Rights, Power, and the Jurisprudence of Lā ḍarar walā ḍirār
ABSTRACT:
This article argues that rights are more than being protections against power, they are also socially recognized capacities to shape the choices available to others. Building on this proposition, it reexamines the Prophetic maxim lā ḍarar walā ḍirār (“there shall be neither harm nor leveraging”) through the lens of power, rights, and adjudication. From this perspective, lā ḍarar walā ḍirār may be understood as a principle that constrains the exercise of power embedded within rights claims, preventing legitimate entitlements from becoming instruments of domination. Drawing on the Systems Thinking Framework and the Power Differential Principle, the article argues that Islamic legal reasoning anticipated a dynamic approach to rights adjudication in which competing claims must be evaluated not only according to their validity but also according to the power relationships they generate and the consequences likely to emerge from their exercise.