The Causal Bāʾ (Bāʾ Sababiyyah) and the Paradigm Shift of Qiwāmah from Innate to Functional

An Epistemological Construction of the Integration of Linguistics and Maqāṣid in Ibn ʿĀshūr's al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr

Abstract

This article examines the epistemological construction of the integration between linguistic analysis and maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah in Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir Ibn ‘Āsyūr’s tafsīr at-Taḥrīr wa at-Tanwīr, focusing specifically on qiwāmah (women’s leadership) in QS. al-Nisā’/4: 34. Prior studies tend to treat linguistic and maqāṣid dimensions separately, reducing maqāṣid to mere normative justification and weakening tafsīr’s social-transformative power. Employing a qualitative-library research method, this study demonstrates that Ibn ‘Āsyūr’s key breakthrough lies in reading the bā’ in bi-mā faḍḍala as bā’ sababiyyah (causal particle), reframing qiwāmah from an ontological claim of male privilege into a causal-functional norm contingent on fulfilling economic and social responsibility. Applying the uṣūl principle al-ḥukmu yadūru ma‘a ‘illatihi wujūdan wa ‘adaman, Ibn ‘Āsyūr opens conceptual space for women’s leadership wherever the ‘illah conditions are met. In contemporary Indonesia—where women occupy strategic roles across executive, legislative, and judicial spheres—this approach provides a robust theological foundation for rejecting text-based gender discrimination and for affirming policies such as the 30% legislative quota under Law No. 7 of 2017. The article concludes that the linguistic-maqāṣidī integration in at-Taḥrīr wa at-Tanwīr constitutes a productive model of Islamic hermeneutics that is normatively anchored yet socially responsive.