What is FIQH?

Understanding Basic Concept of Fiqh.

Submitted by:-
Submitted to:-
Bilal Khan Niazi,
Date:- Roll no:- 1819
Respected Madam
11h june, Gomal Law College, Mobina Mehsud.
2020 DI Khan.
Table of
1 Abstract 4
2 Islamic Jurisprudence, 6

Contents 3
4
Jurisprudence
Fiqh, Meaning, Definition
7-8
9-12
5 Explanation of Fiqh. 13-14
6 Broad Meaning of Fiqh 15
7 Fiqh as a Rational Argument. 16
8 Basic Concept of Fiqh 17-19
9 Fiqh Assisting Shariah 20-21
10 Authority of Fiqh 22-23
 11 Applications and Functions of Fiqh. 24-25

Table of 12

13
History Of Fiqh, Formation, progress.

Components of Fiqh
26-29

30-38

Contents 14 Sources of Fiqh

● Quran & Sunnah
● Ijma and Qiyas.
31-33

15 Areas Covered by Fiqh.

● Rules regarding actions 34-37
● Rules regarding Circumstances.

16 Fields of Fiqh. 38

17 Implementation of Fiqh. 39-40

18 FIQH and Shariah. 41-42

19 Principles of Fiqh. /Usul al Fiqh. 43-46

20 Conclusion. 47-48
 Abstract:-
Every law or Legal field is comprised of 2 grounds
of Study.i.e
● Jurisprudence
● Statute.
Statute consists of enacted or Legislated laws
which are strict and Codified whereas
Jurisprudence is the interpretation or general
termination related to a certain Legal Field.
E.g In western fields of Law in Pakistan
➢ Statues :- Penal codes, Procedural Codes etc
➢ Jurisprudence:- Salmond's Jurisprudence,
Black’s Legal Work.
Similarly in Islamic Fields of Law in Pakistan.
➢ State:- Shariah i.e Quran and Sunnah
➢ Jurisprudence:- Fiqh.

So fiqh is basically the Jurisprudence or a

man made interpretations of Divine law i.e
Quan and sunnah.
Islamic Jurisprudence.
Fiqh
 Jurisprudence
Literal Meaning:-
● “Juris” means “Law”
● “Prudence” means “knowledge”
Definition:-
Jurisprudence or legal theory is the
theoretical study of law.
Applications of Jurisprudence:-
Jurisprudence seek to explain the nature
of law in its most general form and provide
a deeper understanding of
● legal reasoning.
● Legal system.
● Schools of thought.
● legal institutions, and
● the role of law in society.
 Fiqh
Literal Meaning:-
● "deep understanding"
● "full comprehension"
Definition:-
‘’The human understanding of divine islamic Law as
revealed in Quran and Sunnah (Shariah).”
Literally “al-Fiqh” means,
● al-FAHM
● The understanding of Something.
According to Imam Ghazali :-
“Al-fiqh means the
● understanding (fahm),
● ponderance (tadabbu) and
● insight (basirat )
in the matter of religion.”
According to Hanfi Jurist Sadr al shariah :-
“Fiqh is the knowledge of Shar’i ahkam
(Legal Rules) pertaining to conduct, that
have been derived from their specific
evidences.”

Spiritual and Physical Rules:-

The rules discussed above may relate to moral
as well as spiritual beliefs.
i) Spritual Rules:-
These rules may relate to beliefs like
● Existence of Allah
● Oneness of Allah
● Truth in mission of Allah
● Belief in Holy Books revealed by Allah.
● Judgement day etc
ii) Phsycal Rules:-
The rules could also pertain to acts which could
be Physical e.g
● Prayers
● Zakat
● Rights of neighbours etc
Explanation:-
Fiqh means,
What a prudent person is likely to extract and
conclude from obvious evidences given by Shariah.

