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Obligations toFuture Generations

A Shariah Perspective

M U S A F U R B E R

T A B A H P A P E R S S E R I E S

no. 6 | 2012


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M U S A F U R B E R


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| | : -

Obligations to Future Generations: A Shariah Perspective: - - - -

Steven (Musa) Woodward FurberTabah FoundationP.O. Box Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.www.tabahfoundation.org

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any mannerwithout the express written consent of the author, except in the case of brief quotationswith full and accurate citations in critical articles or reviews.

Cover Image Magdalena Jankowska


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SummaryActions of an earlier generation affect whether later generations will

exist at all as well as the quality and type of life they will have. Dis-cussions concerning the obligations earlier generations owe latergenerations have proven to be useful when thinking about the environ-ment, economics, sustainability, and other issues. Western thinkingabout obligations to future generations has become very sophisticatedsince the s. Western ethicists consider it a litmus test for evalu-ating ethical theories, and expect it to be a main recurring theme inthe new century. The Shariah already provides the fundamentals for

thinking about obligations to future generations. These basic funda-mentals are not developed enough to shed light on these issues withinthe Muslim Community, let alone compete in the open market ofideas. Shariah experts will need to develop these fundamentals beforea Shariah-informed conception of obligations to future generationscan be offered.

About the Author is a Research Fellow at the Tabah Foundation. He stud-

ied the various Islamic Disciplines in Damascus, where he received a li-cense to teach the Sh school of law. He then studied at Dar al-Ifta inCairo, where he received a license to deliver legal edicts (fatwa s) fromSheikh Ali Gomaa. He also has a BA in Applied Linguistics from Port-land State University (Oregon, USA), and a Masters in Public Admin-istration from Dubai School of Government. His prior publicationswhile at Tabah Foundation include:Ethical Dimensions of Nanotech-nology, Ethics & Virtual Worlds, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and

Reducing the Role of Decision-Making Biases in Muslim Responsa .


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Obligations to future generations are signicant What general tools does the Shariah offer for thinking about

future generations? Developing a framework for discussing future generations Proposed content of the obligations

. Interpersonal relationships

. Financial transactions

. Religious affairs

. Justice and retribution

. Spreading and implementing the Shariah

. Preserving the wealth of the Islamic Community Resources and sustainability


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S , the topic of ethical obligations to futuregenerations has been of interest to philosophers, economists,environmentalists, and others. While the context for applicationdiffers for each eld, the central issues are the same: whether acurrent generation has moral obligations to non-contemporaneousfuture generations, the nature of those obligations, and whetherthose obligations require an earlier generation to make sacricesfor a future generation. For example, does the present generationhave the right to exhaust the planets resources or render the planetuninhabitable? Do future generations have rights which require thepresent generation to conserve resources and preserve the environ-ment for future generations? Are there institutions that must be builtand passed on? At the heart of the matter is the saving, creation,and distribution of assets and resources. Thus far, the concept ofethical obligations to future generations has been applied primarilyin economic and environmental contexts, though it is also relevantto social assets such as culture, institutions, and knowledge.

This paper is divided into three sections. The rst section intro-duces the concept of obligations to future generations and itsimportance as a tool for ethical reasoning, testing ethical systems,and for policy making; the second presents a summary of howcontemporary Muslim authors have dealt with the notion of suchobligations; and the third lays the groundwork for a Shariah-basedframework for addressing them.

Similar to the authors previous pieces on nanotechnology,

virtual worlds, and alternative dispute resolution for Muslims in


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non-Muslim regions, this paper is exploratory in nature. As such,it does not intend to be exhaustive, but rather aims to introducea topic and offer preliminary justications and evidence that will

serve as a foundation for further studies.

Future Generations

Denition . Obligations to future generations examines moral

issues concerning persons who have yet to be born, but may comeinto existence. The questions it examines include whether futurepersons are morally signicant, whether they have a right to exist,whether we are required to make certain sacrices for the sake oftheir welfare, whether concern for future persons can abrogatemoral obligations to existing persons, and what sorts of resourcesand institutions we are obligated to pass to them.

Philosophical concerns for future generations go back to at leastAristotles theory of distributive justice, which he introduced inBook V of hisNichomachean Ethics . In contemporary literature,obligations to future generations are often included within discus-sions on intergenerational justice, which concerns moral obligationsthat presently existing moral agents owe to non-contemporaneouspast and future generations, in part because of Rawls advocating itsinclusion within the domains of justice. As such, it is also present inthe ever-increasingly important topics of the environment, ecology,and sustainability.

. Furber, Ethical Dimensions of Nanotechnology ; idem, Ethics & VirtualWorlds ; idem, Alternative Dispute Resolution .

. Surber, Obligations to Future Generations, ; Pasek, Obligations toFuture Generations, .

. Rawls, Theory of Justice ; Bickham, Future Generations, ; Gaba,Environmental Ethics, ; Tremmel, Introduction, ; Gosseries,Theories of Intergenerational Justice, ; Gosseries and Meyer,Introduction, .

. Aristotle,Aristotle in Volumes , trans. H Rackham, [ a] , [ a] ; Pasek, Obligations to Future Generations.

. Bickham, Future Generations and Contemporary Ethical Theory, ;Frederickson, Public Ofcials, .


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Its sudden importance . The topic of obligations to future gen-erations remained largely overlooked until recently. The mostpopular explanation for the recent interest is that previous gen-

erations lacked the capacity to render extinct or critically impairfuture generations of man or beast, or to greatly deprive them ofresources or well-being. Stephen Bickham, an early contributor tothe topic, wrote that until now there just have not been enoughpeople nor an advanced enough technology to threaten a large envi-ronment with permanent destruction or impairment. We did nothave the responsibility for the future that we do now before we hadthe capacity to destroy it ; that is, technology and population have

advanced to where decisions of today result in irreversible changesor damages which will be passed on to persons who are not yetborn and did not have any say in the matter. These decisions notonly affect the quality of life of future generations, but may also puttheir very existence at risk.

Evidence of the increased importance of the topic can be seenthrough the increase in the number of related publications. Interestin obligations to future generations and intergenerational justicehas been on the increase since the mid- s as part of discussionson the consequences of our rapidly growing human population.In , Ernest Partridge observed that out of a body of approxi-mately , doctoral dissertations, only one single dissertationincluded posterity, future generations, or unborn genera-tions in its title. Since then, scores of journal articles, in additionto a number of monographs and edited collections, have beenpublished. Additionally, the topic is brought up frequently in news-papers and in policy making.

Importance as a policy making tool . Ethical theories about howto approach obligations to future generations help policy makerswith a difculty inherent to intergenerational policies:

The dilemma presented by an (alleged) obligation tofuture generations arises when it becomes clear that

. Bickham, Future Generations and Contemporary Ethical Theory, .

. Ibid.; Tremmel, Introduction, .

. Partridge,Responsibilities to Future Generations , ; Tremmel, Introduction,; Gosseries and Meyer, Introduction.


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we must, in the present, choose between a policy orcourse of action which would have benecial effects forthe present generation but harmful effects upon futuregenerations, and one which would sacrice benets forpresent individuals in favor for longer-range goods tobe enjoyed by future men.

The concept of obligations to future generations has been usedrepeatedly in the context of economic and environmental policy.For example, in , adopted its Declaration on theResponsibilities of the Present Generations Towards Future Gen-

erations. The authors of the declaration mention thatresponsibilities of the present generations towards futuregenerations have already been referred to in variousinstruments such as the Convention for the Protectionof the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adoptedby the General Conference of on Novem-ber , the United Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change and the Convention on BiologicalDiversity, adopted in Rio de Janeiro on June ,the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environ-ment and Development on June , the ViennaDeclaration and Programme of Action, adopted bythe World Conference on Human Rights on June

, and the United Nations General Assembly resolu-tions relating to the protection of the global climate for

present and future generations adopted since .

