Fiqh

Fiqh deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam as well as economic and political system.

Deriving religious rulings from their sources requires the mujtahid (an individual who exercises ijtihad) to have a deep understanding in the different discussions of jurisprudence.

The studies of fiqh, are traditionally divided into Uṣūl al-fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence, lit.

The historian Ibn Khaldun describes fiqh as "knowledge of the rules of God which concern the actions of persons who own themselves connected to obey the law respecting what is required (wajib), sinful (haraam), recommended (mandūb), disapproved (makrūh), or neutral (mubah)".

The first Muslims (the Sahabah or Companions) heard and obeyed, and passed this essence of Islam[11] to succeeding generations (Tabi'un and Tabi' al-Tabi'in or successors/followers and successors of successors), as Muslims and Islam spread from West Arabia to the conquered lands north, east, and west,[12][Note 1] where it was systematized and elaborated.

[15] Progress in theory and methodology happened with the coming of the early Muslim jurist Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i (767–820), who codified the basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence in his book ar-Risālah.

[16] Secondary sources of law were developed and refined over the subsequent centuries, consisting primarily of juristic preference (istihsan), laws of the previous prophets (shara man qablana), continuity (istishab), extended analogy (maslaha mursala), blocking the means (sadd al-dhari'ah), local customs (urf), and sayings of a companion of the Prophet (qawl al-sahabi).

[17] The Quran set the rights, responsibilities, and rules for people and societies to adhere to, such as dealing in interest.

Muhammad then provided an example, which is recorded in the hadith books, showing people how he practically implemented these rules in a society.

To reduce the divergence, ash-Shafi'i proposed giving priority to the Qur'an and the Hadith (the practice of Muhammad) and only then look at the consensus of the Muslim jurists (ijma) and analogical reasoning (qiyas).

Later Ali the fourth caliph wrote in a letter "I did not approach the people to get their oath of allegiance but they came to me with their desire to make me their Amir (ruler).

"[34] But later as fate would have it (Predestination in Islam) when Yazid I, an Umayyad ruler took power, Husayn ibn Ali the grandson of Muhammad felt that it was a test from God for him and his duty to confront him.

Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr left and was later also killed and crucified by the Syrian Roman Army now under the control of the Umayyads and led by Hajjaj.

[41][42][43] The Qur'an gives clear instructions on many issues, such as how to perform the ritual purification (wudu) before the obligatory daily prayers (salat).

On other issues, for example, the Qur'an states one needs to engage in daily prayers (salat) and fast (sawm) during the month of Ramadan but further instructions and details on how to perform these duties can be found in the traditions of Muhammad, so Qur'an and Sunnah are in most cases the basis for (Shariah).

The conclusions arrived at with the aid of these additional tools constitute a wide array of laws, and its application is called fiqh.

This wider concept of Islamic jurisprudence is the source of a range of laws in different topics that guide Muslims in everyday life.

Traditional scholars hold that religion is there to regulate human behavior and nurture people's moral side and since human nature has not fundamentally changed since the beginning of Islam a call to modernize the religion is essentially one to relax all laws and institutions.

Early shariah had a much more flexible character, and some modern Muslim scholars believe that it should be renewed, and that the classical jurists should lose special status.

Traditional scholars hold that the laws are contextual and consider circumstance such as time, place and culture, the principles they are based upon are universal such as justice, equality and respect.

مذاهب maḏāhib) The schools of Sunni Islam are each named by students of the classical jurist who taught them.

These schools share many of their rulings, but differ on the particular hadiths they accept as authentic and the weight they give to analogy or reason (qiyas) in deciding difficulties.

[48] For example, every Waqf was required to have a waqif (settlor), mutawillis (trustee), qadi (judge) and beneficiaries.

[50][51] In classical Islamic jurisprudence, litigants in court may obtain notarized statements from between three and twelve witnesses.

When the statements of all witnesses are consistent, the notaries will certify their unanimous testimony in a legal document, which may be used to support the litigant's claim.

[53] The Maliki school requires two notaries to collect a minimum of twelve eyewitness statements in certain legal cases, including those involving unregistered marriages and land disputes.

[54][55] John Makdisi has compared this group of twelve witness statements, known as a lafif, to English Common Law jury trials under Henry II, surmising a link between the king's reforms and the legal system of the Kingdom of Sicily.

[57] The methodology of legal precedent and reasoning by analogy (Qiyas) are also similar in both the Islamic and common law systems.