Engagement with the Islamic branches of knowledge, which are the knowledge of the Noble Qurʾan, the great Prophet (s) and his pure Ahl al-Bayt (a), has passed through many stages of development. That engagement began after the era of the Occultation, given that the discussion is specifically about engaging with knowledge through ijtihad to obtain the rulings and religious knowledge from their authoritative proofs, without the Infallible being present in the midst of the Umma to attend directly to what it needs. The era of the Occultation is thus the beginning of the scholars' reliance on the knowledge they inherited from its original sources, the Prophet (s) and his pure Ahl al-Bayt (a). It has not remained frozen in its state since those eras; rather, it has passed through many stages, which expressed the extent of the scholars' concern with acquiring knowledge, formulating it, crystallizing it and disseminating it. .
Fiqh, which is (knowledge of the subsidiary legal rulings from their detailed proofs)[1], as it is in technical usage[2], is part of the Islamic branches of knowledge that came to shape the human personality and to organize a person's beliefs and laws at the individual and social levels, within all the modern designations, with that shaping directed toward establishing the centrality of the truth in creation, through multiple manifestations in all the rulings; and those manifestations are the divisions of fiqh in its various acts of worship and transactions.
The word fiqh was not confined to the science of legal rulings in the Qurʾanic discourse or in the noble narrations issued from the Prophet (s) and his infallible Ahl al-Bayt (a), unless that intended meaning is indicated by a stated qualifier, or by a contextual or circumstantial indication showing that what is meant by the word fiqh in this or that narration is the science of fiqh in the modern technical sense. An example of this is what has come “from al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, who said: I heard the Commander of the Faithful (a) say on the pulpit: O company of merchants, fiqh, then trade; fiqh, then trade; fiqh, then trade. By Allah, usury in this Umma is more hidden than the creeping of ants on a smooth rock. Mix your faith with truthfulness. The merchant is a sinner, and the sinner is in the Fire, except one who takes what is due and gives what is due”[3]. In this narration the Commander of the Faithful (a) points to the importance of fiqh in the sense of the importance of knowing the rulings before entering the field of trade; and by the indication of the stated reason, which is the fear of falling into forbidden usury, we know that the word fiqh here is what the fuqahaʾ have agreed upon in the field of engaging with legal rulings.
Apart from that, the word fiqh has come in the Noble Qurʾan and the noble narrations in its more comprehensive meaning, which is “knowledge of a thing and understanding of it”[4], as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Say, ‘He is able to send upon you a punishment from above you or from under your feet, or confound you as [hostile] factions, and make you taste one another’s violence.’ Look, how We paraphrase the signs variously so that they may understand!” (Qurʾan 6:65)[5]. So the varying of the different signs in the universe and in the movement of society is followed as guidance only by those who understand their import. It may also come in the sense of understanding the religion and its teachings, as in the saying of Allah Almighty: “Yet it is not for the faithful to go forth en masse. But why should not there a group from each of their sections go forth to become learned in religion, and to warn their people when they return to them, so that they may beware?” (Qurʾan 9:122)[6]. Similar to it in hadith is what has been narrated from Abu ʿAbd Allah (a), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (a) said: “Shall I not tell you of the faqih, the true faqih? The one who does not make people despair of Allah's mercy, does not make them feel secure from Allah's punishment, does not grant them license for acts of disobedience to Allah, and does not abandon the Qurʾan out of aversion to it for something else. Indeed, there is no good in knowledge that has no understanding in it; indeed, there is no good in recitation that has no reflection in it; indeed, there is no good in worship that has no contemplation in it”[7]. The word faqih also comes in the narrations in the sense of one who knows the legal rulings or knows some of the hadiths narrated from the Ahl al-Bayt (a).
