Nur al-Din al-Khadimi
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Nur al-Din al-Khadimi (b. 1383 AH / 1963 CE) is a contemporary Tunisian scholar of Islamic jurisprudence and legal theory (usul al-fiqh), recognized for his research on the higher objectives of Islamic law (maqasid al-shari'a) and author of 'Ilm al-Maqasid al-Shari'iyya (The Science of the Higher Objectives of Islamic Law) .
Early Life and Education
Nur al-Din ibn Mukhtar al-Khadimi was born on May 18, 1963, in the city of Tala in the Kasserine Governorate, Tunisia . He began his early education at the Quranic school (kuttab) attached to the Mosque of 'Ali al-Bahli in Tala under the mosque's imam, Muhammad al-'Ubaydi, and completed his primary and secondary schooling in the same city .
In 1404 AH (1984 CE), he enrolled at Ez-Zitouna University in Tunis, earning his ustadhiyya (licence) in jurisprudence and sharia politics in 1988 from the Zitouna Faculty of Sharia and Usul al-Din . He completed a third-cycle doctorate in usul al-fiqh in 1993 at the Higher Institute of Sharia with a dissertation entitled al-Dalil 'inda al-Zahiriyya (Evidence According to the Zahiris) . In 1997, he obtained a State Doctorate (doktorat al-dawla) in jurisprudence with highest honors from the Higher Institute of Usul al-Din at Ez-Zitouna University, with a dissertation on legal objectives in the Maliki school, al-Maqasid fi al-Madhhab al-Maliki .
Scholarly Career and Contributions
Al-Khadimi has engaged in preaching (khitaba) and teaching across various mosques in Tunisia . His scholarly contributions focus primarily on Islamic legal theory and applied jurisprudence, emphasizing that the higher objectives of Islamic law must remain anchored to and derived from textual proofs rather than functioning independently of them . In this domain, he authored al-Ijtihad al-Maqasidi: Hujjiyyatuhu, Dawabituhu, Majalatuhu (Teleological Legal Reasoning: Its Authority, Parameters, and Domains), published in two volumes in the Qatari Kitab al-Ummah series in 1419 AH .
He has also written on contemporary bioethical and transactional issues—including genetic engineering, the human genome, and electronic contracts via the internet—publishing specialized studies in scholarly periodicals such as Majallat al-Buhuth al-Fiqhiyya al-Mu'asira in Riyadh and Majallat al-'Adl, alongside general contributions to periodicals such as al-Da'wah and al-Usrah .
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List of Works
Ilm al-Maqasid al-Shariyya (The Science of the Higher Objectives of Islamic Law) is a specialized treatise on Islamic legal theory, published in 1421 AH (2001 CE). The work examines the foundational principles, history, categories, and practical applications of legal objectives (maqasid) in Islamic jurisprudence.