The 2nd International Conference on Maqasid Al-Waḥy and the Future of Interdisciplinary Scientific Research (2nd MAFIS) was held successfully on August 26-27, 2026, conducted virtually via Zoom. The conference was organized by the Maqasid Institute, Research Synergy Foundation, and the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation, International Islamic University Malaysia (ISTAC-IIUM).
MAFIS is an annual academic conference carrying the theme "Operationalising Tawhidic Teleological Methodologies for the Islamic Human-Acquired Sciences." Building on the foundation of the inaugural 2025 conference, MAFIS 2026 focused on moving from theoretical discourse to operational research methodologies, addressing the gap in developing and demonstrating research methods, including problem formulation, design, data interpretation, and validity criteria, that are explicitly shaped by Tawhidic principles and the higher purposes of Revelation.
The conference aimed to break new ground by shifting from "debating frameworks" to "operationalising methodologies," showcasing how Islamic research grounded in Revelation can produce actionable, purpose-driven scholarship for real-world applications in the human-acquired sciences.
The 2nd MAFIS successfully gathered speakers, presenters, scientific reviewers, session chairs, and participants from more than 24 countries around the globe, such as Indonesia, the United States, the Philippines, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, China, Switzerland, Australia, Jordan, Canada, Belgium, and the Maldives.
| Track Islamic Political Thought & Governance | ||
| Paper ID | Presenter | Paper Title |
| MAF26111 | Azrol Azmi Haji Zakaria | From Khalifah to Policy: Operationalising Maqasid Al-Wahy in Asean Blue Economy Governance -The Case of Brunei Darussalam- |
| MAF26125 | Nur Syazana Fauzi | Reframing UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): An Islamic Governance Perspective |
| Track Sustainability Studies | ||
| Paper ID | Presenter | Paper Title |
| MAF26118 | Motaz Al Thaher | Rethinking Mosque Sanitation Through Maqasid Driven Design: Two Case Studies |
| Track Islamic Economics | ||
| Paper ID | Presenter | Paper Title |
| MAF26123 | Adamu Abubakar Muhammad | MaqāṣId Al-WaḥY, Waqf, and Scientific Research Funding: Building Sustainable Knowledge Ecosystems |
| Track Islamic Finance | ||
| Paper ID | Presenter | Paper Title |
| MAF26116 | Junayd Diya | Operationalising Uṣūl al-Fiqh as a Research Methodology for Contemporary Islamic Finance: Venture Capital and Private Equity as a Case Study |
| Track Maqasid al-Shariah | ||
| Paper ID | Presenter | Paper Title |
| MAF26122 | Ildus Rafikov | Maqasid Al-Wahy as Foundation for Knowledge: A Study Through the Maqasid Methodology |
| MAF26106 | Khairil Husaini Bin Jamil | Al-ḥAjj Al-QaṣD: Reframing the ManāSik as MaqāṣId Pedagogy |
Track Islamic Political Thought & Governance
Presenter: Azrol Azmi Haji Zakaria
Paper Title: From Khalifah to Policy: Operationalising Maqasid Al-Wahy in ASEAN Blue Economy Governance -The Case of Brunei Darussalam-
List of Questions:
- Muhammad Imran: “How can we practically use the Islamic concept of ‘Khalifah’ (stewardship) to design modern environmental policies for marine protection and the Blue Economy?”
- Yedi Purwanto: “What does Maqashid Sharia think about the position of political caliph and khalifah in Surah Al-Baqarah 30? Please explain. Thank you.”
- Arqam Ali: “How can young professionals and students contribute to operationalising the concept of Khalifah in ASEAN’s Blue Economy, beyond simply promoting environmental awareness?”
- Mohamed Taufik Bin Mohamed Ramlan: “Since the case study is Brunei Darussalam, why is Brunei Darussalam particularly suitable as a case study for operationalising Maqasid al-Wahy in Blue Economy governance? What lessons from Brunei could realistically be transferred to other ASEAN states with very different political, economic and religious contexts?”
- HAMMAD: “There is often a tension between environmental protection and economic growth. If economic benefits from the Blue Economy conflict with environmental responsibilities derived from Maqasid al-Wahy, what criteria should policymakers use to determine their priorities?”
- Asif Sultan: “Does the Blue Economy deal only with benefits?”
- Yasir Arfat: “Where Maqasid al-Wahy principles and conventional Blue Economy metrics, such as GDP growth and foreign investment, come into tension, which takes precedence in your model and how is that conflict resolved in practice?”
- Mohamed Taufik Bin Mohamed Ramlan: “I find the transition from khalifah as a theological concept to public policy particularly interesting. What is the methodological bridge between the two? In other words, how do we move from the Quranic-normative claim that human beings are khalifah to specific policy prescriptions, measurable indicators and governance mechanisms for the Blue Economy? And how do we demonstrate that those prescriptions are genuinely derived from Maqasid rather than simply attaching Islamic terminology to existing sustainability principles?”
- Mr. Sofy (Cambodia): “Currently, I am looking at how economic systems operate in non-Muslim countries and how non-Muslim countries manage them, including educational support and waqf. Can the Blue Economy help?”
Presenter: Nur Syazana Fauzi
Paper Title: Reframing UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): An Islamic Governance Perspective
List of Questions:
- Md Atif Ali: “How can concepts such as Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah, ʿAdl (justice), Amānah (trust), and Khilāfah (stewardship) contribute to reframing the SDGs?”
- Mr. Sofy (Cambodia): “How can Islamic governance operate in a minority-Muslim country? Do you have any ideas or suggestions that could make it sustainable, including through productive waqf?”
