Lesson 1: Ten Fundamental Points Related To Fiqh Flashcards
The 10 essentials of the Islamic sciences
Inna mabādi’a kulli fann ‘ashara
إِنَّ مَبَادِيَ كُلِّ فَنٍّ عَشَرَهْ
Indeed, the principles of every science are ten:
Al-ḥaddu wal-mawḍū’u thumma ath-thamara
الحَدُّ وَالمَوْضُوعُ ثُمَّ الثَّمَرَهْ
The definition, the subject, then the benefit;
Wa nisbatun wa faḍluhu wal-wāḍi’u
وَنِسْبَةٌ وَفَضْلُهُ وَالوَاضِعْ
Its relationship, its virtue, and its founder;
Wal-ismu al-istimdādu ḥukmu ash-shāri’u
وَالاِسْمُ الاِسْتِمْدَادُ حُكْمُ الشَّارِعْ
Its name, its sources, and the ruling of the Lawgiver;
Masā’ilun wal-ba’ḍu bil-ba’ḍi iktafā
مَسَائِلٌ وَالبَعْضُ بِالبَعْضِ اكْتَفَى
Its key issues, and some are satisfied with some;
Wa man darā al-jamī’a ḥāza ash-sharafā
وَمَنْ دَرَى الجَمِيعَ حَازَ الشَّرَفَا
And whoever knows all of them attains honor.
What are the 3 definitions that are given when discussing a term?
- التعريف اللغوي- the linguistic, lexical definition. What it meant in the Arabic language prior to it becoming a subject, or prior to it being used in the Quran and Sunnah.
- التعريف الاصطلاحي- the technical definition
- التعريف الشرعي- The definition given in the Shariah
What’s the benefit of knowing the Linguistic definition?
Sometimes it may be the case the Quran goes back to the linguistic usage and leaves off the technical and Shar’ee usage.
Some of the scholars mentioned the ayah
فَكُلِى وَٱشْرَبِى وَقَرِّى عَيْنًۭا ۖ فَإِمَّا تَرَيِنَّ مِنَ ٱلْبَشَرِ أَحَدًۭا فَقُولِىٓ إِنِّى نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَـٰنِ صَوْمًۭا فَلَنْ أُكَلِّمَ ٱلْيَوْمَ إِنسِيًّۭا
So eat and drink, and put your heart at ease. But if you see any of the people, say, ‘I have vowed silence to the Most Compassionate, so I am not talking to anyone today.’”
Maryam عليها السلام used the word صوم, and we know technically as Muslims it means fasting from food drinking and intercourse, but the quran used it in the linguistic sense which is مُطْلَق إِمْسَاك, or **unconditional abstinence/withholding, refrain from/withhold from etc.
Also, it’s important to remember you can’t place a ruling on something unless you have good perception on it. There’s a principle:
الحُكْمُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ فَرْعٌ عَنْ تَصَوُّرِهِ
Judging something is a branch of understanding it.
If we don’t know what fiqh is, we can’t place a ruling on it
التعريف اللغوي- The linguistic definition
الفهم, to understand
Some of the scholars said الفهم is مطلق, unrestricted while others said specific, what’s the strongest opinion?
The second as the arabs wouldnt say for example, فهمتُ أن السماء فوقنا
How did the scholars distinguish the ق in فقه with a fatha,kasra and damma?
- فقه - بالكسر - إذا فهم when you understood (basic)
- وفقه - بالضم - إذا صار الفقه له سجية when it (الفهم) becomes second nature to him
- وفقه - بالفتح - إذا سبق غيره إلى الفهم he surpasses others in it (understanding)
The Shar’ee definition of Fiqh
فَهْمُ الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ مَعَ العَمَلِ بِهِ
Understanding the entirety of the religion along with practicing it
Examples of the Shar’ee definition in the sunnah
و**عن معاوية رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم :
“من يرد الله به خيرًا يفقه في الدين”
**
((متفق عليه))Mu’awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Messenger of Allah said ﷺ “When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the understanding of Deen.”[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
This Hadith refers to the ENTIRETY of the religion.
What did Shaykh ul islam Ibn Taymiyah say regarding the usage of the word “Fiqh” by the earlier generations?
“لم يكن السلفُ يُطلِقونَ اسمَ الفِقهِ إلا على العِلمِ الذي يُصْحَبُهُ العَمَلُ.”
مفتاح دار السعادة (1/319
The early generations (Salaf) did not use the term ‘fiqh’ except to refer to the knowledge that is accompanied with action
التعريف الاصطلاحي-The Technical Definition
العِلْمُ بِالأَحْكَامِ الشَّرْعِيَّةِ العَمَلِيَّةِ المُكْتَسِبُ مِنْ أَدِلَّتِهَا التَّفْصِيلِيَّةِ
The knowledge of action based Islamic legal rulings derived from their detailed evidences.”