The authors listed the responsibilities in a set of twelve articles:needs and interests of future generations; freedom of choice; main-tenance and perpetuation of humankind; preservation of life onearth; protection of the environment; human genome and biodi-versity; cultural diversity and cultural heritage; common heritage

. Surber, Obligations to Future Generations, .. UNESCO, Declaration on the Responsibilities of Present GenerationsTowards Future Generations.


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of humankind; peace; development and education; non-discrimina-tion; and implementation.

A moral obligation to future generations needs to clarify who

owes what to whom, why this is the case, and how to handledilemmas. While the authors of this Declaration proclaim their con-viction that there is a moral obligation to formulate behavioralguidelines for the present generations within a broad, future-ori-ented perspective, they did not provide evidence for this moralobligation (the why). They also did not explain whether this is amoral obligation specic to policy makers, or a general moral obli-gation extending to all members of each generation (the who);

nor did they provide a general framework for handling dilemmas(the how). In short, it leaves policy implementors unclear aboutthe who, why, or how.

Leaving obligations to future generations in such vague andambiguous terms runs the risk of policy makers adopting a policyof either extreme preservation or extreme consumption. Accordingto a policy of extreme preservation, present generations minimizeconsumption in order to save resources for future generations. Thisis in contrast to a policy of extreme consumption where presentgenerations maximize consumption in order to maximize wealth,either because they do not consider the needs of future genera-tions signicant, or because they consider this the best way to buildwealth for future generations.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to present a synopsis of thevarious ethical theories of obligations to future generations, as itsintent is to introduce the topic, show its rising importance, and toillustrate a few of the shortcomings presented by an obligation to

future generations that is not sufciently sophisticated.

* * *

Theories of obligations to future generations have practicalvalue when applied to long-term policies and planning. Due tothe increasing importance of intergenerational justice, sustain-ability, and related issues, ethical and political theories are now

. Elver, Religions, Nature and Technology in the Mediterranean, .


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evaluated on their ability to justify and explain these obligations.This has prompted ethicists and political philosophers to developsophisticated theories of obligations to future generations and

intergenerational justice, leading to a growing body of literature.Although a few papers have referred to Islam, there is not yet acompelling Shariah-based argument that justies or details thecontents of either of these two theories.

Contemporary Muslim Authors andFuture Generations

Several contemporary Muslim authors have alluded to the conceptof obligations to future generations in their writings, though noneof the writings surveyed have provided compelling proof for suchan obligation from within the Shariah itself.

In their book, Environmental Protection in Islam , Bagader et al.make explicit reference to obligations to future generations to showthat the Shariah endorses an obligation to protect the environment.They justify the existence of such an obligation through two argu-ments: one based upon textual evidence, and another based uponobtaining the ultimate objective of the Shariah.

In the argument based upon textual evidence, the authorsexplain that humankind has a special relationship to the rest of cre-ation in that Allah has entrusted them with stewardship (khilfah )on the earth; and is, thus, an executor of Allahs decrees. The authors

explain that this stewardship includes duties that are intergenera-tional as well as interspecic:

All of the resources upon which life depends have beencreated by God as a trust in our hands. He has ordainedsustenance for all people and for all living beings. AndHe has set within it mountains standing rm, and blessedit, and ordained in it its diverse sustenance in four days,

alike for all that seek [sawan lil-siln ] [ : ].Thus, the utilization of these resources is, in Islam, the


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right and privilege of all people and all species. Hence,man should take every precaution to ensure the inter-ests and rights of all others since they are equal partnerson earth. Similarly, he should not regard such use asrestricted to one generation above all other generations.It is rather a joint usufruct in which each generation usesand makes the best use of nature, according to its need,without disrupting or adversely affecting the interests offuture generations. Therefore, man should not abuse,misuse, or distort the natural resources as each genera-tion is entitled to benet from them but is not entitled toown them in an absolute sense.

While the authors consider the interests of future generations signif-icant, they have not justied that the interests of future generationsare signicant and can override the interests of a former currentgeneration. Despite citing : , this verse is in the form of adeclarative sentence informing us that Allah Most High has alreadydecreed sustenance for those who seek it rather than an imperative,and in itself is a verse that does not bear legal or ethical import.Moreover, they have not provided evidence to warrant their treat-ing the declarative as an imperative.

The argument based upon the ultimate objective of the Shariahcomes when the authors discuss the legislative principles, policies,and institutions of Islamic law which concern environmental pro-tection. The authors write that

the ultimate objective of Islamic law is the universal

common good of all created beings, encompassing bothour immediate welfare in the present and our ultimatewelfare in the hereafter. This objective of the universalcommon good is a distinctive characteristic of Islamiclaw. It means that no species or generation may beexcluded from consideration in the course of planningand administration, but that each individual Muslim

. Bagader et al., Environmental Protection in Islam , ; eidem,imyatal-bah f-l-Islm , .


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as well as the Muslim community must honestly strivetoward the welfare of the whole.

The authors offer a series of heuristics for deciding policy similarto what one nds in discussions on mali (public interests). Asummary of their methodology is that: ( ) reducing harm has pre-cedence over obtaining good; ( ) the interests of the larger grouphave priority over the interests of the smaller group; ( ) priorityis given rst to necessities (arriyyt ), then needs (jiyyt ), andthen supplementary benets (tasniyyt ); ( ) consequences whichare deemed more likely to occur are given more weight than those

less likely to occur; ( ) governing authorities must give precedenceto the interests of the weak and voiceless; and ( ) unintended con-sequences must be considered.

Unfortunately, there are several problems which prevent thisapproach from providing practical advice concerning obligations tofuture generations. Some of these problems include the following:

No generation knows how many creatures currently existor will exist in the future (and when). There is no wayto avoid excluding a species or generations in ones con-siderations during planning or administration, so eachgeneration will be limited to using whatever resources arenecessary to meet only its barest necessities (arriyyt )in order to avoid starving the unknown number of futuregenerations.

If we assume that the combined population of all futuregenerations outnumbers the population of the current

generation, then the current generation will (again) belimited to meeting only its barest necessities since any-thing above this will infringe upon the necessities of themost remote future generations.

The likelihood of a future generation existing is inverseto its relative distance in time (a closer future generationis more likely to occur than a more remote future genera-

. Ibid., ; eidem,imyat al-bah f-l-Islm , .. Ibid., ; eidem,imyat al-bah f-l-Islm , .


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tion). While it makes sense that the necessities (arriyyt )and needs (jiyyt ) of the adjacent generation take pre-cedence over the supplementary benets (tasniyyt ) ofthe current generation, there must be some point wherethe existence of a future generation is unlikely enoughthat its necessities and needs do not take precedence overthe current generations supplementary benets.

If the interests of voiceless animals are automaticallygiven precedence over human interests, the interests ofa current human generation will always lose out to theinterests of current and future non-humans.

These problems are common to consequentialist or teleologicalconceptions of obligations to future generations, particularly theirutilitarian formulation which is so popular in the social sciencesand for policymaking.

Several objections have been raised against Utilitarian theoriesof obligations to future generations. Among the most prominentobjections are uncertainty about the total size of the future popu-lation, uncertainty about future harms and benets, whether thegoal is to obtain total utility (which leads to Parts repugnantconclusion ) or average utility (which tends to favor presentgenerations over future), and that it does not provide any specicobligations.

