Jasser Auda

Jasser Auda (born November 1966 in Cairo) is a Canadian scholar and professor specializing in Islamic law (Sharia) and its higher objectives, known as Maqasid al-Shariah. He was a founding president of the Maqasid Institute Global, a think tank with educational and research programs on Islamic law across multiple countries.

Education and career Auda earned two doctorates, one in the philosophy of Islamic law from the University of Wales, UK, and another in systems analysis from the University of Waterloo, Canada. His early education included memorizing the Quran and studying Islamic sciences at study circles in the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo.

Over the years, Auda has held academic positions across various institutions worldwide. In his home country Canada, he has been affiliated with the University of Waterloo, Carleton University, and Ryerson University. In the Middle East, his academic contributions extend to roles at the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, the American University of Sharjah in the UAE, the University of Bahrain, and Alexandria University in Egypt. In East Asia, he held professorial positions at University of Brunei Darussalam, and currently with the International Islamic University of Malaysia. In 2015, he founded Honours, Masters and PhD programs in Applied Islamic Thought program at the International Peace College in South Africa.

Works and contributions Auda has authored 25 books in Arabic and English, many of which have been translated into multiple languages. His works primarily address the philosophy of Islamic law, the concept of maqasid, and the role of Islamic jurisprudence in contemporary societies. Among his best-known publications are Maqasid al-Shariah as Philosophy of Islamic Law: A Systems Approach and Maqasid al-Shariah: A Beginner’s Guide, which have been translated into several languages, including Arabic, Bosnian, Italian, and Indonesian.

In addition to his books, Auda has contributed numerous research articles to academic journals, where he explores topics such as Sharia’s ethical goals, the incorporation of maqasid in public policy, and the dynamics between secular and religious values. His selected works include "Shariah, Ethical Goals and the Modern Society" (2016), "Al-Ijtihad al-maqasidi: Ru’ya Manzumiyyah" (2014), and "A Maqasidi Approach to Contemporary Application of the Shariah" (2011).