| The Discover Islam Project|
Allah has willed to make the Sharî`ah of Islam (its canonical code of doctrine and law) the final Sharî`ah for Creation, just as He has willed to make it the most complete and perfect Sharî`ah. It exists in a form that guarantees its continued existence and vitality, one that is relevant to mankind in every age and in every locality. It fulfills all the needs of humanity in all circumstances.
Islamic Law, which is the basis and spirit of the Sharî`ah, has remained in its pristine state, strong and persevering, in spite of the all the revolutions and changing circumstance that the Islamic Nation has been exposed to for the past fourteen centuries. Beyond its permanence, constancy, and responsiveness to the spirit of civilization and the advancement of knowledge, Islamic Law has its own clearly distinct character.
In this study, we will attempt to give the reader a general understanding of Islamic Law, its unique characteristics, its sources, and its historical development.
The Meaning of "Islamic Law"
The Arabic word for Islamic Law, “fiqh”, originally meant “understanding and knowledge.” After the coming of Islam, the word “fiqh” took on a more specific meaning, that of religious knowledge, on account of it being the most important and noble form of knowledge. The earliest Islamic scholars used the word “fiqh” in this sense. Islamic knowledge, at that time, generally meant knowledge of the Qur’ân and Sunnah. Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him), in one hadîth, said:
May Allah assist a man who hears a hadîth and memorizes it until he relates it to others, because often he is carrying fiqh to a person who has greater understanding than he does, and often the one carrying fiqh is not a faqîh (i.e. capable of understanding it).
It is clear from this hadîth that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) used the word fiqh to refer to his words.
This hadîth shows us that a faqîh is a person who possesses clear knowledge of his religion derived exclusively from the meanings of the sacred texts. He is someone who is capable of drawing from the texts the legal injunctions, lessons, and benefits that they contain. We get this from the statement: “…because often he is carrying fiqh to a person who has greater understanding than he does, and often the one carrying fiqh is not a faqîh.”
By mentioning “a person who has greater understanding than he does”, the Prophet (peace be upon him) meant someone who is more capable of understanding from the texts Allah’s intended meaning, His injunctions, and His legislations.
By mentioning “…and often the one carrying fiqh is not a faqîh” he meant a person who is not capable of deriving from the texts the injunctions and other knowledge that they contain.
The scholars of fiqh from the generation of the Companions and their successors were erudite and deservedly well known. Yahyâ b. Sa`îd al-Ansârî, who met the junior Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and their senior successors, said:
All of the fiqh scholars of our land who I have met would refer back to the sacred texts every second moment of the day.
The statements of the fiqh scholars would be taken from the hadîth. From what we read of the statements of the Companions and the generations that followed them, we know that they were people who possessed a clear understanding of Allah’s religion and that they took their fiqh directly from Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him). These were the most evident characteristics of the fiqh scholars.
Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said, indicated some of their characteristics:
The lengthiness of a man’s prayer and the shortness of his sermon is an indication of his fiqh.
Abû al-Dardâ’, the eminent Companion (may Allah be pleased with him), said
A sign of a person’s fiqh is that he fulfills his needs so he can then carry out his prayer with a heart free from distraction.
Ibn Mas`ûd, another eminent Companion (may Allah be pleased with him), said
A sign of a man’s fiqh is that when he does not know something, he says: “Allah knows best.”
Fiqh in the view of the earliest generations, comprised every aspect of the religion, not focusing on any particular aspect. The fiqh scholar, therefore, referred to the one who possessed knowledge of dogma as well as the one who possessed knowledge of law and to the one who possessed knowledge of the affairs of the heart as well as the one who possessed knowledge of outward action. This is why Abû Hanîfah entitled his tract on Islamic belief al-Fiqh al-Akbar (The Greatest Fiqh). In his era, fiqh comprised Theology, Law, and Spirituality.
This is the reason why al-Hasan al-Basrî said:
The fiqh scholar is the one who turns away from the world desiring the next life, who has clear knowledge of his religion, is constantly engaged in the worship of his Lord, is humble, avoids exposing the shame of other Muslims and seeking their wealth, and who gives advise to them.
Fiqh is formally defined as: knowledge of Islamic Law. To be more precise, it is: knowledge of the injunctions of theWith this definition, it can be seen that Theology and Spirituality are not considered to be a part of Fiqh. The most comprehensive and precise definition of Fiqh that clearly reflects the perspective of the jurists is: “Knowledge of the injunctions of the