- Mohamed Taufik Bin Mohamed Ramlan: “The UN SDGs are primarily framed around human development, social welfare, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability. In Islamic thought, however, human beings have a purpose beyond worldly welfare. Should an Islamic model therefore redefine ‘development’ itself in terms of falah, ʿibadah, khilafah and the Hereafter? If so, what would an Islamic definition of ‘sustainable development’ look like?”
- Arqam Ali: “Given Pakistan’s Islamic constitutional identity, why does there still seem to be a gap between Islamic governance principles and the implementation of the UN SDGs, and how can this gap be addressed?”
Track Sustainability Studies
Presenter: Motaz Al Thaher
Paper Title: Rethinking Mosque Sanitation Through Maqasid Driven Design: Two Case Studies
List of Questions:
- Mohamed Taufik Bin Mohamed Ramlan: “Would you consider hifz al-nafs (preservation of life) the primary Maqasid underpinning mosque sanitation, or would you argue that hifz al-din (preservation of religion) is equally fundamental because cleanliness facilitates acts of worship?”
Track Islamic Economics
Presenter: Adamu Abubakar Muhammad
Paper Title: Maqāṣid Al-Waḥy, Waqf, and Scientific Research Funding: Building Sustainable Knowledge Ecosystems
List of Questions:
- Mohd Saqib: “Can I get these slides, sir?”
- Yedi Purwanto: “Dear Dr. Adamu, can productive waqf (endowment) funds be used to finance a boarding house for university students?”
- Junef Ismaliyanto: “Traditional waqf frequently manifests as immovable assets, such as land and real estate, characterised by low liquidity. How can modern waqf modalities, such as cash waqf or cash-waqf-linked sukuk, be optimised to finance scientific research that demands high cash flows and entails high failure risks?”
Track Islamic Finance
Presenter: Junayd Diya
Paper Title: Operationalising Uṣūl al-Fiqh as a Research Methodology for Contemporary Islamic Finance: Venture Capital and Private Equity as a Case Study
List of Questions:
- Najamuddin Nasuhan UNM Indonesia: “Professor Junayd Diya, USAF proposes moving from ‘individual contractual validity to integrated institutional analysis’. Sociologically, what are the biggest challenges for Islamic financial institutions to shift from focusing on product-halal to measuring institutional impact on maqasid, such as justice and poverty alleviation?”
- menale jerome: “How can small, community-led learning initiatives apply the Uṣūlī framework to ensure our financial decisions focus on true social impact (ḥaqīqah) rather than just superficial, formal compliance?”
- Dr. Mubarak Abiodun YUSUFF: “Is USAF, with that abbreviation exactly, firstly used by you or has it been propounded before now?”
- ATHIAH KHOLILATUL UMMI: “Dr. Junayd, regarding Principle 01: Epistemological Primacy, how do you effectively deconstruct a complex financial structure to separate its real economic substance from just its legal form?”
Track Maqasid al-Shariah
Presenter: Ildus Rafikov
Paper Title: Maqasid Al-Wahy as Foundation for Knowledge: A Study Through the Maqasid Methodology
List of Questions:
-
Dr. Mubarak Abiodun YUSUFF: “Your presentation reminds me of something: around 9am Nigerian time yesterday, a Shaykh delivered a paper here on ‘maqasid tafsīr’. Someone asked him whether maqasid tafsīr is the same as maqasid al-Quran, and he said yes. I believe that is incorrect. They are not the same at all. Please Shaykh, can you help us shed light on that?”
Clarification: “The actual question yesterday was whether maqasid tafsīr is the same as maqasid al-Shariah. I believe maqasid al-tafsīr is not at the same epistemological level as maqasid al-Shariah. Maqasid tafsīr is a methodological tool that helps us understand and deduce Maqāsid al-Wahy, other maqasid al-Shariah, and other intellectual resources in the Qur'an.”
Presenter: Khairil Husaini Bin Jamil
Paper Title: Al-Ḥajj Al-Qaṣd: Reframing the Manāsik as Maqāṣid Pedagogy
List of Questions:
- Yedi Purwanto: “Dear Dr. Husaini, how does the Maqasid Sharia concept of Hajj (pilgrimage) relate to the concept of istita'ah (capacity/ability) amidst the current tensions between Iran and the United States?”
- Ismail: “Given that the manasik are predominantly ta‘abbudi (devotional acts accepted purely out of submission, beyond rationale), does reframing the Hajj rituals through a maqasid-based pedagogy which emphasises rationality and inner wisdom risk degrading the primary value of absolute submission into a mere exercise in spiritual self-improvement?”
- Mohamed Taufik Bin Mohamed Ramlan: “The phrase ‘Al-Hajj al-Qasd’ is interesting because qasd can evoke both intention or purpose and the broader discourse of maqasid. What is the conceptual relationship between al-qasd in ‘Al-Hajj al-Qasd’ and the technical concept of maqasid al-Shariah? Are you proposing a specific maqasid framework for Hajj or using maqasid more broadly as a hermeneutical and pedagogical lens?”
- Mohamed Taufik Bin Mohamed Ramlan: “Secondly, if Hajj is understood as Maqasid pedagogy, how do we measure whether the pilgrim has actually internalised those maqasid after returning home? For example, if Hajj is supposed to cultivate taqwa, justice, discipline, solidarity and self-restraint, what indicators would demonstrate that this transformation has actually occurred?”
- Yedi Purwanto: “Dear Dr. Husaini, how can the Rukun Haji (essential pillars of Hajj) and Wajib Haji (obligatory acts of Hajj) be distinguished using the Maqasid al-Shari'ah (objectives of Sharia) approach?”
- ATHIAH KHOLILATUL UMMI: “Dr. Husaini, could you clarify how this mode of formation differs from typical spiritual training?”
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