However, all the descriptions and considerations mentioned in the Shariʿa that spoke of fiqh in that general meaning include fiqh in the technical meaning, because it is broader than knowledge, and knowledge is included in it and is one of its signs, as Abu al-Hasan al-Rida (a) said: “Among the signs of fiqh are forbearance, knowledge and silence..”[8] For this reason we can benefit from all the narrations that came to describe fiqh and the fuqahaʾ in their attributes in the modern technical sense; indeed, the contents of the narrations ought to be taken into consideration in the mission of fiqh and the fuqahaʾ, so that it is not isolated from the mission of the religion and its aims. It is not hidden that there are some narrations that used fiqh and faqih as is current today, regarding one who issues fatwas and teaches people the rulings. This becomes clear from Imam al-Sadiq's (a) question to Abu Hanifa: “Are you the faqih of Iraq? He said: Yes. He said: By what do you give them fatwas?..”, and in al-Najashi's biographical entry on Aban ibn Taghlib: “Abu Jaʿfar (a) said: Sit in the mosque and give the people fatwas, for I love that someone like you be seen among my Shiʿa”[9].
Fiqh between Framework and Content
The tragedy of the previous nations was their shift from concern with the contents, with the wisdom behind the rulings and with the mission and aims of legislation, to the outward form of legislation and the formality of the rulings, and concern with the letters rather than the meanings, and their concern with frameworks rather than content. Indeed, the Qurʾan tells us about “the polytheists in Mecca, how they rebelled against the message of the Prophet (s), then went on to maintain the mosques of Allah and give water to the pilgrims, and considered that to be like faith and jihad. So the Qurʾan rebutted them, and Allah, Glorified is He, said about them: “Do you regard the providing of water to Hajj pilgrims and the maintenance of the Holy Mosque as similar [in worth] to someone who has faith in Allah and [believes in] the Last Day and wages jihad in the way of Allah? They are not equal with Allah, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing lot. Those who have believed and migrated, and waged jihad in the way of Allah with their possessions and persons have a greater rank near Allah, and it is they who are the triumphant.” (Qurʾan 9:19–20)[10].
Likewise were the Jews, when they objected to the Prophet (s) about changing the qibla, and so the noble verse came: “To Allah belong the east and the west: so whichever way you turn, there is the face of Allah! Allah is indeed all-bounteous, all-knowing.” (Qurʾan 2:115)[11]. Then the Qurʾanic context in Surat al-Baqara mentioned instances of what Allah made lawful (and the Jews forbade to themselves), and denounced following rivals besides Allah; then He, Glorified is He, said: “Piety is not to turn your faces to the east or the west; rather, piety is [personified by] those who have faith in Allah and the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets, and who give their wealth, for the love of Him, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveller and the beggar, and for [the freeing of] the slaves, and maintain the prayer and give the zakat, and those who fulfill their covenants, when they pledge themselves, and those who are patient in stress and distress, and in the heat of battle. They are the ones who are true [to their covenant], and it is they who are the Godwary.” (Qurʾan 2:177)[12].
You see how the Reminder did not call these people's facing their qibla a prayer (salat), because it had no real connection (sila) with Allah, Glorified is He; rather, it was an outward act, far from the rest of the obligations which together form the spirit of the radiant Shariʿa”[13].
The content of the rulings and their wisdom are of great importance, and they must be taken into consideration by the legislator and by the one who applies the legislation; otherwise they will become separated from the spirit of the religion and will not yield their benefit, so that the one who prays gains nothing from his prayer but fatigue, and the one who fasts takes nothing from his fasting but hunger and thirst; indeed, they turn into a pickaxe that demolishes a person's religion. For this reason the narrations came to show the superiority of the worship of the learned person and the faqih over the ignorant worshipper, as has come from al-Rida (a), from his forefathers, from the Commander of the Faithful (a), who said: “A single faqih is harder on Iblis than a thousand worshippers”[14]. And from Abu ʿAbd Allah (a), who said: “A rakʿa that the faqih prays is better than seventy thousand rakʿas that the worshipper prays”[15].
