The Doctrine of Maslaha (Public Interest) in Islamic Law and Its Application to Environmental Regulation in Northern Nigeria

Maslaha (public interest reasoning) is an Islamic jurisprudential method that justifies legal rules on the basis of their service to the five objectives of Islamic law: protection of religion, life, intellect, progeny, and property. Its application to contemporary environmental regulatory challenges, including industrial pollution, deforestation, and water contamination in northern Nigerian states, offers an analytically significant Islamic legal basis for environmental law reform. This study analytically applies the doctrine of Maslaha to the environmental regulatory framework in northern Nigeria, identifying how Islamic public interest reasoning can strengthen environmental legal obligations. A comparative doctrinal and policy analysis methodology is applied, reviewing classical Maslaha doctrine from Shatibi, Al-Ghazali, and Tufi alongside the environmental regulations of Kano, Kaduna, and Sokoto States, and analysing thirty-five environmental dispute cases from Sharia and Area courts in these states from 2015 to 2022. The study evaluates how Maslaha-based reasoning has been invoked in environmental proceedings and identifies gaps in its doctrinal application. Available Islamic environmental jurisprudence literature from northern Nigeria identifies the La Darar (no harm) principle as the most frequently invoked Islamic doctrine in environmental cases, with Maslaha reasoning underutilised despite its broader regulatory potential. Findings are expected to reveal significant doctrinal resources available but underutilised. Recommendations address integration of Maslaha reasoning into northern Nigerian environmental enforcement, judicial training in Islamic environmental jurisprudence, and model Maslaha-based environmental legislation. Keywords: Maslaha, public interest, environmental law, northern Nigeria, Islamic jurisprudence.