'Fulfillment of Maqasid al-Shariah via Takaful' by Ahmad Faizal Abdul Aziz and Shaifulfazlee Mohamad Essay

'Fulfillment of Maqasid al-Shariah via Takaful' by Ahmad Faizal Abdul Aziz and Shaifulfazlee Mohamad (International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), 2013) intended to link takaful and its structures as an instrument to achieve the maqasid al-shariah.
Overview of the Article
This article was divided into five main sections. Generally, the first section was introduction which elaborates about the reasons for insurance or takaful and the difference between insurance and takaful. In this section, the reader can get the understanding of the concept of takaful and insurance in details.
In the second section, the authors clearly illustrated the overview of maqasid shariah by explaining the fundamentals of maqasid shariah. The authors started their explanation by stating the definition of maqasid shariah. After that, the authors clearly analyse the concept of maqasid shariah and the relevance of takaful and insurance towards maslahah. The concept of maslahah was thoroughly discussed by referring to several journals.
Meanwhile, the third section discussed about the wealth protection in Quran and Hadith. The authors creatively relate the wealth protection with application of takaful by analysing the concept of takaful and its objectives. Besides, the authors did not hesitate to stress the problems in insurance structure.
The next part is actually the main discussion of the article which was achieving maqasid al-shariah via takaful. As mentioned by the authors, through takaful, the varieties of protection and benefit can be obtained by many people such as self and family protection, asset protection, mutual protection, investment and education benefit. As usual, in the last section, the authors concluded their study.
Critique, Evaluation and Discussion
The most powerful part is the part when the authors analysed the relevance to maslahah in application of takaful and insurance. At first, the authors mentioned about the current issue such as investment in Amanah Saham Bumiputera which the main objective is to serve the public benefit. Besides, the authors did not forget to mention about the application of insurance which is also to promote maslahah to the societies. Generally, when we talk about the insurance and its relevance to maslahah, the mind of societies automatically become confuse as they see that the application of insurance is effective, valid and legal referring to the concept of maslahah.
First of all, the authors explained the definition of maslahah which means gaining the benefit and hindering the harm according to shariah principle (Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, 2000). Besides, the authors had chosen Imam Malik as one of the scholars and an icon who practicing the concept of maslahah as a source to deduct the hukm. The term used by Imam Malik is al-masalih al-mursalah. Furthermore, the authors also stated the conditions that are required to practice the maslahah concept for a better understanding of the people.
First condition is maslahah is permissible for ruling on muamalah matters where it necessitates the rational reasoning. This means that maslahah cannot be applied on ibadah matters which have clear evidences from the main sources. Secondly, maslahah must not be