We have come to know the method of the Noble Qurʾan: it does not mention a legal ruling without mentioning alongside it the wisdom of that legislation and the principle (sunna) of that legislation, so that people may understand what Allah, Glorified is He, intends and may know His wisdom and His message. Thus the verses legislating fasting are accompanied by His saying, the Exalted: “O you who have faith! Prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you, so that you may be Godwary.” (Qurʾan 2:183)[16]; and zakat and charity: “Take charity from their possessions to cleanse them and purify them thereby” (Qurʾan 9:103)[17]; and about prayer: “and maintain the prayer. Indeed the prayer restrains from indecent and wrongful conduct” (Qurʾan 29:45)[18]. This is what our Lady al-Zahraʾ (a) pointed to in her sermon, where she said: (The Book of Allah, whose insights are manifest and whose verses' inner secrets are unveiled.. until she said: So faith was made obligatory as a purification from polytheism, prayer as a keeping free of arrogance, zakat as an increase in provision, fasting as a firm establishment of sincerity, Hajj as an exaltation of the religion, and justice as a calming of hearts..)[19].
Fiqh in this form will be life for the heart, the self, the spirit and the body, at the level of the individual and the community. With this Allah the Exalted sent down His rulings and legislated His laws, so that people may live a good life: “O you who have faith! Answer Allah and the Apostle when he summons you to that which will give you life. Know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart and that toward Him you will be mustered.” (Qurʾan 8:24)[20].
Branching from this subject is the influence of fiqh on intellectual and political positions, and its influence on a person's Godwariness, his scrupulousness and his fear of Allah the Exalted, achieving steadfastness in the way of Allah the Exalted. From al-Saduq, in what has come in the Prophet's counsels to ʿAli: “O ʿAli, there is no good in speech except with action.. nor in fiqh except with scrupulousness..”[21]; and “from Bashir al-Dahhan, who said: Abu ʿAbd Allah (a) said: There is no good in whoever of our companions does not acquire fiqh. O Bashir, when a man among them is not self-sufficient through his fiqh, he needs them, and when he needs them, they bring him into the door of their misguidance while he does not know”[22].
For this reason we point to the necessity of a pure intention in deeds, which is the intention of seeking nearness [to Allah] and sincerity to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, in performing an act of worship, and indeed in any act that a person carries out, as the Exalted said: “Say, ‘I have been commanded to worship Allah with exclusive faith in Him’” (Qurʾan 39:11)[23], and the saying of Allah Almighty: “Say, ‘Indeed my prayer and my worship, my life and my death are for the sake of Allah, the Lord of all the worlds’” (Qurʾan 6:162)[24]. The narrations have emphasized the importance of intention and its being what sustains the deed, as from the Prophet (s): (Deeds are only by intentions, and each person has only what he intended)[25]; and from Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad (a), that he said: “The fast of the month of Ramadan is obligatory every year, and the least by which the obligation of fasting it is fulfilled is the resolve in the believer's heart to fast it with a truthful intention, and abstaining from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse throughout its daytime, and that in his fast he guard all of his limbs, every one of them, from what Allah his Lord has forbidden, seeking nearness to Him through all of that. If he does that, he has discharged his obligation”[26].
Fiqh between the Constants and the Variables
Among the most important principles in juristic thinking is the principle of the constancy of the rulings with respect to their being lawful or forbidden. Legislation rests only on fixed divine laws (sunan) that are not affected by time or place, as the Exalted said: “A precedent concerning those We have sent before you from among Our apostles, and you will not find any change in Our precedent.” (Qurʾan 17:77)[27], and His saying, Almighty is He: “[It is] Allah’s precedent that has passed before, and you will never find any change in Allah’s precedent.” (Qurʾan 48:23)[28]. And as has come in the hadith: (The lawful of Muhammad is lawful forever until the Day of Resurrection, and his forbidden is forbidden forever until the Day of Resurrection; it will not be other than that, and nothing other than it will come)[29].
