḥukm, ʿillah or operative manāṭ, juristic mechanism, authority to establish the relevant facts, and protected maṣlaḥah. The analysis identifies three functions of consequences: corroborating the protective rationale of established prohibitions; establishing and delimiting the conditions of a concession, dispensation, or fiscal priority; and ranking legally available but compromised alternatives under constraint. These findings do not support classifying Riḍā as a utilitarian jurist. Consequences never appear as an autonomous, aggregative, and maximizing criterion of right action; they acquire legal force only after mediation by revelation, legal characterization, domain-specific juristic mechanisms, and authorized competence. The comparison with utilitarianism therefore identifies a limited resemblance in attention to collective effects alongside a decisive difference in normative structure. Colonial institutions changed the objects, thresholds, and stakes of judgment, while Riḍā’s juristic repertoire supplied the forms through which those conditions were legally assessed.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

iscs

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Economics, Econometrics & Finance Education Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Social Sciences

Description

The aim of the Ascarya Journal of Islamic Science, Culture & Social Studies (ISCS) is to disseminate the results of scientific research in the fields of Islamic science, culture, and social research widely. ISCS is intended to be a journal that publishes research articles in the fields of education, ...