In addition to their arguments falling short of providing a com-pelling justication, the authors conception of obligations to futuregenerations is limited to the problem of saving natural resources.Their conception does not include intellectual, cultural, social or

even religious obligations.While Environmental Protection in Islam should be applaudedas a great step towards Shariah-based environmental protection, it

. Frederickson, Can Public Ofcials Correctly Be Said to Have Obligations toFuture Generations? .

. Part, Future Generations: Further Problems, .

. Surber, Obligations to Future Generations, ; Bickham, FutureGenerations and Contemporary Ethical Theory, ; Pasek, Obligationsto Future Generations, ; see also Narveson, Utilitarianism and NewGenerations, .


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does not justify nor dene a sufciently sophisticated conception ofan Islamic obligation to future generations.

In October , the Foundation for International Studies,

in conjunction with the Faculty of Theology at the University ofMalta, held a three-day conference entitled Our Responsibilitiestowards Future Generations: Jewish, Christian and Islamic Perspec-tives. The conference papers were later published asCaring forFuture Generations , which included papers from ve participantsrepresenting Islamic thought.

Amongst the papers of these ve participants, one avoidedthe issue altogether by translating forty-ve Quranic verses con-

cerning the environment without explaining their signicance orrelationship to future generations. The remaining four built theirpapers around the idea of human stewardship (khilfah ). Of thesefour, two limited their discussion to responsibilities one generationowes to its immediate successor, and two participants addressedthe topic of rights owed to future generations. One of these last twoparticipants was Abubakr Ahmed Bagader, one of the authors ofEnvironmental Protection in Islam . Although he did not establish aShariah-based obligation to future generations, he mentioned thatthere are environmental, societal, and cultural obligations to futuregenerations. The remaining participant did well covering the issuefrom the perspective of international law and the environment, buther Shariah-perspective merely consisted of paraphrasing sectionsfrom Bagader et al.s work.

Another example from a contemporary Muslim author is TheEnvironmental Dimensions of Islam , written by Mawil Izzi Dien,another co-author of Environmental Protection in Islam . In it,

he speaks of matters related to obligations to future generationsand intergenerational justice. When mentioning generation equity(one of the topics within intergenerational justice), his primaryjustication comes from outside Islamic sources. But later whenmentioning global interests, he cites the verse It is He who has

. Agius and Chircop,Caring for Future Generations: Jewish, Christian andIslamic Perspectives .

. Bagader et al.,Environmental Protection in Islam ; eidem, imyat al-bahf-l-Islam .. Izzi Dien,Environmental Dimensions of Islam , .


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created for you all things that are on the earth ( : ), explaining:

The generality of this verse indicates that everything

on earth is given to all of its occupants to be enjoyedresponsibly and respectfully. It is in the public inter-est that the verse is left open. It is left open so thathuman beings would not nd difculty in consumingwhat has been created by God and left at their disposal.That is the main ground for the legal maxim that statesnothing is prohibited, haram , except that which is pro-hibited by a sound and explicit text. This allowance

might be understood to be a permission to justify unlim-ited human consumption. However, careful scrutiny ofthe text reveals the exact opposite. The presence of aglobal environmental interest can be deduced from thisverse since the word you did not specify one nationor community; the earth with all its interests and ben-ets was created to be shared by all creatures and by allhuman communities.

Elsewhere he also cites, It is God who has made for you theearth ( : ), explaining that the unqualied pronoun you(lakum ) indicates that the earth is not created only for one gen-eration of creatures but for every generation: past, present, andfuture. This last example from contemporary Muslim authorsoffers a more compelling argument than those given before, thoughthe only obligation it seems to indicate is saving natural resourcesfor future generations, which leads us back to problems related

to uncertainty about how much each generation must save for itssuccessors.Although several contemporary Muslim authors have claimed

that Islam includes a concept of obligations to future generations,there is still a need to provide a compelling Shariah-based justica-tion for such obligations and to determine the details of what theseobligations entail outside of environmental concerns.

. Ibid., .. Ibid., .


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Modern Shariah ReectionThe concept of obligations to future generations has become quite

sophisticated and has proven itself to be an important tool forpolicy makers and ethicists in the West. The following passagefrom philosopher Dr. Joanna Pasek demonstrates the types of ques-tions being asked about obligations to future generations:

Do future people have rights such as fundamentalrights to come into existence? Moreover, do they haverights such as the right to live in tolerable conditions?

Conversely, insofar as it is assumed that the existenceand welfare of future people are at least to some extentdependent on the policies that we adopt, do we have anyobligations to future generations, and, if we do, whatare those obligations? In particular, are we obliged tomake certain sacrices for the sake of their welfare?

Several contemporary Muslim authors have brought this conceptof obligations to future generations into their own writings aboutIslam. Unfortunately, the conceptions used appear to be eitherloosely based upon the Shariah or an uncritical adoption of theconcept as used by non-Muslim ethicists and secular law. Whilethe Shariah does include evidence that future generations are sig-nicant and includes basic fundamentals for their consideration,Shariah experts will need to develop them into a coherent frame-work that can provide sophisticated answers to intergenerationalconcerns.

The issue of obligations to future generations should be ofinterest to Muslims since it is they who believe that Islam is thenal religion and valid for all times and places, and suitable for allevents and contingencies. Allah has declared that everything in theuniverse has been created for humans to harness. Yet, He has alsoassigned mankind the role of being His stewards on the planet andHis agents of mercy. Furthermore, individual Muslims are chargedwith looking after the welfare and well-being of their relatives as

well as other members of their community.. Pasek, Obligations to Future Generations, .


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The concept of obligations to future generations has alreadyproven itself to be a useful tool for thinking about ones worldlyobligations, particularly with respect to economics, the environ-

ment, and sustainability. Muslims leaders, policy makers, planners(and individual consumers) should take obligations to future gen-erations into consideration when managing resources and planningfor the future of the Muslim community. There is a pressing needfor such considerations, as Abdulbar Al-Gain, the president ofMeteorology and Environmental Protection Administration ( )of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, points out:

Human activities over the last century have so affectednatural processes that the very atmosphere upon whichlife depends has been altered. These impacts are of sucha magnitude that Nature itself, as an independent selfregulating force has been compromised and will requirehuman intervention; intervention which itself couldfurther alter natural processes.

As Muslims, constituting % of the Worlds popu-lation, we must examine these issues carefully becausefuture events in Islamic nations have the potential tocreate an environmental impact of major magnitude.Most Islamic nations are developing and must expandeconomically in order to meet basic needs. Should thisexpansion pass through the same evolutionary cycleas prior industrial development, the environmentalimpacts could be disastrous.

Nonetheless, there is still a need to introduce the concept to con-temporary Shariah scholars to ensure that it is used in harmonywith the Shariah. One reason for this is that the secular ethical for-mulations mentioned in previous sections concern worldly harmsand benets, whereas the Shariah includes an afterworldly dimen-sion. Furthermore, the Shariah does not consider all harms andbenets to be of equal importance, but rather gives some priorityover others.

. Bagader et al., Environmental Protection in Islam , viii; eidem, imyatal-bah f-l-Islm , vii.


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When assessing new ideas, actions, and circumstances, Muslimsconsult Islams sacred doctrine (aqdah or ul al-dn ) and praxis(qh or fur al-dn ) to ensure that life is in harmony with that

doctrine and practice. This assessment is usually performed byscholars who have been trained in the traditional corpus of law andthe methodologies of jurisprudence (ul al-qh ) for deriving legalrulings from the Quran and Prophetic narratives.

