In verse 110 of Surah Ali ‘Imran in the Quran, it is stated to the effect that: “You are the best of people, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in God. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors.” The maqasid al-shariah comprises five principles which, when applied in accordance with the correct Islamic teaching, has the potential to form khaira ummah or the best of people as stated in the aforementioned Quranic verse. For the protection of religion, there are issues arising from the inability to protect the sanctity of Islam as well as the practice of Muslims as a result of liberalism and pluralism. With regard to the protection of life, there is a lack of proper understanding of the meaning or value of life. Muslims should be research-oriented and not simply resign to taqdir. The current COVID-19 pandemic is a threat to life. As for protection of mind, there is the issue of mindfulness versus mindlessness. For example, there are lessons from COVID-19 that show that we have to be mindful by sacrificing many things in order to protect the humankind. Meanwhile, the principle of protecting the progeny requires us to understand what it means to have good progeny in the context of modern knowledge namely genetics as well as modern lifestyle which present many challenges. Finally, there is a need to understand protection and expansion of property in a wider context, including utilising the various instruments to invest. This Colloquium is organised to discuss the issues in order to get a better interpretation as well as applying the principles of maqasid al-shariah with the objective to form the khaira ummah as mentioned in the Quran. The COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted many sectors such as protection of life, mental health and the socioeconomic sectors have added extra dimensions to this Colloquium.
Is the notion of human rights inclusive of future generations? What is Islam’s shari’ah-based conception of obligations to future generations offer to such discourse? One way or another, how one answers those questions impacts hotly debated issues in national policies of environment, sustainability, economics, and so on. In short: to what extent do future generations have religious and constitutional rights?