Maslahat concept in the context of traditional and modernist thought

It is a fact that the Islamic world was in regression against the West in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century as today. The way to transform regression into progress was discussed extensively by Efgani, Abduh, Rıza, Kevseri and Sabri Efendi, who were among the most important in the political, scientific and intellectual of the period. While the aforementioned scholars are allied that the Islamic world is in regression against the West, their ideas about the proposals for progress and the reasons for the decline are so far from each other that they cannot be reconciled. Efgani, Abduh and Rıza, whom we consider as classical Islamic modernists, taking into account the widespread opinion about them, consider traditional Islamic thought to be the main reason for the decline and that it should be destroyed; They argue that the field of transactions should be reinterpreted in accordance with the principle of maslaha in order to meet the needs of our age by referring to the Qur'an. On the other hand, traditionalists consisting of Sabri Efendi and Kevseri have harsh criticisms of the maslahat approach. Therefore, one of the most popular and problematic issues of the period is the idea of maslahad. It is seen that no study has been carried out for the aforementioned scholars for the determination and comparison of this idea. Therefore, in the research, it is aimed to determine, compare and evaluate the reflections of the first transfer of modernism to tradition on the understanding of maslaha, specific to the scholars who are mentioned. In this way, the views on maslahah, which are reflected in theory and practice, were first collected by document analysis method, and then a result was tried to be reached by inductive method by making comparisons. According to our findings, modernists defend the historicity of the reforms of the nass; It is seen that they have adopted an extreme idea of benefit that can be presented and dominated against the absolute nass, and this will make the nass of the transaction abrogate the perpetual provision of the nass. On the other hand, traditionalists think, "There is no room for ijtihâd in the Mavrid-i nass." The nass and the previous scholars have closed the issues on which they are allied to all kinds of changes, with the exception of changes in the form of permission based on shar'i and obligatory interests. It is understood that they respect the interests of the matters that are disputed and in the fiqh of the nevâzil and defend the eternity of the interests of the nass. Again, the maslahat that the traditionalists embraced is "nass-oriented/depending on the cause"; It is understood that what modernists advocate is "wisdom and mind-oriented interests".