Rethinking Maqasid al-Shari‘ah from the Ground: An Ethnography of Pilgrimage and Community Philanthropy in Pasir Sialang Village, Kabupaten Kampar, Riau

Abstract

This study examines the annual grave pilgrimage (ziarah raya enam) and community-based giving in Pasir Sialang Village, Kabupaten Kampar, Riau, as an ethnographic case of how local Muslim actors negotiate religious devotion, customary practice, and communal welfare. Rather than claiming to reconstruct maqasid al-shari'ah as a legal theory, this article uses maqashid as an interpretive lens to examine how local meanings and social practices may be cautiously related to Islamic ethical objectives. Employing a qualitative ethnographic case study, the research draws on participant observation, semi-structured interviews with five key informants, and analysis of local documents related to pilgrimage, mosque activities, communal meals, and donation practices. The findings show that the pilgrimage is understood not only as prayer and remembrance for the deceased, but also as a social event that organizes kinship, migrant return, village belonging, food sharing, and mosque-based donations. Community philanthropy in this context operates less through formal charitable institutions than through informal giving, voluntary labor, shared meals, and household-based contributions. These practices form a local moral economy in which domestic resources are transformed into communal support and social reciprocity. The study also finds that the relationship between Islamic norms and local custom is not simply harmonious, but continuously negotiated through religious authority, customary leadership, gendered participation, and theological caution. The article contributes to community-based maqāṣid studies by showing that local practices should not be directly mapped onto classical maqasid categories, but interpreted through empirical meanings, observable social effects, religious boundaries, and the presence of maslahah.