Construction of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah-Based Index of Socio-Economic Development: Principles and Issues

Abstract

The promotion of achieving Maqasid al-Shariah through socio-economic development is considered an agenda priority in many countries especially where Muslims population is dominant. This paper addresses the dimensions and indicators related to the computation of Maqasid al-Shariah based index. It is developed based on five pillars of Maqasid al-Shariah, namely human self (nafs), faith (din), intellect (aql), posterity (nasl) and wealth (mal). Based on prior studies computing financial inclusion index, the issue of data is similarly expected in building the Maqasid al-Shariah based index. While numerous amounts of data are available on many aspects of the financial sector, systematic indicators of inclusiveness of the financial sector are not. As a consequence, the paper also examine the data available to compute the Maqasid al-Shariah based index as well as issues pertaining to it.