Explain each part of the technical definition
- العلم- a knowledge that comes out by way of certainty or speculation. An example of an evidence that is of certainty is the number of rakat, while something that’s evidence is uncertain can be where the hands are placed. More than that, someone being a muslim is something we are uncertain of (as in 100% sure as only Allah knows) and yet despite that, we base the ruling of being a Muslim based on it such as the ayah, “أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِذَا جَآءَكُمُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَٰتُ مُهَٰجِرَٰتٍ فَٱمۡتَحِنُوهُنَّۖ ٱللَّهُ أَعۡلَمُ بِإِيمَٰنِهِنَّۖ فَإِنۡ عَلِمۡتُمُوهُنَّ مُؤۡمِنَٰتٍ فَلَا تَرۡجِعُوهُنَّ إِلَى ٱلۡكُفَّارِۖ
O you who have believed, when the believing women come to you as emigrants, examine them. Allah is most knowing as to their faith. And if you know them to be believers, then do not return them to the disbelievers
And ‘ilm is of two types, Qat’ee and dhan’ee certain knowledge like the 5 prayers, and dhan’ee speculative, like not based upon certainty
- بالأحكام الشرعية- of the rulings of the shariah, a person must have knowledge of it, you can’t know something in another field and automatically transfer it to another
-
العملية- It must be action based, and this is divided into 2
1. الأحكام عِلْمِيَّة- belief based rulings, and these are discussed in ‘Aqeedah.
2. الأحكام عَمَلِيَّة- action based rulings like salah, nikah, etc. however the scholars say there are cases where the word عملية, is used for matters that are belief based, instead of action based. An example of this is الأحكام النيّة, that you need to come with sincerity, and so on that are discussed in books of fiqh, but they are very little compared to action based.
- المكتسب من أدلتها تفصيلية- Acquired from the use of detailed evidence. It did not come from blind following, it came from researching, and looking into the evidence. This also differentiates ‘Fiqh’ from ‘usul al fiqh’ as fiqh is restricted to something, like types of water and can’t be used elsewhere, while usul al fiqh and it can be applied generally to different issues like الأَمْرُ يَقْتَضِي الوُجُوبَ a command implies obligation and this would apply to lots of things like salah, zakah, hajj etc
The second essential: الموضوعات- the content/subjects
أَفْعَالُ الْمُكَلَّفِينَ مِنْ حَيْثُ حُكْمُهَا
the rulings connected to the actions of the human being
The third essential: الثَمَرَة- the fruits/benefit of learning
- You will adhere to the command ﷲ ﷻ. And you will also say away from that which ﷲ has prohibited as you have knowledge of what’s permitted and prohibited for you.
the scholars have unanimously said the good of this world and the next is connected to doing what ﷲ told you to do, and staying away from what ﷲ told you to stay away from
The fourth essential: النسبة- The relationship of this science with other sciences
- This science is from علوم المقاصد (Primary/Objective/goal-based science)
there are sciences that are Not objective, that are instrumental sciences like tahkreej al furoo’ alal usool, furooq al fiqhiyya,usul al fiqh, maqasid shar’iyya, these are all sub sciences, and instrumental sciences FOR fiqh. Fiqh is the goal, as such as the scholars mentioned The Quran, the Sunnah, Fiqh, ‘Aqeeda, Hadith, are OBJECTIVES, and under, for example quran is tafsir and so on.
The Fifth essential: الفضل- The Virtue
The virtue is so great the even when it comes to Jihād, ﷲ ordered a group to remain behind to gain Fiqh.
۞ وَمَا كَانَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ لِيَنفِرُوا۟ كَآفَّةًۭ ۚ فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِن كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍۢ مِّنْهُمْ طَآئِفَةٌۭ لِّيَتَفَقَّهُوا۟ فِى ٱلدِّينِ وَلِيُنذِرُوا۟ قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَ
And it is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once. For there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] to obtain understanding in the religion and warn [i.e., advise] their people when they return to them that they might be cautious.
the famous Hadith of muawiyah
وعن معاوية رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من يرد الله به خيرًا يفقه في الدين”
The Messenger of Allah said, “When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the understanding of Deen.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Of course this refers to the whole religion as we mentioned earlier, but it applies to fiqh as well
عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: “النَّاسُ مَعَادِنُ كَمَعَادِنِ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ، خِيَارُهُمْ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ خِيَارُهُمْ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ إِذَا فَقِهُوا، وَالأَرْوَاحُ جُنُودٌ مُجَنَّدَةٌ، فَمَا تَعَارَفَ مِنْهَا ائْتَلَفَ، وَمَا تَنَاكَرَ مِنْهَا اخْتَلَفَ”.
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
I heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, “People are like gold and silver; those who were best in Jahiliyyah (Pre-Islamic Period of Ignorance) are best in Islam, if they have religious understanding; and the souls are like recruited soldiers, they get mixed up with those similar with them in qualities and oppose and drift away from those who do not share their qualities”.[Muslim].
Similar Hadith in Bukhari
