Maqāṣid al-Syarī‘ah as an Ethical Framework for Islamic Law in the Big Data Era: An Analysis of Personal Data Protection in the Digital Ecosystem

Abstract

The activities of collecting, processing, storing, and exchanging personal data have increased due to the rapid development of the digital ecosystem and the increasing dependence on big data. While there are many benefits to these developments, there are also significant risks, including data misuse, privacy violations, information breaches, and the use of people's personal information without their consent. This study aims to examine personal data protection from the perspective of Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah and evaluate its applicability as an ethical framework of Islamic law in addressing the issues presented by the big data era. Both conceptual and statutory normative legal research methods are used in this study. Primary and secondary legal documents pertaining to Islamic law, Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah, and personal data protection are examined using qualitative descriptive analysis. The findings demonstrate that the objectives of Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah, particularly ḥifḍ al-nafs (protection of life), ḥifd al-‘aql (protection of intellect), ḥifd al-‘māl (protection of property), and ḥifd al-‘irḍ (protection of dignity), are closely related to the protection of personal data. The need of informed consent, data security, purpose limitation, openness, and preventing harmful data exploitation are all highlighted by these concepts. In order to build personal data governance that promotes public welfare, upholds human dignity, and prevents harm in the digital ecosystem, the study concludes that Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah provides an additional ethical foundation to positive legislation.