According to Muafiya:-
I heard Allah's apostle saying
“If Allah wants to do good to a
person, he makes him
comprehend the Religion”.
Just like English Jurisprudence develops Enacted
Laws and statutes through Interpretations,
Similarly
● Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through
interpretation (ijtihad) of the Quran and
Sunnah by Islamic jurists (ulama) and is
implemented by the rulings (fatwa) of jurists
on questions presented to them.
Broad Meaning of Fiqh:-
Hence
"Fiqh means knowledge about Islamic legal rulings from their
sources and deriving religious rulings from their sources
necessitates the mujtahid (an individual who exercises ijtihad) to
have a deep understanding in the different discussions of
jurisprudence”.
● A faqīh must look deep down into a matter and not
suffice himself with just the apparent meaning, and a
person who only knows the appearance of a matter is
not qualified as a faqīh.
Fiqh as a Rational Argument:-
Classical jurists held that human reason is a
gift from God which should be exercised to its
fullest capacity. However, they believed that
use of reason alone is insufficient to
distinguish right from wrong, and
● that rational argumentation must draw its
content from the body of transcendental
knowledge revealed in the Quran and
through the sunnah of Muhammad(SAW).
Basic concept of Fiqh:-
According to traditional Islamic history, Islamic law
followed a chronological path of:

Allah-> Muhammad-> Companions->

Followers-> Fiqh
While the principles of the Quran and the
Sunnah are permanent, it is the nature of
Islamic jurisprudence to facilitate for human
beings the application of those principles to
their activities and dealings.The commands
and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed
through the agency of the Prophet in both
the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and
examples of the Prophet passed down as hadith).
The first Muslims (the Sahabah or Companions) heard
and obeyed, and passed this essence of Islam to
succeeding generations (Tabi'un and Tabi' al-Tabi'in or
successors/followers and successors of successors), as
Muslims and Islam spread from West Arabia to
the conquered lands north, east, and west, where
Fiqh was systematized and elaborated.
● So from here we get the basic concept of Fiqh
that it carried on the commands of Allah
following the channel mentioned above.
Fiqh Assisting Shariah:-
Two terms are used to refer to law in Islam:
shariah and fiqh. Shariah refers to God's divine
law as contained in the Quran and the sayings and
doings of Muhammad (hadith). Fiqh refers to the
scholarly efforts of jurists (fuqaha) to elaborate
the details of shariah through investigation and
debate. Muslims understand shariah to be an
unchanging revelation, while fiqh, as a human
endeavor, is open to debate, reinterpretation, and
change.
Fiqh is, broadly, jurisprudence. Sharia is the law; fiqh is
our interpretation of the law, our attempt to understand
and live it. Through fiqh, we can discover and live the true
Sharia. That’s really all there is to it, but it’s an important
distinction.
 Authority Of Fiqh:-
To start from the beginning, there are some universal
questions every human being asks himself. The answers to
these are contained in theology, and have primarily to do with
the relationship of the person to the world, humanity, and
life. Muslims answer these questions by affirming that it is
God who created us, that we are to apply His Laws (that is,
his commands and prohibitions), and that we will be raised
and gathered in an afterlife beyond the life of this world.
This worldview undoubtedly has a great influence on even the
most mundane parts of an individual’s daily life.
The above has in fact a deep connection with usul al-fiqh, and with its
theory of authority. For after settling on the above, the usuli asks
himself how precisely we are to apply the laws of God. The answer to
this question is that we take the rulings of God from the Holy Qur’an
out of consideration for its being a revealed and infallible text,
transmitted to us reliably, and out of our belief that it is the word of
God, our Creator, and that we are bound to comply with it in our lives,
and that the rulings contained within it are the basis of our reckoning
on the Day of Judgement.