Contemporary Shariah scholars will need to assess whether theShariah recognizes obligations to future generations, what thoseobligations are, how to balance intergenerational priorities, andwhat impact in light of our newfound ability to affect future gen-

erations this concept has on our Shariah discourse.The remainder of this section will attempt to take initial stepsin preparing a foundation for Shariah scholars to make this assess-ment. This will be done by rst demonstrating that the Shariahconsiders obligations to future generations signicant and whatgeneral tools it offers for addressing them. In doing so, it improvesupon the foundations Bagader et al. prepared in EnvironmentalProtection in Islam . This section will discuss several issues spe-cic to the concept of obligations to future generations to serve as astarting point for Shariah experts with the aim of preparing themin their conceptualization of the issue and to provide them withinitial starting blocks. Its aim is not, however, to provide a compre-hensive and thorough framework.

Demonstrating that the Shariah accounts for obligations to future

generations is important. As mentioned earlier, the ability to handlethese obligations is considered a litmus test for ethical theories, soone test of the Shariahs relevancy today will be in its ability toaccount for such obligations. This section will demonstrate thatthe overall objectives of the Shariah (maqid al-sharah ) indicatethat future generations of the human species are signicant andthat current generations do bear obligations towards their welfare.The existence of the human species is included within the ultimate

. Ibid.; eidem,imyat al-bah f-l-Islm .


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objective of the Shariah, and preserving its continued existence isconsidered a necessity in obtaining well-being. Furthermore, theexistence of the human species is a necessary condition for carrying

out many of the overall objectives of the Shariah.Understanding the objectives of Islamic legislation has beena subject of interest since the earliest generations of Muslims.One of the earliest known writings is Masin al-Sharah bythe fourth-century Sh imam Ab Bakr al-Qaffl al-Kabr (d.

/ ). The topic of the objectives of the Shariah wasoften included within books on the foundations of jurisprudence(ul al-qh ). Our study of objectives goes back to the great Sh

scholar Imm Abd al-Malik al-Juwayn (d. / ), in par-ticular his framing of the levels of necessity that he established in hisal-Burhn f ul al-qh on the foundations of jurisprudence, andhis Ghiyth al-umam . Al-Juwayns ideas were extended and renedby his student, Imm Ab mid al-Ghazl (d. / ),who wrote of them in al-Mustaf f ul al-qh and Shif al-ghallf bayn al-shabah wa al-mukhl wa maslik al-tall . Successivegenerations of scholars of the foundations of jurisprudence alsoinclude the topic of objectives in their works, for example: Fakhral-Dn al-Rz (d. / ),al-Mal f ul al-qh ; Sayfal-Dn al-mid (d. / ),al-Ikm f ul al-akm ; andIbn al-Subk (d. / ), Jam al-jawmi .

Writing about the objectives of the Shariah as an indepen-dent topic returned in the seventh century, with the Sh al-IzzIbn Abd al-Salm (d. / ). Al-Izz authored two smallworks on the maqid of prayer and fasting. He also developed ageneral and comprehensive theory of interests inQawid al-akmf mali al-anm , which he restated in al-Qawid al-ughr .Soon after, Shihb al-Dn al-Qarf (d. / ) wrote aboutobjectives in hisal-Furq . Ibn Taymiyyah (d. / ) andhis student Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d. / ) made useof objectives in many of their works, especially the lattersIlmal-muwaqqin . Ab Isq al-Shib (d. / ) wroteextensively on objectives in hisal-Muwfaqt , and it is perhaps themost extensive and well-known premodern treatment of objectives.

Interest in objectives of Shariah has not waned and it wassingled out as a topic in numerous works since the beginning


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of the twentieth century. Notable examples include al-hiral-Jazir (d. / ),Maqid al-Sharah ; and Alllal-Fs (d. / ),Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah wa

makrimuh . The most notable and signicant contribution comesfrom Muammad al-hir ibn shr (d. / ).In Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , Ibn shr denes the

general objectives of the Shariah as

the deeper meanings (man ) and inner aspects ofwisdom (ikam) considered by the Lawgiver (Shri ) inall or most of the areas and circumstances of legislation

(awl al-tashr ). They are not conned to a particulartype of the Shariah commands.

He explains the ultimate objective of the Shariah in several differ-ent ways, including that it is:

to preserve the social order of the community andensure its healthy progress by promoting the well-beingand righteousness (al) of that which prevails in it,namely, the human species. The well-being and virtue ofhuman beings consist of the soundness of their intellect,the righteousness of their deeds as well as the goodnessof the things of the world where they live that are put attheir disposal.

to achieve righteousness and goodness (al)in the world and remove corruption from it. This canhappen only by setting humankinds affairs to right

and removing the corruption that it produces. Thatis, since the human being is the predominant crea-ture (muhaymin ) in this world, its righteousness andthe orderly functioning of its affairs depend on therighteousness and virtue of the human beings [sic].Accordingly, we nd that Islam has dealt with setting toright the condition of mankind by tackling the affairs of

. Ibn shr,Treatise on Maqid al-Shariah , ; idem,Maqid al-Sharahal-Islmiyyah , .. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , .


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both the individual and the community.

preserving the order of the world and regulatingthe conduct of human beings in it by preventing themfrom inicting corruption and destruction upon oneanother.

Each of these formulations includes the concept of obtaining thewell-being of the human species, which entails the existence of thatspecies. Other objectives of the Shariah require the existence of thehuman species, for example: the idea that the Shariah is suitable forall human beings in all times and places; that its legislation must

be implemented in the Muslim Community and that its membersabide by it; the preservation and spread of Islam, ensuring its con-tinuity and existence, increasing the number of its scholars; andprotecting the wealth of the Muslim community. Each of theseobjectives requires the existence of the human species in order forthe objective to be coherent or obtainable. Furthermore, the lattertwo objectives include a degree of futurity and continuity asdo other objectives where something is being preserved (if -objectives). This shows that the Shariah considers current andfuture generations of the human species to be signicant.

While Ibn shr does not list the existence of the human speciesas a specic objective, he does show that the Shariah considers itnecessary to preserve the ongoing existence of the species. Duringhis discussion of the ve universal categories which are necessary topreserve in order to obtain well-being (thearriyyt , that is: neces-sities), Ibn shr writes the following concerning preservation oflife (if al-nafs) and preservation of lineage (if al-nasl ):

The preservation of human souls (if al-nufs) meansto protect human lives from being ruined either indi-vidually or collectively. This is because that [sic] society

. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , .


. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah ,


. Ibid., , , ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , , , .. Ibid., , ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , , .


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or the human world (lam) comprises the individualsof the human species, and every single soul has its spe-cic characteristics that are essential for the existenceand survival of the human world. I do not mean by thisthe protection of human life merely by just retribution(qi), as has been upheld by the jurists. On the con-trary, we nd that just retribution is the weakest meansfor protecting human souls, because it consists of onlya partial remedy for the loss [after it has occurred].[Rather,] the most important way to protect human lifeis to prevent harm and ruin before they happen, such ascombating and eradicating epidemics. For this reason,Umar ibn al-Khab did not allow the Muslim army toenter Syria when the plague struct the city of Amuas.

It is important to note that Ibn shr considers the preservation oflife to include the life of the group of individuals (i.e. the species) a life which spans the generations of its individual members tobe a necessity.

