Faqīh

[3] The historian Ibn Khaldun describes fiqh as "knowledge of the rules of God which concern the actions of persons who own themselves bound to obey the law respecting what is required (wajib), sinful (haram), recommended (mandub), disapproved (makruh) or neutral (mubah)".

While Twelver Shia see edicts of the Twelve Imams as holding the same weight as the Quran and sunnah, this is not accepted by Sunni jurists.

In the Sunni view it is generally held that there are no or very few jurists that have reached the level of Mujtahid Mutlaq (see below) in our day and age.

The faqih who fulfills all conditions of ijtihad is sometimes referred to as a Mujtahid Mutlaq or Unrestricted Jurist-Scholar, while one who has not reached that level generally will have mastered the methodology (usul) used by one or more of the prominent madhhab and will be able to apply this methodology to arrive at the traditional legal rulings of his/her respective madhhab.

According to Article 5 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in the present time of the Major Occultation, the head of state that must administer the Ummah is required to be a faqih.