Maqāṣid al-Syarī‘ah and Constitutional Accountability in Urban Governance: An Islamic Legal Reflection on Public Safety Policy in Banjarmasin City
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64268/jilhs.v1i2.57Keywords:
Constitutional Accountability, Islamic Humanitarian Law, Maqāṣid al-Syarī‘ah, Public Safety Policy, Urban GovernanceAbstract
Background: The placement of U-turn lanes near traffic lights in Banjarmasin City reveals how local administrative decisions can affect citizens’ constitutional rights to safety and order. Within Islamic legal ethics, such policies must reflect maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah to preserve life and promote public welfare.
Aims: This study explores the constitutional and Islamic legal dimensions of urban traffic governance, focusing on how the Banjarmasin City Government exercises its authority in public safety regulation. It seeks to demonstrate that local policies should embody the principles of maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah as a form of humanitarian accountability in modern governance.
Methods: Adopting an empirical qualitative design, the research gathered data through interviews, field observations, and document reviews. The analysis combined constitutional law theory with maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah reasoning, emphasizing maslahah ‘ammah (public benefit) and justice in local decision-making.
Results: The findings indicate that the current U-turn policy, although intended to improve mobility, often leads to congestion and higher accident risks. Such outcomes suggest weak alignment with the objectives of ḥifẓ al-nafs (protection of life) and ḥifẓ al-māl (protection of property). Broader community participation and evidence-based policymaking are required to realize just and beneficial governance.
Conclusion: The study concludes that integrating maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah with constitutional accountability offers a comprehensive framework for ethical urban governance. By aligning public policy with Islamic humanitarian principles, local governments can ensure justice, compassion, and the protection of human dignity in serving society.
References
Andreetta, S. (2022). Failing, writing, litigating: Daily practices of resistance in Belgian welfare bureaucracies. International Journal of Law in Context, 18(3), 317–332. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174455232200026X DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S174455232200026X
Andrić, V. (2021). Is the All-Subjected Principle Extensionally Adequate? Res Publica, 27(3), 387–407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-020-09479-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-020-09479-9
Asutay, M., & Yilmaz, I. (2021). Constituting an Islamic social welfare function: An exploration through Islamic moral economy. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 14(3), 524–540. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMEFM-03-2019-0130 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IMEFM-03-2019-0130
Awasthi, P., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2022). Antecedents and consequences of servant leadership in local governance: Evidence from three case studies. Public Administration Review, 82(6), 1077–1094. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13552 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13552
Bhanye, J. (2025). Agile inheritance and vernacular governance – land, legitimacy, and migrant agency in peri-urban Zimbabwe. Discover Sustainability, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-01454-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-01454-9
Campana, P., Varese, F., & Meneghini, C. (2025). Criminal governance in a large European city: The case of gangs in London. European Journal of Criminology, 22(6), 877–900. https://doi.org/10.1177/14773708251315581 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14773708251315581
Chen, C.-H., Hung, H.-T., & Yeh, H.-C. (2021). Virtual reality in problem-based learning contexts: Effects on the problem-solving performance, vocabulary acquisition and motivation of English language learners. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 37(3), 851–860. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12528 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12528
Considine, M., Mcgann, M., Ball, S., & Nguyen, P. (2022). Can Robots Understand Welfare? Exploring Machine Bureaucracies in Welfare-to-Work. Journal of Social Policy, 51(3), 519–534. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279422000174 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279422000174
Coote, A. (2021). Universal basic services and sustainable consumption. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 17(1), 32–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2020.1843854 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2020.1843854
Drechsler, W., Kattel, R., & Chafik, S. (2024). Islamic public administration and Islamic public value: Towards a research agenda. Public Policy and Administration, 39(4), 608–624. https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767231201799 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767231201799
Elmahjub, E. (n.d.). Islamic Jurisprudence as an Ethical Discourse: An Enquiry into the Nature of Moral Reasoning in Islamic Legal Theory. Retrieved October 31, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1093/ojlr/rwaa023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ojlr/rwaa023
Erman, E. (2022). The boundary problem of democracy: A function-sensitive view. Contemporary Political Theory, 21(2), 240–261. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-021-00517-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-021-00517-6
Fanani, M., & Pohl, F. (2024). Fiqh-Based Social Transformation in Farmer Empowerment: A Participatory Action Research Approach. Al-Jami’ah: Journal of Islamic Studies, 62(2), 305–335. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2024.622.305-335 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2024.622.305-335
Flinders, M. (n.d.). Democracy and the Politics of Coronavirus: Trust, Blame and Understanding. Retrieved October 31, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsaa013 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsaa013
Forati, R., & Bartz, D. (2025). The Rise and Fall and Rise of Pronatalism: A Disingenuous Policy that Harms the Health of People and Society. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 53(3), 435–443. https://doi.org/10.1017/jme.2025.10129 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/jme.2025.10129
Harahap, B., Risfandy, T., & Futri, I. N. (2023). Islamic Law, Islamic Finance, and Sustainable Development Goals: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability, 15(8), 6626. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086626 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086626
Hassoon, M. T., & Karimes, A. R. (2024). The implications of applying the principle of equality to public utility services. Sciences of Conservation and Archaeology, 36(4), 69–83.