Concerning preservation of lineage, he writes:

If it is interpreted as preventing the breakdown and ces-sation (tal ) of procreation, then it is evident that itbelongs to the arr category, for it is by procreationthat the individuals of the human species are replaced.Thus, if progeny in this sense is stopped, this will lead tothe decline and disappearance of the species, as Lot saidto his people: [and you discontinue the path to pro-

creation (wa-taqana al-sabl )] ( : ), accordingto one interpretation. In this sense, there should not beany doubt about considering it among the fundamentaluniversals, for it is in fact equivalent to the protectionof human souls.

. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , . The phrases [afterit has occurred] and [Rather] were either omitted in the translation orincorrectly translated.

. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , . The quotation fromthe Quran has been adjusted to agree with the authors original text and toconvey his indicated interpretation.


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Here, again, he considers perpetuating the species and avoiding itsextinction to be a necessity.

We thus see that the overall objectives of the Shariah consider

signicant the existence and welfare of current and future genera-tions of the human species.While Ibn shr observes that the Shariah pays little attention

to the ve universal categories which must be preserved in order toobtain well-being, since mankind has taken their own precautionslong ago and it has become ingrained in their nature, it is notdifcult to nd numerous examples of rulings that show how theShariah promotes and safeguards the continuation of the human

species.For example, the Shariah restricts sexual unions to heterosexualrelationships, which are the only ones capable of reproduction. TheShariah ( : ) declares that it is unlawful to marry immediateblood relatives (thus excluding ones mother, grandmother, aunt,sister, daughter, or granddaughter) and that it is recommended tomarry someone who is not a near relative (thus excluding ones rstcousin). Imm al-Sh stated that it is recommended that onenot marry from amongst his near relatives since in most cases thechild will be an idiot. We now understand that successive inter-breeding increases the likelihood of the offspring being affected byrecessive or deleterious genetic traits, so proscribing procreationbetween near relatives is a means to avoiding these negative con-sequences which could jeopardize the species and its chances forsurvival.

The Shariah also restricts sexual unions to those where aformal, long-term relationship exists between both parties. It also

prescribes rules concerning support obligations (e.g. that husbandsmust provide for wives, fathers must provide for children, childrenmust provide for elderly parents, slave owners must provide fortheir slaves, animal owners must provide for their animals). All ofthese rulings ensure that the material and educational needs of the

. Ibid.; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , .

. Al-Anr and al-Jamal,shiyat al-Jamal al Shar al-Manhaj , : .

. Ibid. : .

. Ibid.

. Ibn shr,Treatise on Maqid al-Shariah , , ; idem, , .

. Ibid.


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it obtains or harm it prevents, however, the actionhas a consequence contrary to the objective of thelaw. [Similarly, an action] might be unlawful becauseof its resultant harm or the benet it blocks, howeverthe action has a consequence contrary to this reason.For the rst case, if he had given a categorical opinionthat the action is lawful, then obtaining its inherentbenet might lead to an equal or greater harm [thanthe original benet of the action] which bars givingthe opinion that it is categorically lawful. Similarly, forthe second case, if he had given a categorical opinionthat the action is unlawful, then warding off the actionsinherent harm might lead to an equal or greater harm so it is not valid to give the opinion that it is categori-cally unlawful.

After providing evidence in support of taking consequences into con-sideration from the Quran, including what Allah Most High says:

O men! serve your Lord who created you and thosebefore you so that you may guard [against evil]( : ),

O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as itwas prescribed for those before you, so that you mayguard [against evil]( : ),

And do not swallow up your property among yourselvesby false means, neither seek to gain access thereby to thejudges, so that you may swallow up a part of the propertyof men wrongfully while you know( : ),

And do not abuse those whom they call upon besidesAllah, lest exceeding the limits they should abuse Allahout of ignorance( : ),

[We sent] apostles as the givers of good news and aswarners, so that people should not have a plea againstAllah after the [coming of] apostles( : ),

Fighting is enjoined on you, and it is an object of disliketo you; and it may be that you dislike a thing while it is

. Al-Shib,al-Muwfaqt f ul al-Sharah , : .


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good for you, and it may be that you love a thing whileit is evil for you, and Allah knows, while you do notknow( : ), and

And there is life for you in [the law of] reciprocalretribution( : ),

al-Shib then gives evidence from judgements made by theProphet , including:

His refusal to execute an overt hypocrite whose collabo-ration with the enemy had led to the death of numerous

people, explaining his action by saying, Leave him lestpeople say that Muhammad kills his Companions. His explaining to Aishah that he would have rebuilt the

Kabah according to the foundation set by Abraham (maypeace be upon him) if not for your people so recentlybeing non-believers. When asked about rebuilding theKabah, Imm Mlik (may Allah grant him His Mercy)replied according to this hadith, saying: Do not do it,lest people tamper [play games] with Allahs house.

When a bedouin urinated in the mosque, he told his Com-panions to leave him be until he had nished lest theystartle him, which might lead to soiling a larger area.

His prohibition from taking on too many acts of devotionout of fear that one will nd them difcult to maintainand leave the original devotion in its entirety.

He then explains that this latter evidence

concerns establishing the particular underlying cause(taqq al-man ) from these texts which include the

. Al-Bukhr,al-a, ; Muslim,a Muslim, .

. Mlik ibn Anas,Muwaa al-Imm Mlik , : ( ).

. Al-Shib,al-Muwfaqt f ul al-Sharah , : .


. For example, see the hadiths mentioned in Chapter , entitled Moderationin Worship of Imm al-Nawaws Riy al-lin min kalm Sayyidal-Mursaln .


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concept [of examining consequences]: where the actionis initially lawful, but it is prohibited because of a resul-tant harm, or initially unlawful and its prohibition isremoved because of the benet in doing so.

Al-Shib observes that the evidence in support ofsadd al-dhari (the prohibition of anything which has the potential of leading tothat which is prohibited) and removing difculties (raf al-araj )demonstrate a similar pattern. With sadd al-dhari , an initiallylawful action becomes unlawful because it leads to unlawful con-sequences; whereas with removing difculties, an initially unlawful

action becomes lawful because of its consequences.However, there are two obvious difculties in applying thecurrent Shariah conception of taking consequences into account tothe topic of obligations to future generations.

The rst difculty is that al-Shibs discussion and evidenceconcern consequences that apply to individuals and are direct andrelatively near in time, whereas obligations to future generationsconcern consequences which apply to groups and may be indirect,span generations, or even be delayed.

It is possible to make a case that the Shariah acknowledgesthe notion of such obligations by demonstrating reasoning andrulings consistent with the notion. Examples where concern forfuture generations plays a role can be found in events from the lifeof the Prophet . For example, when asked about the most dif-cult suffering he had ever endured, the Prophet described theevents which had occurred on the Day of Aqabah. Upon reachingQarn al-Thalib, the angel of the mountain said that he was his to

command, and offered to bring the two great mountains of Meccadown upon them and destroy them. The Prophet replied, I hopethat, from amongst their progeny, Allah will bring forth those whoworship Allah alone and associate no partners with Him.

More vivid examples come from decisions made by the RightlyGuided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them). While Ab Bakr(may Allah be pleased with him) was caliph, a large number of

. Al-Shib,al-Muwfaqt f ul al-Sharah , : .. Al-Bukhr,al-a, .


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bearers of the Quran died during the Wars of Apostasy and therewas fear that more deaths would jeopardize the possibility thatfuture generations would receive the Quran in its entirety and

without alteration. After consulting with other Companions (mayAllah be pleased with them one and all), Ab Bakr commissioneda committee to compile the Quran into a single document. Thiswas met with universal approval of the Companions (may Allah bepleased with them).