However, time changes and transforms; accordingly, the human being's needs for rulings and legislation that respond to emerging transformations count among the most important tasks of Islamic fiqh. This does not mean that the divine rulings change according to the change of time; rather, they meet the changing requirements of the human being, however much his life changes. There are several factors that affect the changing aspect of the human being, which Grand Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad Taqi al-Modarresi (may Allah preserve him) enumerated in the book al-Tashriʿ al-Islami, in its second volume; we summarize them as follows:
Scientific progress: especially in what relates to the depth and breadth of economic relations among the peoples of the world, the development of mutual needs, and the increase in dangers arising from modern industry, which has necessitated new laws and led to changes in habits and customs, and in some standards of beauty and taste..
Custom: general custom used to consider some acts bad or not good because of certain external circumstances attached to them; now, because of changed conditions, they have become the opposite of what they were in people's customs, and therefore they need rulings that respond to their needs..
Supreme interests: among the most important things that change with time are the supreme interests of the Umma, resulting from the nature of modern life and its harsh civilizational challenges, such as when a danger assails the Umma in any of its political, economic or cultural aspects, requiring a general mobilization; and this mobilization needs legislation that differs from the legislation observed in normal circumstances.
Emergency situations: when the Umma or the individual faces emergency situations, the religious duty changes accordingly. They are of three degrees. The first: the state of necessity, such as fear for one's life, property, honor and progeny. The second: the state of hardship (haraj), which is lighter than necessity but causes severe difficulty that is hard to bear. The third: conflict with an interest, as when the duty causes the loss of some of one's property, or of any other interest that the Law has safeguarded[30].
We can look at the question of the constant and the variable in Islamic legislation through two basic axes, namely:
The first: the finality of the Islamic religion, as the Exalted said: “Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Apostle of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets, and Allah has knowledge of all things.” (Qurʾan 33:40)[31]. The Islamic message is the guardian over all the other messages that Allah Almighty sent, as He said: “We have sent down to you the Book with the truth, confirming what was before it of the Book and as a guardian over it” (Qurʾan 5:48)[32]. Therefore this fact requires that the message be everlasting and keep pace with all the civilizational transformations that befall the individual and society, and it has to answer all the questions that confront the human being, and the various challenges and difficulties, through rulings and legislation.
The second: the necessity of preserving the religion through application. Allah the Exalted sent down the Book with the truth, and the laws and rulings are instances of the truth in the form of statutes. And because the religion must continue in people's lives, and rulers, scholars and leaders succeed one another over it, who express that truth in governance, there arises from this the necessity of there being a guarantee of these people's rectitude through their legislation, so that they do not lead people by whims, worldly interests and the like. So there had to be changeable rulings consistent with the authority of the truth, as the Exalted said: “Indeed We have sent down to you the Book with the truth, so that you may judge between the people by what Allah has shown you” (Qurʾan 4:105)[33].
From here we emphasize that the rulings for temporal, spatial or circumstantial variables must be founded on the guidance of heaven and must proceed along the path of the divine constants. Realizing justice is one of the constants, and realizing human dignity is one of the constants; so any ruling and legislation must proceed from these constants connected with it. Accordingly, the demand for freedom, for example, which changes from one time to another and from one society to another, must have its new limits legislated in accordance with the value of justice and dignity. From here we know that unrestricted personal freedom will contradict the value of justice with respect to others, because it counts as a transgression against their rights, and will contradict the value of dignity, because Allah has honored the Children of Adam and does not want him to humiliate himself or to limit his life.
The constants are the standards against which the variables are measured, and the variables are the human being's requirements and needs, which ought to be known and responded to, as has been narrated from Imam al-Hujjah (aj): “As for the events that occur, refer in them to the narrators of our hadith, for they are my proof over you and I am Allah's proof over them”[34]. For the fuqahaʾ are the ones who respond to the events that occur and change, through the principles of hadith, because many branches stem from a principle, as has come from al-Rida (a): (It is for us to lay down the principles, and it is for you to derive the branches)[35].