● Through this understanding, we come to see that usul al-fiqh is an

extension of theology (‘ilm al-kalam), for if the Qur’an is our
foremost source and basis for legislation, it confirms that the
Prophet is His messenger, and establishes the need to obey him.
As such, the authority of the sunna is based on the authority of
the Qur’an, which it comes to clarify and complement.
 Applications and Functions of Fiqh
● Fiqh constitutes the boundaries outlined by Allah. We
must study and learn them and live our lives within them.
● Halal and Haram matter.
● The four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Maliki,
Shafi’i, Hanifi, Hanbali) meticulously describe the
boundaries set forth by Allah. If you are not familiar
with any one of them, find a credible scholar who has
credentials and peer recognition to make sure you are
fulfilling your individual obligations (Fard al-Ayn).
● These boundaries of halal and haram, these do’s
and don’ts that govern our external social
behavior are good for us. They “enjoin what is
good and prohibit what is bad.”
● The entirety of this religion with all its
meticulous detail is all for our benefit. It is all
about our happiness and wellness in this life and
happiness and wellness in the Afterlife.
● Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through
interpretation of Quran and Sunnah by Islamic.
 History Of Fiqh:-
As we discussed that Islamic law followed a
chronological path of:
Allah->
Muhammad->
Companions->
Followers->
Fiqh.
● So Fiqh came into existence through such
channel.
Early shariah:-
Early shariah had a much more flexible character,
and many modern Muslim scholars believe that it
should be renewed, and that the classical jurists
should lose special status. This would require
formulating a new fiqh suitable for the modern
world, e.g. as proposed by advocates of the
Islamisation of knowledge, and would deal with the
modern context.
Formation of Schools of Thoughts:-
Scholars and jurists developed the law by combining
knowledge of the Quran, hadith, and analogical
reasoning with local practice. Beginning in the
mid-eighth century, the major Sunni schools of legal
thought (madhhabs)—Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, and
Hanbali—and the Twelver Shii Jafari madhhab emerged.
Other minor and short-lived schools also developed
Progress and Theory and Methadology:-
Progress in theory and methodology happened with the
coming of the early Muslim jurist Muhammad ibn Idris
ash-Shafi`i (767–820), who codified the basic principles of
Islamic jurisprudence in his book
ar-Risālah. The book details the four roots of law
(Qur'an, Sunnah, ijma, and qiyas) while specifying that
the primary Islamic texts (the Qur'an and the hadith) be
understood according to objective rules of
interpretation derived from scientific study of the
Arabic language.
Components Of Fiqh
 Sources of Fiqh
The sources of Fiqh in order of importance
are
● Quran
● Sunnah
● Ijma
● Qiyas
Quran & Sunnah:-
The Qur'an gives clear instructions on many issues, such as
how to perform the ritual purification (wudu) before the
obligatory daily prayers (salat), but on other issues.
● Some Muslims believe the Qur'an alone is not enough to
make things clear. For example, the Qur'an states one
needs to engage in daily prayers (salat) and fast (sawm)
during the month of Ramadan but Muslims believe they
need further instructions on how to perform these
duties. Details about these issues can be found in the
traditions of Muhammad, so Qur'an and Sunnah are in
most cases the basis for (Shariah).
Ijma & Qiyas:-
Ijma, is the collective reasoning and consensus amongst
authoritative Muslims of a particular generation, and its
interpretation by Islamic scholars.

While

Qiyas, is the analogy which is deployed if Ijma or historic

collective reasoning on the issue is not available.
 Areas Covered by Fiqh
Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) covers two main
areas:

