Eco-Maqasid: The Relevance of Imam al-Shatibi’s Thought to Sustainable Economic Growth

Abstract

The limited progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has intensified scholarly interest in alternative development paradigms that integrate ethical, social, and environmental dimensions into economic systems. This study examines the relevance of Imam Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī’s maqāṣid al-sharīʿah as a conceptual foundation for sustainable economic growth through the proposed Eco-Maqāṣid framework. A qualitative textual analysis was employed by systematically examining al-Muwāfaqāt fī Uṣūl al-Sharīʿah alongside contemporary literature on sustainability, Islamic economics, and green development. The analysis utilized thematic coding to identify core principles, including maṣlaḥah (public welfare), ʿadl (justice), and tawāzun (balance), followed by conceptual convergence analysis to evaluate their compatibility with contemporary sustainability frameworks. The findings reveal a strong theoretical correspondence between al-Shāṭibī’s maqāṣid and the three pillars of sustainable development. The protection of religion, life, intellect, progeny, and wealth collectively establishes an integrated ethical framework that promotes equitable resource allocation, environmental stewardship, social inclusion, and long-term economic resilience. The analysis further demonstrates that maṣlaḥah functions as the central normative objective linking economic productivity with ecological preservation and intergenerational welfare, while ʿadl and tawāzun reinforce distributive justice and balanced resource utilization. Based on these findings, the study develops an Eco-Maqāṣid-Based Sustainable Economic Growth Model that systematically integrates spiritual, economic, social, and ecological dimensions into development governance. This model extends conventional growth paradigms by embedding moral accountability within economic decision-making and provides a comprehensive theoretical foundation for future empirical research, sustainability policy formulation, and Islamic economic development strategies.

Keywords: wearable fitness device; digital fitness platform; fitness statistics; autonomous motivation; social comparison orientation; physical activity adherence; recreational athletes; self-determination theory.

Introduction

The issue of sustainability has emerged as a central concern in contemporary development discourse, particularly in light of the stagnation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recent global reports indicate that a substantial proportion of SDG targets are either progressing slowly or experiencing regression, especially in areas related to sustainable consumption, climate action, and social equity. This trend is widely interpreted in the literature as reflecting structural limitations within dominant development paradigms that prioritize economic growth while insufficiently integrating ecological integrity and ethical considerations (Programme, 2024; Sachs, 2020). Consequently, environmental degradation, widening inequality, and resource imbalances persist as interconnected challenges, necessitating a reorientation of development frameworks toward value-based and ethically grounded approaches supported by recent empirical and policy studies (Bank, 2024).

The limited progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has intensified scholarly interest in alternative development paradigms that integrate ethical, social, and environmental dimensions into economic systems. This study examines the relevance of Imam Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī’s maqāṣid al- sharīʿah as a conceptual foundation for sustainable economic growth through the proposed Eco-Maqāṣid framework. A qualitative textual analysis was employed by systematically examining al-Muwāfaqāt fī Uṣūl al-Sharīʿah alongside contemporary literature on sustainability, Islamic economics, and green development. The analysis utilized thematic coding to identify core principles, including maṣlaḥah (public welfare), ʿadl (justice), and tawāzun (balance), followed by conceptual convergence analysis to evaluate their compatibility with contemporary sustainability frameworks. The findings reveal a strong theoretical correspondence between al-Shāṭibī’s maqāṣid and the three pillars of sustainable development.

The protection of religion, life, intellect, progeny, and wealth collectively establishes an integrated ethical framework that promotes equitable resource allocation, environmental stewardship, social inclusion, and long-term economic resilience. The analysis further demonstrates that maṣlaḥah functions as the central normative objective linking economic productivity with ecological preservation and intergenerational welfare, while ʿadl and tawāzun reinforce distributive justice and balanced resource utilization. Based on these findings, the study develops an Eco- Maqāṣid-Based Sustainable Economic Growth Model that systematically integrates spiritual, economic, social, and ecological dimensions into development governance. This model extends conventional growth paradigms by embedding moral accountability within economic decision-making and provides a comprehensive theoretical foundation for future empirical research, sustainability policy formulation, and Islamic economic development strategies.

In response, various frameworks such as the green economy, Islamic finance, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) have been advanced to reconcile economic and sustainability objectives. Nevertheless, recent studies (OECD, 2023; Syahriani et al., 2024). The suggest that these approaches often remain embedded within technocratic and efficiency-driven paradigms, limiting their capacity to incorporate deeper moral and spiritual dimensions. From the perspective of Islamic economics, maqāṣid al-sharīʿah offers a comprehensive ethical framework that integrates spiritual, social, and ecological values through the central concept of maṣlaḥah (public welfare). However, contemporary applications tend to emphasize legal compliance rather than the substantive ethical orientation of maqāṣid, resulting in partial and normative implementation in policy contexts, particularly in Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia (Roemaissha et al., n.d.; Urus et al., 2025).