During the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khab (may Allah bepleased with him), Umar ordered that certain lands captured inIraq not be distributed as normal spoils of war. One of the narra-

tions explaining his reasoning indicates that the land should be putin the service of its inhabitants since distributing it amongst thosepresent would bar future generations of its benet: Indeed, if youwere to divide it amongst those who were present, nothing wouldbe left for their successors.

In , Jerusalem announced that it would surrender, butonly to Caliph Umar himself. The Caliph travelled to Jerusalem.While there, he visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and thetime for prayer entered. The Patriarch invited Umar to perform hisprayer within the church, but Umar refused out of concern thatMuslims would later occupy the church. Instead, he prayed on thesteps and wrote an edict that Muslims were not to use the locationfor prayer nor for making the call to prayer.

When Islam had spread, some Muslims became confused aboutcertain variations in the recitation of the Quran. This promptedsome to worry that transmission of the Quran to future genera-tions was in jeopardy, so Caliph Uthman (may Allah be pleased

with him) ordered that copies of the Quran be sent to various partsof the Muslim world, each accompanied by a Companion to serveas its teacher and explicator, and that all other written copies wereto be destroyed. This was done out of concern that future genera-tions would become confused about the Quran, and the decisionwas met with universal approval of the Companions (may Allah be

. See al-Suy,al-Itqn f ulm al-Qurn , : , for a full discussion on

how the Quran was recorded.. Al-Bayhaq, al-Sunan al-kubr , : ( ).. Ibn Khaldn,Kitb al-ibar , : .


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pleased with them one and all) even though the action requiredsome of them to give up copies they had written and explicatedwith their own hands.

These last examples offer evidence which is admissible in legalrulings and show instances where an immediate worldly benet isleft for the sake of benetting future generations in this world or theAfterlife. They also show far-reaching consequences are signicant,and that the Rightly Guided Caliphs did give special considerationto future generations of both Muslims and non-Muslims.

The second difculty was mentioned earlier while discussingproblems with relying upon itibr al-mali (consideration of

public interests) to account for obligations to future generations. During that discussion, it was mentioned that while it makes sensethat the necessities (arriyyt ) and needs (jiyyt ) of the adja-cent generation take precedence over the supplementary benets(tasniyyt ) of the current generation, there must be some pointwhere the existence of a future generation is unlikely enough thatits necessities and needs do not take precedence over the currentgenerations supplementary benets.

Before consequence-consideration (itibr al-malt ), in itsvarious forms, can be applied to the topic of obligations to futuregenerations, experts on the methodologies of jurisprudence (ulal-qh ) will need to extend it (and its various forms) to account forthe issues introduced when long-term or delayed consequences areconsidered signicant. It will also be necessary for them to identifythe means through which consequences are known.

In his Maqid al-Sharah bi abd jaddah , Dr. AbdelmajidNajar suggests employing the following to discover an actions

potential consequences: Surveying previous instances in which the rulings applica-

tion has resulted in consequences contrary to its objectiveand applying statistical techniques to identify the factorswhich contributed to the undesired consequence.

. See page .

. As mentioned above, these forms include: prohibiting anything which has

the potential of leading to that which is prohibited (sadd al-dhari ), juristicpreference (istisn), and consideration of public interests (itibr al-mali ).. Al-Najjr,Maqid al-Sharah bi abd jaddah , .


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Predicting the likely outcomes of applying a particular

ruling. Sciences which study human nature and how individuals

and groups respond to given circumstances, such as psy-chology and sociology.

Predicting how local custom and norms inuence thelikely outcome.

The actors intention as evinced through explicit or con-textual evidence (e.g. temporary marriage, asking aboutmurder).

While this list should not be taken as denitive and nal, it doessuggest that identifying and meting out obligations to future gener-ations will require input from both experts of Shariah and expertsof other subjects.

Shariah experts need to settle several issues before they can build aviable framework for addressing obligations to future generations.These issues include: who owes the obligations, to whom they areowed, what those obligations are, how to decide dilemmas, andhow far those obligations extend.

Islamic law recognizes two categories of obligations with respectto the number of individuals involved: individual or personal obli-gations (far al-ayn ) and communal or collective obligations (faral-kifyah ). An individual or personal obligation is one which must

be fullled by the specic individual himself, whereas a communalor collective obligation is one which must be fullled by a sufcientnumber of individuals in order to lift responsibility from all otherlegally responsible members of the group.

Ibn shr describes obligations within the context of theoverall objectives of the Shariah:

. Ibid., .

. Ibid., .

. Ibid., .. Ibid., .


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Thus, activities whose benets can be achieved onlywhen carried out by everyone, such as protection of life(if al-nafs), have been made the personal obligation ofevery individual.

On the other hand, actions whose benets can beachieved when carried out by an individual or groupof individuals, such as rescuing a drowning person orextinguishing a re that is destroying homes, have beenconsidered a matter of collective obligations (kifyah ).

It seems that obligations to future generations t well within the

category of communal obligations since the various individual obli-gations owed to future generations can be fullled by individuals orsegments of the total population, and do not require active partici-pation from each individual member of the entire group.

It is necessary to dene the scope to whom these obligations areowed: do obligations to future generations include obligations toall types of creatures, to all humans, or just some humans?

As mentioned earlier, some contemporary Muslim authorsargue that obligations to future generations include the future gen-erations of all created things (humans, animals, other animate andinanimate objects), regardless of species and time. The reasoninggiven does not appear sufcient to justify that humans have a directobligation to non-human entities.

According to Ibn shrs various denitions of the ultimateobjective of the Shariah, we nd that it is preserving the orderof the world and regulating the conduct of human beings in it bypreventing them from inicting corruption and destruction upon

one another, that [t]he well-being and virtue of human beingsconsist of the goodness of the things of the world where they livethat are put at their disposal, and that its righteousness and theorderly functioning of its affairs depends on the righteousness andvirtue of the human beings. Following this, it is sufcient to con-

. Ibn shr,Treatise on Maqid al-Shariah , ; idem,Maqid al-Sharahal-Islmiyyah , .


. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , .. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , .


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centrate on the fulllment of our obligations to future generationsof humans since the interests of non-human future generations willbe met through fullling whatever obligations are owed to future

generations of humans.But is it owed to all future generations of humans? Accord-ing to the Shariah, preservation of human life is restricted to lifewhich the Shariah holds sacrosanct (al-nufs al-mutaramah oral-mam al-dam ). While this category excludes some humanbeings (for example: a Muslim convicted of a crime which carriesa death penalty and those at war with Islam), the category appliesto existent human beings and it makes little sense when applied to

potential human beings. Instead, it makes more sense to assume thatobligations to future humans are inclusive of all potential humanbeings. This is supported by the Prophetic report that every new-born child is born in a state of rah . Then his parents make him a

Jew, a Christian, or a Zoroastrian. It also agrees with the actionsof the Prophet on the Day of Aqabah, as mentioned above.

While most discussions about obligations to future generationsoccur within the context of economics, the environment, and sus-tainability, many Western ethicists argue that the content of theseobligations include things such as institutions, knowledge, andculture, as well as physical resources. Many theories of obligationsto future generations have difcultly identifying specic content forthese obligations since interests, values, and tastes vary from peopleto people and age to age. Identifying specic obligations is a prereq-

uisite to fullling them to future generations.Several potential obligations to future generations can be foundwithin the general categories of benets the Shariah considers nec-essary to preserve and amongst the individual objectives of theShariah, since both embody that which the Shariah values.


