Sharia law is a religious law that lays down governing principles for spiritual, mental, and physical behaviour that must be followed by Muslims. Regarded as Godโs command for Muslims, Sharia law is essentially Islamโs legal system. Muslims believe sharia refers to the perfect, immutable values understood only by God, while Islamic laws are those based on interpretations of sharia. The Shariah prescribes both religious and secular duties and sometimes retributive penalties for lawbreaking. Sharia comprises three basic elements: a)Tawhid / Aqidah, b) Fiqh, and c) Akhlaq. In this article, we shall study the concept of fiqh and usul-al-fiqh.
Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence):
The word fiqh is an Arabic term meaning “deep understanding” or “full comprehension” or โfull knowledgeโ or “intelligence”. Technically it refers to the body of Islamic law extracted from detailed Islamic sources (which are studied in the principles of Islamic jurisprudence) and the process of gaining knowledge of Islam through jurisprudence. It implies the exercise of intelligence in deciding a point of law in the absence of a binding command from the Quran. It governs the relationship between man and his Creator (ibadat) and between man and man (muamalat). Political, economic, and social activities fall within the ambit of muamalat. Islamic finance, covered in economic activities, is thus linked with Sharia principles through muamalat.
Fiqh can be defined as a science of Islamic law which is the knowledge of one’s rights and obligations derived from the Quran or the Sunna of the Prophet or the consensus of opinion of learned (ijmma) or analogical deductions (qiyas). Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through interpretation (ijtihad) of the Koran and Sunnah by Islamic jurists (ulama) and is implemented by the rulings (fatwa) of jurists on questions presented to them.
A faqฤซh is an Islamic jurist, an expert in fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic Law. In the early days of Islam, the terms ilm (knowledge) and fiqh were frequently used to denote an understanding of Islam in general. But Islam believes there is a difference between the knowledge and fiqh because the latter requires both intelligence and independent judgment. To become a faqih the person should have both the knowledge and independent judgment.
Other scholars use the following analogy to explain the duty of faqih. White is colour of beauty. Black is colour of ugliness and grey of things which are not beautiful nor ugly. Then its faqih‘s wisdom and his capacity of independent judgment to classify the colourless mass of human action and paint them with white or black or grey. The logic used by the faqih is God cannot prescribe anything except that which is morally beautiful; He cannot forbid anything but that which is morally ugly; He cannot allow anything that is at the very least, in between the beautiful and ugly.
Using this reasoning Muslim Jurists adopted the classification of nature of human acts in five kinds: (i) strictly enjoined, or (ii) simply advised, or (iii), or (iv) unadvised, or (v) strictly forbidden
Usul al-Fiqh:
It means the roots of law. The Hanafi School of law defines Usul al-Fiqh as the knowledge of the principles that can be reached to the derivation of the rules from its sources or the principles of derivation of the rules. While, the Shafeiโs jurists define Usul al-Fiqh as the knowledge of the proofs of fiqh, in general, methods of deriving the rules from the proofs and position of a person who derives the rules. Thus usul al-fiqh is concerning with the principles and methodologies of deriving Islamic law. Usul al-Fiqh is the knowledge of principles or methodologies of deriving the rules (relating to a conduct of person: sayings or doings) from specific sources or the principles or methodologies themselves.
The primary base of law is the Quran. The second source is the Sunnah, reports about the sayings, actions, or tacit approvals of the Prophet. The third source is the consensus (ijma) of all Muslim interpretive scholars in a specific age on a legal rule about an issue not covered in the Quran or Sunnah. Most Sunni scholars consider consensus binding; others, including Shia scholars, say such consensus is impossible. The fourth source is an analogy (qiyas), or rule by precedent. Some Hanafis, such as Ibn Abidin and Maliki jurists, consider urf (custom) to be an additional source of law. In addition to these basic sources, several presumptions and principles aid the jurist in deriving interpretive rules: preference (istihsan), unregulated interest (maslahah mursalah), and the presumption of continuity (istishab). This field is also concerned with hermeneutic and deductive principles.
Fiqh is distinguished from Usul al-fiqh, the methods of legal interpretation and analysis. Fiqh is the product of the application of Usul al-fiqh, the total product of human efforts at understanding the divine will. The jurist or scholar of fiqh has to rely on the principles and methodologies that have been laid down by the scholar of usul al-fiqh in deriving the law
Divisions of Fiqh:
- The Usul which means the roots of law. It deals with Muslim Jurisprudence, that is the first principle of Muhammadan law.
- The fiqh which deals with the substantive law of particular injunctions.
Difference Between Shariah and Fiqh:
- Shariah is immutable and infallible, fiqh is fallible and changeable. Thus, Sharia has been perfect and canโt be changed, meanwhile changing fiqh follow the changes in time, space and place where the fiqh is applied.
- Sharia has a broader scope that encompassed the entire action and human performance, while the fiqh only leads to what is generally understood as a human action that is based on something that is legal and illegal.
- Sharia contains that consists of the provisions found in the Quran and Sunnah which includes three main components namely, aqidah, fiqh, and akhlaq. Meanwhile fiqh is just is one component of sharia.
- Shariah is a wider circle which embraces all human actions within its fold while fiqh is a smaller circle which considers only legal acts within its ambit.
- Sharia is based on revelations that only derived from the Quran and Sunnah, fiqh, meanwhile, is a result of reasoning and deduction based on knowledge which is constantly evolving.
- Sharia has some level of works ranging from being allowed to not allowed while itโs fiqh only set about legal and illegal actions.
- The difference in the origins of the use of the term, the term Sharia has been used from the early history of Islam while a new fiqh term used after the birth branches of religious sciences in Islam in the second century Hijri.
Conclusion:
The early scholars of Islam would use fiqh to mean the knowledge and the understanding of the guidance, the rulings, and the way of life Allah prescribed for us. In other words, fiqh is our understanding and knowledge of Allahโs Shari`ah. The scholars who came later confined the usage of the word fiqh to the knowledge and understanding of the guidance, the rulings and the way of life regarding the actions only, excluding the areas of belief and moral character.