al-Shatibi أبو إسحاق إبراهيم بن موسى الشاطبي

Ibrahim ibn Musa al-Shatibi rahimahullah (d. 790 AH / 1388 CE) was a preeminent Maliki jurist and scholar of usul al-fiqh who lived and taught in Granada, al-Andalus, during the later Nasrid period. He is celebrated above all for al-Muwafaqat fi Usul al-Shari'a, a landmark work in Islamic legal theory in which he systematically articulated and elaborated the classical doctrine of maqasid al-shari'a, the higher objectives and intents of Islamic law, organizing them around the preservation of religion, life, intellect, lineage, and wealth. His other major work, al-I'tisam, addressed the concept of bid'a (religious innovation) with comparable rigor. Both texts remain essential references in Islamic jurisprudence and legal philosophy to the present day. His theory of maqasid has exercised a lasting influence on subsequent scholars working on Islamic law reform and contemporary fiqh.