In an important hadith in this regard from Imam ʿAli ibn Musa al-Rida (a), he says: “.. Indeed, the faqih is one who pours out his good upon the people, rescues them from their enemies, secures for them in abundance the blessings of Allah's gardens and obtains for them the good pleasure of Allah the Exalted. And it will be said to the faqih — on the Day of Resurrection —: O you who take care of the orphans of the family of Muhammad, the guide of the weak among their lovers and followers, stand so that you may intercede for whoever took from you or learned from you..”[36]. Among the basic tasks that the faqih undertakes is making people aware of their enemies, and the enemies differ in every time, and their methods differ. This leads us to the necessity that the faqih be aware of the variables, that is, open to reality and to the challenges of the Umma, aware of its basic concerns and expert in the ways that lead it to deliverance from its trials, for (the fuqahaʾ are leaders)[37], as the Greatest Messenger (s) says. On this basis, the considerations of being the most learned and of juristic knowledge for identifying the fuqahaʾ are not limited to the aspect of the constants; rather, knowledge of the variables has an essential bearing on them.
A Fiqh That Encompasses Life
It emerges from what we have mentioned that the religion encompasses all aspects of human life under their modern names. The requirements of the Umma in acts of worship and transactions bore the names of the stages specific to them; then transactions developed and came to have different names, with numerous complexities and ramifications. Islamic fiqh has its rulings on all of that, (even the indemnity for a scratch)[38], and on everything that sets human life aright, guides it and helps it to harness nature for the sake of progress. Thus was the sending of the messengers and prophets: to realize witness over the age in all aspects. The Exalted says: “The day We raise in every nation a witness against them from among themselves, We shall bring you as a witness against these. We have sent down the Book to you as a clarification of all things and as guidance, mercy and good news for the Muslims.” (Qurʾan 16:89)[39]. Thus the books and encyclopedias of fiqh have differed according to the differences in human needs for various questions and diverse chapters: from the chapters of trade branched out the legislation of banks, economic exchange, and compound and complex investment; and likewise in the political and legal field, and the social field in the family, personal status and others.
Among the most prominent works issued in the field of encompassing multiple modern fields in Islamic fiqh is the demonstrative Encyclopedia of Fiqh by Imam Sayed Muhammad al-Shirazi (q), consisting of 150 volumes. It contained all the customary chapters of fiqh, from ijtihad to blood money; then he added modern ramifications keeping pace with the Umma's need in its various spheres, such as politics, the Islamic state, economics, sociology, administration, law, rights, the environment, traffic, globalization, the media, freedoms, the future, psychology and peace.
Islamic fiqh is not cut off from the aims of the Shariʿa and the spirit of the religion, and it is not mere formal, superficial rulings without meaning; rather, they are rulings that have a mission in establishing the good life in this world and everlasting bliss in the Hereafter, which they realize through compliance with the commands of Allah the Exalted and the commands of His Prophet (s) and his divine extension, his pure Ahl al-Bayt (a). The Exalted said: “O you who have faith! Answer Allah and the Apostle when he summons you to that which will give you life. Know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart and that toward Him you will be mustered.” (Qurʾan 8:24)[40], and the Almighty said: “Say, ‘Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has brought forth for His servants, and the good things of [His] provision?’ Say, ‘These are for the faithful in the life of this world, and exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.’ Thus do We elaborate the signs for a people who have knowledge.” (Qurʾan 7:32)[41].
* Published in the specialized quarterly journal Fiqh al-Hayat, first issue, 1429 AH. (The journal's editorial).
[1] / al-ʿAmili, al-Hasan ibn Zayn al-Din, Maʿalim al-Din wa Maladh al-Mujtahidin, p. 26, Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islami, Qom, 9th ed.
[2] / With some differences: some added to the definition the qualifier (through inference) to exclude the knowledge of the Prophet and the angels, and some added the word (acquired), and so on. See — Durus fi Fiqh al-Imamiyya, vol. 1, by ʿAllama ʿAbd al-Hadi al-Fadli.
