Fiqh
The word fiqh has been lexically derived from the Glorious Qur’an.
Allah Most High states:
And it is not possible for Muslims that all should come out. Then why should not a party from each group should come out that they may gain understanding of religion and warn their people after coming back to them, haply they may guard themselves. [Surah: 9 At-Tawbah, Verse:122]
In the verse above, the word: Li-Yatafaqqahu is the source of the derivative fiqh.
There are more than nineteen verses throughout the Qur’an in which the word fiqh has been mentioned in its different word word forms but which all have the same root word – fiqh.
The Lexical Meaning of Fiqh
Fiqh means to understand or acknowledge something or to understand the rationale behind a person’s conversation.
The Technical Meaning of Fiqh
Fiqh means to understand the rulings of Shari’ah from which they are derived – i.e. from the Qur’an, Hadith, Ijma’ and Qiyas.
Imam Abu Hanifa has defined it as:
The understanding of those things that are beneficial for one’s self and those that which are not. i.e. the understanding of what is Halal and Haraam, what is permissible and what is not.
This meaning was part of the Shari’i definition of fiqh but nowadays the term fiqh is used as the understand of most of the rulings of Shari’ah.
According to the Sufis, fiqh is:
The amalgamation of both sacred knowledge and practice.
To be Continued in next post – Topic: The purpose of Fiqh and its Objectives.