Hoddy, E., Halliday, S., Ensor, J., Macome, A., Wamsler, C., & Boyd, E. (2025). A socio-legal perspective on land market informality and accountability in urban land governance. World Development, 195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107110 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107110
Hoffmann, K., Pouliot, M., Nalunva, A. M., Lund, C., Banyanga, E. B., Mukungilwa, B. W., Baganda, S. B., Mapatano, J. B., Kashurha, C. C., Musamba, J., & Muzalia, G. K. (2025). Everyday property-making: Negotiating land rights, precarity and public authority in urban Congo. Land Use Policy, 158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107734 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2025.107734
Hong Son, P. V., & Duong, L. T. (2025). Fuzzy evaluation of institutional leverage points for TOD implementation: The case of Vietnam. Case Studies on Transport Policy, 22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2025.101613 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2025.101613
Jun, G. (2022). Missional Discipleship in the Public Sphere: With Special Reference to Lordship, Followership and Christlikeness in the Concept of Public Discipleship. Transformation, 39(2), 111–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/02653788211062462 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/02653788211062462
Kurt-Özman, E., & Tasan-Kok, T. (2025). Community politics in urban regeneration under authoritarian entrepreneurial governance. Urban Studies, 62(15), 2935–2955. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251345701 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251345701
Majumdar, B. B., Jayakumar, M., Sahu, P. K., & Potoglou, D. (2021). Identification of key determinants of travel satisfaction for developing policy instrument to improve quality of life: An analysis of commuting in Delhi. Transport Policy, 110, 281–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.06.012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.06.012
Makwela, M., Dittgen, R., & Rubin, M. (2024). Planned stitching, practical suturing: Assembling community voices and mobilisation across difference in Johannesburg’s corridors of freedom. City, 28(5–6), 940–960. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2024.2414369 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2024.2414369
Mukhlis, M. M., Maskun, Tajuddin, M. S., Andriani, D., Muchtasar, R., & Masum, A. (2025). Regional Government Autonomy in Indonesia: The Ambiguity of the Federalism of Republic Model. Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law, 13, 35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33102/mjsl.vol13no1.760
Najdowski, C. J., & Goff, P. A. (2022). Toward a Psychological Science of Abolition Democracy: Insights for Improving Theory and Research on Race and Public Safety. Social Issues and Policy Review, 16(1), 33–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12083 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12083
Nasr, M., & Hoes, E. (2024). The times they are a-changin’: An experimental assessment of the causes and consequences of sudden policy U-turns. European Journal of Political Research, 63(4), 1655–1673. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12650 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12650
Nouman, M., Siddiqi, M. F., Ullah, K., & Jan, S. (2021). Nexus between higher ethical objectives (Maqasid Al Shari’ah) and participatory finance. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 13(2), 226–251. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRFM-06-2020-0092 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/QRFM-06-2020-0092
Odoyi, E. J., & Riekkinen, K. (2025). Exploring land policy tools and instruments for formalising informal settlements in Nigeria. Habitat International, 166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103605 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103605
Perlman, B. J., Reddick, C., & Demir, T. (2023). A compliance—integrity framework for ethics management: An empirical analysis of local government practice. Public Administration Review, 83(4), 823–837. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13610 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13610
Petraki, V., Papantoniou, P., Korentzelou, A., & Yannis, G. (2022). Public Acceptability of Environmentally Linked Congestion and Parking Charging Policies in Greek Urban Centers. Sustainability, 14(15), 9208. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159208 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159208
Sanchez, T. W., Brenman, M., & Ye, X. (2025). The Ethical Concerns of Artificial Intelligence in Urban Planning. Journal of the American Planning Association, 91(2), 294–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2024.2355305 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2024.2355305
Tavella, R. A., de Moura, F. R., & da Silva Júnior, F. M. R. (2025). Ashes of governance: Brazil’s 2024 wildfire crisis and its implications. Regional Environmental Change, 25(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-025-02469-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-025-02469-8
Tissayakorn, K. (2025). Comparative analysis of E-government development status of ASEAN member states: Accomplishments and challenges. Sustainable Futures, 10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2025.101353 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2025.101353
Urbina, F. J. (2024). Reasons for Interpretation. Columbia Law Review, 124(6), 1661–1740. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4722069
Webler, T., & Tuler, S. (2021). Four Decades of Public Participation in Risk Decision Making. Risk Analysis, 41(3), 503–518. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13250 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13250
Wilkinson, M. A. (2023). Political constitutionalism in Europe revisited. Journal of Law and Society, 50(S1), S115–S139. https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12433 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12433
Wyatt, T., Maher, J., Allen, D., Clarke, N., & Rook, D. (2022). The welfare of wildlife: An interdisciplinary analysis of harm in the legal and illegal wildlife trades and possible ways forward. Crime, Law and Social Change, 77(1), 69–89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-09984-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-09984-9
Zhang, W.-H., Yuan, Q., & Cai, H. (2023). Unravelling urban governance challenges: Objective assessment and expert insights on livability in Longgang District, Shenzhen. Ecological Indicators, 155, 110989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110989 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110989
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Atti Janiah

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.