. See page .

. Bickham, Future Generations and Contemporary Ethical Theory, ;Gaba, Environmental Ethics, ; Tremmel, Introduction, ;Gosseries, Theories of Intergenerational Justice, .


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The general categories of benets which contribute to thewell-being of the Islamic Community are divided into three: indis-pensable (arriyyt ), needed (jiyyt ), and complementary

(tasniyyt ). Many potential obligations to future generations canbe found within the categories of indispensable benets. Ibn shrexplains that indispensable benets are

things whose realization is essential for the communityboth collectively and individually. The social order ofthe community will not function properly if there is anydefect in these mali. Indeed, any defect and loss in

them will result in the corruption and disintegration ofthe whole community. I do not mean by this its totaldestruction and extinction, for that is a fate that eventhe most idolatrous and barbaric peoples are spared.Rather, I mean that the community will degenerate intobestiality, thus failing to live up to what the Lawgiverwanted it to be. Yet, some forms of degeneration mightlead to the long-term disappearance of the communityeither because of mutual destruction among its membersor by falling under the domination of enemies if it is thetarget of hostile nations.

A basic list of necessities includes the preservation of religion, life,the intellect, property, and lineage (or progeny). If we think ofthese in terms of future generations, we can rephrase this list asobligations to preserve Islam and to safeguard possibilities for life,the intellect, wealth, and reproduction. While this list does give

us something, it does not add anything lacking in the writings ofWestern ethicists other than preservation of Islam, nor does it giveus anything resembling specic obligations. Furthermore, it runsthe risk of reducing Shariah-based obligations to a triviality, justas Gaba observed concerning environmental obligations that [i]fsuch obligations ignore the quality of life and become merely anobligation to ensure a world in which humans are capable of exist-

. Ibn shr,Treatise on Maqid al-Shariah , ; idem,Maqid al-Sharahal-Islmiyyah , .. Ibid., , ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , .


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ing, then surely the obligation has been reduced to triviality. Something of more substance and practical value can be foundamong the overall objectives of the Shariah as these objectives are

timeless and immutable, and their obtainment leads to the greatestpossible well-being for all of creation.As mentioned earlier, the overall objectives of the Islamic leg-

islation are the meanings and inner aspects of wisdom consideredby the Lawgiver which can be discerned in most or all of the areasto which Islam as a whole applies such that they can be seen not toapply exclusively to a particular type of ruling. Ibn shr statesthat the overall objectives of the Shariah are built upon mankinds

primordial state (rah), and that the ultimate objective of humanaction (tashr ) is the preservation of the order of the world (nimal-lam ) and regulating human conduct in a manner that protectsit from inicting harm and destruction upon one another. Lessergeneral objectives include: removing decadence and declaring itcorrupt, and afrming the sound practices people already follow, and also the implementation of, and adherence to Islamic legisla-tion within the Islamic Community.

Other general objectives include that there be equality amongstmembers of the Islamic Community in their personal affairs, clar-ifying the categories of rights and the categories of people whoare entitled to them, and removing rights from those who haveproven to be ineligible.

More specic objectives fall within the following categories:

. Interpersonal relationshipsClarifying the formation and proper functioning of the family,

. Gaba, Environmental Ethics, .

. Ibn shr,Treatise on Maqid al-Shariah , ; idem,Maqid al-Sharahal-Islmiyyah , .









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limiting marriage to particular heterosexual unions, restrictinglineage to that where parentage is not open to doubt, and clari-fying the ways to dissolve unions and contracts which prove to be

detrimental.

. Financial transactionsCirculation of wealth through the largest number of individualspossible, increasing the use of gold and silver as the basis fortransactions, transparency and clarity of ownership, preserva-tion of wealth and property both for individuals and the IslamicCommunity as a whole, establishing individual and joint own-

ership which is both private and valid and not open to dispute, establishing means of earning which are valid and not open todispute, transactions which are just and fair, facilitating laborcontracts that are fair and equitable, and facilitating and increas-ing acts of charity and generosity within proper limits.

. Religious affairsThe establishment of bodies which are responsible for looking afterthe public affairs of the Islamic Community, administering justiceand ensuring that Islamic legislation is being implemented, andother religious matters, including that the Shariah be conveyed,and that its knowledge be preserved, spread, and its scholarsincreased and multiplied.








. Ibid.; idem.






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. Justice and retributionEstablishing judges to assist in making manifest the right andremoving wrong and injustice, returning rights to their genuine

claimants without delay, acknowledging witnesses and docu-mentary evidence to clarify and establish rights, and preservingsocial order through punishments which serve as retribution for theoffense, assuage personal grievances of the victim, and deter repeatoffense.

In addition to the above, it was demonstrated earlier that theobjectives of the Shariah include the continual existence of thehuman species.

The list here is based upon the work of Ibn shr. These objec-tives, along with the various bodies and institutions which areneeded for their implementation, are all candidates for the list ofShariah-sanctioned obligations to future generations. However,more details about each objective and its implementation will beneeded in order to create a practical plan that will work towardstheir eventual fulllment.

Here we will mention a few details concerning the groups ofobjectives which are among the most central to an Islamic concep-tion of obligations to future generations. The rst group includesobjectives concerned with preserving, spreading, and implementingthe Shariah. The second group includes objectives concerned withprotecting the wealth of the Islamic Community.

. Spreading and implementing the ShariahOne of the highest objectives of the Shariah is that it be spread.This objective is closely followed by the objectives that it be imple-

mented, applied, and preserved. Its implementation and applicationsare assisted by the important objectives of disseminating Islamicknowledge, and increasing its scholars and teachers.






. See page .. Ibn shr, Treatise on Maqid al-Shariah , ; idem,Maqidal-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , .


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The preservation and spread of the Shariah requires removingeverything that undermines the certain and denitive (qa ) founda-tions of the religion, defending Islams reputation, and protecting its

territory, and by supplying and maintaining the means for presentand future generations to learn Islam; it also includes preventingfragmentation of the Community, protecting religion from disap-pearing, protecting Muslim sovereignty and lands, protecting theTwo Sacred Sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina from falling undernon-Muslim control, protecting the Quran from disappearance ordistortion via the disappearance of those who have memorized itor its written copies, protecting the knowledge of the Sunnah from

the introduction of fabricated reports and anything else whosegoodness or evil affects the whole Muslim Community or any ofits members.

The application of Shariah within the Islamic Communityrequires the existence of a system of Islamic governance, which iscomprised of rulers, judges, advisors for legal issues, police, and[market] regulators.

Muftis and other Shariah experts who inuence practice andpolicy will need to take into account how their opinions affectfuture generations, particularly when responding to temporary exi-gencies. A succeeding generation will inherit the social ills of theprevious generation; excusing current ills or preventing them frombeing rectied means that the problems will increase and eventuallybecome accepted as norms. Empirical studies indicate that peoplehold a preference for their current situation, suggesting the possibil-ity that future generations will be biased to accept the world theyinherit. Additional empirical studies suggest that the behav-

ior of a previous generation inuences the behavior of a presentgeneration towards future generations, in the allocation of bothbenetsand burdens. Taken together, these studies emphasizethe need for scholars to examine the consequences their decisionswill have, and to avoid decisions that will set future generations ona downward spiral.



. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , .. Gaba, Environmental Ethics, .

. Wade-Benzoni, A Golden Rule Over Time, .