[3] / al-Najafi, Shaykh Hadi, Mawsuʿat Ahadith al-Shiʿa, vol. 8, p. 506, from al-Kafi 5/150
[4] / Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-ʿArab — entry “fiqh”.
[5] / Surat al-Anʿam/65
[6] / al-Tawba: 122
[7] / al-Najafi, Shaykh Hadi, Mawsuʿat Ahadith al-Shiʿa, vol. 8, p. 509, from al-Kafi 1/36, hadith 3
[8] / al-Najafi, Shaykh Hadi, Mawsuʿat Ahadith al-Shiʿa, vol. 8, p. 505, from al-Kafi 2/83, hadith 1
[9] / Khazim: Shaykh ʿAli, Madkhal ila ʿIlm al-Fiqh ʿind al-Muslimin al-Shiʿa, p. 13
[10] / al-Tawba: 19 and 20
[11] / al-Baqara: 115
[12] / al-Baqara: 177
[13] / al-Modarresi, Grand Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad Taqi, al-Tashriʿ al-Islami, vol. 2/p. 78
[14] / al-Najafi, Shaykh Hadi, Mawsuʿat Ahadith al-Shiʿa 8/513, from Amali al-Tusi, the thirteenth session, 25/366, no. 774
[15] / al-Najafi, Shaykh Hadi, Mawsuʿat Ahadith al-Shiʿa 8/414, from al-Bihar 2/19, hadith 51
[16]/ al-Baqara: 183
[17] / al-Tawba: 103
[18] / al-ʿAnkabut: 45
[19] / al-Shirazi, Sayed Hasan, Kalimat Fatimat al-Zahraʾ (a), p. 113, Dar al-ʿUlum, Lebanon, 1st ed. 2000 CE, from ʿAwalim al-Nisaʾ, from al-Saduq.
[20] / al-Anfal: 24
[21] / al-Najafi, Shaykh Hadi, Mawsuʿat Ahadith al-Shiʿa 8/507, from al-Kafi 2/231/hadith 4
[22] / al-Najafi, Shaykh Hadi, Mawsuʿat Ahadith al-Shiʿa 8/412, from al-Kafi 1/33, hadith 6
[23] / al-Zumar: 11
[24] / al-Anʿam: 162
[25] / al-ʿAmili: al-Hurr, Wasaʾil al-Shiʿa, vol. 1, p. 48, hadith 89 (Al al-Bayt edition).
[26] / al-Majlisi, ʿAllama Shaykh Muhammad Baqir, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 93, p. 294, hadith 25
[27] / al-Israʾ: 77
[28] / al-Fath: 23
[29] / al-Najafi: Shaykh Hadi, Mawsuʿat Ahadith Ahl al-Bayt (a), vol. 2, p. 26, from Hariz, from Zurara, who said: I asked Abu ʿAbd Allah (a)..
[30] / See al-Tashriʿ al-Islami, vol. 2, the religious authority (marjaʿ) Sayed Muhammad Taqi al-Modarresi.
[31] / al-Ahzab: 40
[32] / al-Maʾida: 48
[33] / al-Nisaʾ: 105
[34] / al-ʿAmili: Wasaʾil al-Shiʿa, vol. 27, p. 140, Al al-Bayt edition.
[35] / al-ʿAmili al-Hurr: Wasaʾil al-Shiʿa, vol. 27, p. 62 (Al al-Bayt edition).
[36] / al-Majlisi, ʿAllama Muhammad Baqir, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 2, p. 5.
[37] / al-Modarresi, Grand Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad Taqi, al-Tashriʿ al-Islami, vol. 6, p. 89, from al-Bihar vol. 1/201, narration 9
[38] / al-ʿAmili: Wasaʾil al-Shiʿa, vol. 29, p. 356 (Al al-Bayt edition), in a hadith from Abu Basir from Abu ʿAbd Allah (a).
[39] / al-Nahl: 89
[40] / al-Anfal: 24
[41] / al-Aʿraf: 32