From a scholarly standpoint, existing studies on maqāṣid and sustainability predominantly focus on sectoral instruments such as sukuk, waqf, and Islamic financial products while only a limited number attempt to systematically integrate the philosophical foundations of maqāṣid into broader economic growth paradigms (Anwar et al., 2025; Mubarak et al., 2022). A comparative mapping of recent maqāṣid–SDG models reveals that prior research generally emphasizes normative alignment without developing an operational integration architecture or expanding the classical maqāṣid framework to explicitly incorporate ecological preservation. In particular, the dimension of ḥifẓ al-bi’ah (environmental protection) remains under-theorized, and few studies propose structured mechanisms for translating maqāṣid principles into policy evaluation or development planning frameworks. Based on this gap, the novelty of this study lies in three main contributions.

First, it advances the conceptual expansion of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah by systematically incorporating ḥifẓ al-bi’ah as a foundational element within the sustainability discourse. Second, it develops a structured integration architecture termed the Eco-Maqāṣid Model, which links core maqāṣid principles maṣlaḥah, ʿadl, and tawāzun with SDG-oriented development indicators through a convergence-based analytical framework. Third, it introduces a normative policy-screening logic that enables the evaluation of economic policies based on their alignment with ethical, social, and ecological objectives. Accordingly, this study addresses the following research questions: (1) how is Imam al-Syāṭhibī’s maqāṣid framework relevant to the paradigm of sustainable economic growth, and (2) how can maqāṣid values be systematically integrated into a coherent model of sustainable economic development? This study aims to (1) analyze the ethical and philosophical dimensions of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah in al-Syāṭhibī’s thought in relation to sustainability, and (2) construct a conceptual Eco- Maqāṣid model as a theoretical foundation for sustainable economic governance.

Theoretically, this research contributes to strengthening the integration of maqāṣid and SDGs literature through a more systematic and updated analytical framework, while practically offering policy-relevant insights for sustainable and ethically grounded economic development.

Methods

Result and Discussion

Conclusion

This study set out to (1) analyze the relevance of Imam Abū Isḥāq al-Syāṭhibī’s maqāṣid al-sharīʿah for economic, social, and ecological sustainability, and (2) develop a conceptual Eco- Maqāṣid framework for sustainable economic growth. The findings demonstrate that al-Syāṭhibī’s formulation of taḥqīq al- maṣlaḥah provides a coherent ethical architecture integrating justice, balance, and public welfare as guiding principles of development. Through a systematic process of thematic coding and comparative convergence, these normative constructs were analytically linked with contemporary sustainability principles, indicating a substantial conceptual alignment rather than empirical causality between maqāṣid discourse and sustainable development frameworks. Building upon this analysis, the study proposes the Eco- Maqāṣid-Based Sustainable Economic Growth Model as a normative–analytical policy framework that translates maqāṣid values into a structured policy-screening logic.

Unlike conventional development approaches that emphasize quantitative output indicators, this framework foregrounds ethical evaluation criteria such as maṣlaḥah, ʿadl, and ḥifẓ al- biʾah within policy design and assessment processes. In this regard, the contribution of the study is incremental rather than entirely novel, particularly through: (i) the operationalization of maqāṣid into a sustainability-oriented analytical framework, (ii) the incorporation of environmental preservation (ḥifẓ al-biʾah) as a derived conceptual construct, and (iii) the formulation of an integration architecture linking ethical values, governance mechanisms, and sustainability-oriented policy outcomes. Nevertheless, the Eco-Maqāṣid model remains conceptual and has not yet undergone empirical validation. Accordingly, the framework should not be interpreted as a universally applicable governance model or as a predictive policy instrument, but rather as a theoretical and normative foundation requiring further empirical examination across diverse socio-economic and policy environments.

Proposed instruments such as maqāṣid-oriented indicators, sustainability indices, and ethical governance measurements should therefore be understood as preliminary analytical directions rather than immediately operational policy tools. Future studies are encouraged to operationalize the proposed indicators quantitatively and assess their applicability through comparative case studies, policy simulations, institutional analysis, or empirical governance evaluation. Such empirical investigations are necessary to examine the contextual relevance, reliability, and practical feasibility of the Eco- Maqāṣid framework within different governance systems and development settings. Collectively, these findings reinforce the relevance of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah as a normative foundation for sustainability governance while contributing a structured analytical lens capable of bridging ethical principles, ecological responsibility, and contemporary economic policy design.

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