The Fiqh Al-Aqalliyāt ( Jurisprudence of Minorities ) in Light of the Higher Objectives (MaqāÎid) of Shariah

Abstract

Muslim minorities living in the West face the challenges of a secular law and culture as well as issues of identity and citizenship that have taken a turn for the worse since the aftermath of 9/11. However, compared to Muslim minorities elsewhere, those living in the West enjoy greater freedom to practice their religion. Some of the challenges they face are unprecedented and the rules of Islamic law concerning them have also remained relatively under-developed. This would explain the emergence of a new branch of Islamic jurisprudence under the rubric of the still developing fiqh al-aqaliyyAt (jurisprudence of minorities) in recent decades.