The Realization on Maqasid al-Shariah and Maslahah Concepts in Cooperative Governance Practices

Abstract

In today’s communities, low-income groups are often not eligible for financial assistance or loans. This led to the development of cooperatives with the objective to develop mutual help among members of the cooperative. Due to their dual identity, cooperatives have always faced complex governance challenges, and there is a well-established institutional framework to deal with this. Cooperative managers sometimes face difficulty recognising the real goal of the cooperative. Profit and growth missions are in constant negotiation to ensure the welfare of members is maintained. The starting point is shared principles which provide guidelines as to how cooperatives should be owned and governed. The principles of governance in Islam are formulated as early as the formation of Madinah as an Islamic state. These can be referred to in the al-Quran and al-Hadith, maqasid al-shariah, with the emphasis given on maslahah ‘ammah (public benefits) and the prevention of mafsadah (wrongdoing). Although Islam does not elaborate on all the needs of human life, it does not mean that Islam neglects to outline the policies and principles of all rules, especially the systems needed by human life to ensure the survival that will benefit and keep away from harm. The methodology used to prepare this article is based on literature reviews from past researches and sourced from the al-Quran and al-Hadith.