LEGAL MAXIMS AND OTHER GENRES OF LITERATURE 101

Further related to our discussion on the prevalence of statutory legislation, it will be noted that statutory codes have now partially assumed the role that was earlier played by legal maxims. The language and style of statutory legislation show a striking similarity to that of legal maxims, as both tend to be concise, devoid of details, illustration, and ratiocination. What could earlier be said in a legal maxim can now be said in the text of a constitution, a civil code, or other statutes. Yet, it still remains to be said that legal maxims and statutes are not substitutes for one another. Legal maxims can play a supplementary role to substantiate legislation in the Sharī'a-dominated fields, such as personal law and civil transactions.

The Sharī'a law of personal status continues to be the applied law of most Muslim countries, and the development, more recently, of Islamic banking and finance has also witnessed a revival of the Sharī'a law of mu'āmalāt. For purposes of better understanding and consolidation of important fiqh concepts with statutory laws, we may propose that legal maxims which relate to these and other applied areas of the Sharī'a should be clustered together and added as an appendix, introduction, or explanatory memorandum to the relevant statutes, and thus given a role in matters of interpretation and enforcement in the courts of justice. This will help to provide judges and lawyers with a convenient reference to relevant legal maxims—just as it can give the readers a convenient lead into important fiqh concepts. What is proposed here is also likely, in the long run, to contribute toward greater harmonisation and uniformity of the Sharī'a and civil law, itself an objective which is actively pursued in many Muslim countries, including Malaysia.⁴⁵