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While the Shariah is built upon mercy and ease, this mercyand ease are manifested in that individual rulings are easy withrespect to the most common situations; difcult rulings are eased in

light of hardships experienced by individuals or the Islamic Com-munity; and individual rulings are built upon wisdom, discernibleunderlying causes (ratio legis ), consistency, and clear delineation.The combined means of manifesting mercy and ease leave legallyresponsible individuals without any excuse for failing to abide byits rules. While the Shariah acknowledges mercy and ease, it isalways within limits which do not lead to circumventing or ren-dering inoperable the overall objectives. Obligations to future

generations suggest that Muslim leaders rethink the intergenera-tional consequences of limiting the very parts of the Shariah whichsafeguard these objectives and offer corrective measures, and toendeavor in implementing means which gently rectify the short-comings of our current generation and improve what we pass on tothe next generation.

Furthermore, legal maxims concerning necessity (e.g. neces-sity renders permissible what otherwise would be impermissible,necessity is limited to what is needed) are often cited to justifyour generations actions. Does use of this principle obligate our gen-eration to do something to relieve future generations from the samenecessity so that it is not passed on to them? For example, Muslimsin a new land with nothing to eat except swine are permitted to eatswine to preserve life. Are they not also required to do somethingto rectify the situation and ensure that future generations do notsuffer the same need? There are numerous cases where this prin-ciple is used (e.g. ubiquitous usury), yet nothing signicant is done

to remove the situation which prompted its invocation.

. Preserving the wealth of the Islamic CommunityPreservation of the Islamic Communitys wealth (tharwat al-ummah) involves preserving its wealth from destruction and fromgoing outside the Islamic Community without compensation,and preserving individual constituents of that wealth from being

. Ibn shr,Treatise on Maqid al-Shariah , ; idem,Maqid al-Sharahal-Islmiyyah , .. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , .


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destroyed without compensation. Wealth of the Islamic Commu-nity is comprised of those things which people as individuals andas groups nd useful in obtaining benets and warding off harms,

in all circumstances, times and occasions, whether used directly oras a means.Ibn shr gives ve characteristics for an item to be considered

wealth: that it can be stored, is in demand, can be circulated, is oflimited quantity, and has been obtained. He explains that if thequantity is not nite and limited, it will not be sought out as privateproperty nor stored, so it will not be considered wealth. Follow-ing this reasoning, he excludes oceans, sands, rivers, and forests as

wealth. He does note that rivers and forests constitute a means towealth because of fertility and the job opportunities they provide,and he does include mines as wealth since what is extracted fromthem is of limited quantity because of the excessive costs of itsextraction. Today it may be more appropriate to treat all of theworlds natural resources as wealth especially the basic naturalresources we depend upon to sustain life.

It is important to note that although the overall objectives of theShariah afrm that owners of private wealth are free to dispose oftheir wealth as they see t, an exception is made for wealth which isneeded by a segment of the Islamic Community (such as foodstuffsand materials needed to defend the Community). Even though suchproperties remain private wealth, the Shariahs conception of eco-nomic justice requires that its disposal be within the boundaries ofobtaining public interests and warding off public misfortunes.

Protecting the wealth of the Islamic Community for futuregenerations will require that we assess the habits of a current gen-

. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , . It is important tonote that some maqid and rulings have priority over others; and thatcompensation includes both material and immaterial. Disaster relief whichserves to preserve human life can take priority over preservation of theUmmahs wealth. Developmental aid can benet the Ummah by increasing itsimage, opportunities, and security.


. Ibid., ; idem,Maqid al-Sharah al-Islmiyyah , . Concerninglimited quantity, the original translation incorrectly rendered as measurable.



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eration. When a cultural habit is found to include a signicant harmfor the Islamic Community, it becomes necessary to evaluate thehabit according to the Shariah worldview to determine whether it

should be considered unlawful. Habits which involve resourceconsumption or affect the environment will have an impact onfuture generations since these habits do not only inuence whatfuture generations can do, but also inuence the possibility of theirvery existence. Such an assessment is in line with the overall prin-ciple of afrming good habits and changing bad habits and theShariahs denition of economic justice, and so provides a meansto protecting the wealth of the Islamic Community, which is a duty

incumbent upon those responsible for looking after the affairs ofthe Islamic Community.In particular, there is a pressing need to assess the current gener-

ations preoccupation with the acquisition of disposable consumergoods and services which not only removes wealth from the IslamicCommunity, but also reduces the resources that will be available tofuture generations, changing the environment that will be passeddown to them.

Some obligations to future generations concern resources which arenon-renewable, difcult to renew at a pace commensurate to theirdepletion, or cannot be sustained if their quantity drops below aparticular threshold.

It is important to ensure that each generation preserves whatis owed to those of the future since securing and protecting the

prerequisites for life are an essential part of a viable framework ofobligations to future generations.In extreme cases involving non-renewable resources or where

depletion exceeds the rate of renewal, it will be necessary to deter-mine how far these obligations to future generations extend sowe can determine how much we must save for later generations.Knowing how much to save is dependent upon knowing something




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about the population of each generation to whom one owes obli-gations. Problems with this have already been discussed during thepresentation of previous Muslim authors and the inherent problem

of applying consequentialist theories to obligations to futuregenerations.Nonetheless, in cases involving non-renewable resources or

where consumption exceeds production, we must weigh our obli-gation to future generations against the wants and luxuries of thecurrent generation. This requires that we have a method coveringhow the various harms and benets will be ranked, measured, andprioritized; as well as guidelines for public policy and enforcement.

While literature on sustainability, sustainable development, andfood security do address many of these issues, the scope here mustbe expanded since a Shariah-based obligation to future generationsmust include Islamic knowledge and institutes particular to Islam.Furthermore, an Islamic obligation to future generations must turnto the Shariah as a basis for how the various harms and benetswill be ranked, measured, and prioritized, and for its guidelines forpublic policy and enforcement.

Once we have a clearer understanding of Shariah-based obliga-tions to future generations, Shariah legal specialists will be able touse classic models like al-Shibs consideration of consequencesin al-Muwfaqt (mentioned earlier) to develop guidelines thatmuftis, policy makers, and individual Muslims can follow to ensurewe fulll our obligations to future generations.

ConclusionThis paper introduced the concept of ethical obligations to futuregenerations, a concept which has grown in importance and sophis-tication since the s. The rst section of the paper dened theconcept and explained its importance to ethicists and policy makers.The second section provided a survey of how contemporary Muslim

. See page .


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authors have approached obligations to future generations. Unfor-tunately, none of them offered a Shariah-based conception thatprovided practical solutions or was capable of competing with con-

temporary reasoning in the international marketplace of ideas. Thethird section attempted to address this need by rst demonstratingthat obligations to future generations exist within the overall objec-tives of the Shariah and then presenting a potential foundation fora Shariah-based framework for thinking about such obligations.This framework used the overall objectives of the Shariah to denethe various values, knowledge, and culture that need to be passedon. Whereas Western conceptions of these obligations have dif-

culty identifying interests on the grounds that values and interestschange from generation to generation, the overall objectives of theShariah are constant and immutable. Shariah experts can furtherdevelop this framework into a viable alternative to Western modelsthat can be used in a manner harmonious to the Shariah and pleas-ing to Allah Most High.

And Allah Most High knows best.


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Actions of an earlier generation affect whether later gen-erations will exist at all as well as the quality and type oflife they will have. Discussions concerning the obligationsearlier generations owe later generations have provento be useful when thinking about the environment, eco-nomics, sustainability, and other issues. Western thinkingabout obligations to future generations has become verysophisticated since the s. Western ethicists consider

it a litmus test for evaluating ethical theories, and expectit to be a main recurring theme in the new ce

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