● Rules in relation to actions, and,

● Rules in relation to circumstances
surrounding actions.
a). Rules in relation to Actions:-
They are also called “ Ammaliyas” They are
comprised or Following
● Oligation (fardh)
● Recommendation (mustahabb)
● Permissibility (mubah)
● Disrecommendation (makrooh)
● Prohibition (haraam)
First is fard, meaning compulsory. Fard refers to duties
incumbent on either the individual Muslims (such as salat) and
on the community as a whole (such as janazah, the funeral
prayer). Next is mustahab, meaning recommended or virtuous.
These are actions like non-compulsory charity and polite
greeting; things that you should do, but that are not strictly
mandatory. After this is halal, a word many readers will be
familiar with. Halal simply means acceptable; halal food has been
prepared in an Islamically acceptable way. Fourth is makruh, or
“detestable;” something that is not completely forbidden, but
strongly discouraged. Swearing is a classic example. It’s not
actually sinful to swear (unless you are blaspheming) but you
still shouldn’t do it. Finally, there is haram, forbidden — things
such as premarital sex, alcohol and so on.
b). Rules in relation to
Circumstances:-
Rules in relation to circumstances (wadia')
comprise:
● Condition (shart)
● Cause (sabab)
● Preventor (mani)
● Permit / Enforced (rukhsah, azeemah)
● Valid / Corrupt / Invalid (sahih, fasid, batil)
● In time / Deferred / Repeat (adaa, qadaa, i'ada)
Fields Of Jurisprudence
➢ Criminal
➢ Economics
➢ Etiquette
➢ Family
➢ Hygienical
➢ Inheritance
➢ Marital
➢ Military
➢ Political
➢ Theological
 Implementation of Fiqh:-
➢ Fiqh is implemented by “Fatwa” which are the
rulings of Jutistson Questions presented to
them.
Fatwa:- Meaning,:- Newness Clarification.
It is a nonbinding legal opinion on a point of Islamic law
(sharia) given by a qualified jurist in response to a question
posed by a private individual, judge or government.
● A jurist issuing fatwas is called a mufti,
● The act of issuing fatwas is called iftāʾ.
➢ Fatwas have played an important role
throughout Islamic history, taking on new
forms in the modern era.But currently The
spread of codified state laws and
Western-style legal education in the modern
Muslim world has displaced muftis from their
traditional role of clarifying and elaborating
the laws applied in courts.
 Fiqh and Shariah:-
These are the two terms were also used synonymously in
early days of Islam, but there is a difference between these
two terms i.e.
● sharia is the law itself while fiqh is a knowledge of that
law
● sharia covers all human actions while fiqh legal actions.
● Literally sharia means “course to the watering place” and
a “resort of drinkers”. Arabs used this term for a course
to watering place. Thereforesharia means clear path or a
way to be followed.
● Shariah is broad and general. Fiqh focuses
on narrow and specific issues.
● Shariah cannot be changed. But Fiqh can
change based on new information
● Shariah comes from the Quran and Sunnah.
Fiqh comes from the Shariah.
 Principles of Fiqh:-
Principles of Islamic jurisprudence, also
known as uṣūl al-fiqh. It is the Roots of Fiqh.
Literal Meaning:-
● Uṣūl means roots or basis.
● Fiqh linguistically refers to knowledge,
deep understanding or comprehension.
Definition:-
The body of principles and investigative
methodologies through which practical legal
rules are developed from their foundational
sources.

According to Imam Baydawi:-

“A general knowledge of the proofs of fiqh, the manner in
deriving from them, and the standing of the individual who does
the deriving.”
 Usul-al-Fiqh as a Logic of Law:-
Logic:-
Logic, as is well known, is the study of how to think well,
regardless of the particular science or discipline under
discussion. It specifies a general system that must be
followed if one’s argument is to be sound. For example,
logic teaches us how to prove that Socrates is a mortal,
or that an infinite plane is impossible. All such questions
are taken up by logic according to standard methods of
argumentation, such as the syllogism or induction.
Usul Al Fiqh As Logic:-
➢ From this perspective, usul al-fiqh resembles logic,
except that it deals with a specific science, namely
that of law. It directs us how to think soundly in the
process of deriving rulings, through a study of the
common principles necessary for such a derivation
process to be valid. In sum, it teaches how a ruling is
extracted from its proofs according to standard
methods of evidence. As such, it is appropriate to
think of it as “the logic of the legal sciences,” for its
relationship to law is that of the relationship of logic
to human thinking in general.
Conclusion:-
To conclude it is evident now, that Islamic Law has a
complete methodology of
➢ interpretation,
➢ verification and
➢ deduction of rulings from its main sources i.e. Quran and
Sunnah, called Usul-al-Fiqh.It contains the basic
principles and methods proposed by Muslim jurists for
the Sharia development. Usul-al-Fiqh deals with sources
of law, order of priority, and methods of deductions
from sources.
The science of Islamic methodology deals with those
procedural rules and principles by using of whom risk
of fallibilities in deduction and regulation of rules can
be reduced.
● At conclusion this is evident that without
understanding the term Fiqh alongwith its allied
terms and Usul-al-Fiqh
the legislation process is quite unmanageable.

The End
Thankyou Mam
Yours Obediently.
Submitted by:-
Submitted to:-
Bilal Khan Niazi,
Date:- Roll no:- 1819
Respected Madam
11h june, 2020 Gomal Law College, Mobina Mehsud.
DI Khan.