لغةً، الفقهُ يعني الفهمَ، كما في قولِ اللهِ تعالى:

Linguistically, Fiqh means understanding (Fahm), as in the saying of Allah (swt):

"لَا نَفْقَهُ كَثِيرًا مِمَّا تَقُولُ" (هود: ٩١) أي: لا نفهم.

“We do not comprehend (ma nafqahu) much of what you say.” (TMQ Hud: 91) i.e. we do not understand.

كَلِمَةُ «الفِقْه» تُسْتَعْمَلُ في الاصطلاح الفقهي بمعنيين.

As a juristic term, Fiqh has two meanings:

أ. عرّف علماء الأصول، مثل الآمدي والزركشي والبيضاوي والشوكاني، الفقه بأنه: «العلم بالأحكام الشرعية العملية المستنبطة من أدلتها التفصيلية».1

A. The Usuli scholars such as Amidi, al-Zarkashi, al-Baydawi and Shawkani have defined fiqh as, „the knowledge of the practical Shar‟ai matters that are derived from their elaborated evidences (al-ad‟Illah al-tafsiliyyah)‟.1

مثلاً، يعرف الفقيه حكم مسألة الإجهاض، وفوق ذلك يعرف كيف استُخرج هذا الحكم ومن أين استُخرج.

As an example, a Faqih would know the ruling for the issue of abortion; in addition, he would know how and from where this ruling was extracted from.

ب. جميع الأحكام الإسلامية. وهذا التعريف مرادف لمصطلح الشريعة.

B. All the Islamic laws. This definition is synonymous to the term Shari‟ah.

إنّ معرفةَ الأحكامِ الشرعيةِ التي يُكلَّفُ بها المسلمُ في حياتِه فرضُ عينٍ على كلِّ مسلمٍ، إذ هو مأمورٌ بأن يُجريَ جميعَ أفعالِه وفقَ الأحكامِ التي أنزلها خالقُه سبحانه وتعالى. وذلك لأنَّ خطابَ التكليفِ الذي وجَّهه الشارعُ إلى الناسِ، وخاطبَ به المؤمنين، هو خطابٌ حاسمٌ لكلِّ أحدٍ، سواءٌ كان متعلقًا بالعقيدةِ (الإيمانِ) أو بأفعالِ الإنسانِ. قال اللهُ سبحانه وتعالى:

Knowing the Shari‟ah rules with which a Muslim is obliged with in life is an individual duty upon every Muslim, as he is commanded to undertake all his actions according to the laws revealed by his creator, Allah (swt). This is because the address of accountability (Takleef) with which the Legislator (Ash-Shar‟i) addressed mankind, and addressed believers, is a decisive address to anyone whether it was about the creed (Iman) or human actions. Allah‟s (swt) says:

وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ

“It is not for any believer, male or female, to have any option in any matter upon which Allah and His Messenger have judged.” (TMQ Al-Ahzab: 36)

﴿فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ ۝ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ﴾ (الزلزلة: ٧-٨)

) “Whoever performs a particle‟s weight of good will see it, and whoever performs a particle‟s weight of evil will see it.” (TMQ Al-Zalzalah: 7-8)

يَوْمَ تَجِدُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مُحْضَرًا وَمَا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ سُوءٍ تَوَدُّ لَوْ أَنَّ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَهُ أَمَدًا بَعِيدًا ۚ وَيُحَذِّرُكُمُ اللَّهُ نَفْسَهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ رَءُوفٌ بِالْعِبَادِ

“The Day that every soul will be confronted with all the good it has done and all the evil it has done, it will wish that there was a great distance between it and (its evil). But Allah cautions you about Himself.” (TMQ Al-Imran: 30)

وَلِتُوَفَّىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا عَمِلَتْ Note: The original is a Qur'an verse quoted in translation. Since the text is the translation of the Qur'an verse (An-Nahl:111), I've rendered it using the verse's own Arabic wording, as the rules require the Qur'an verse to be presented in its original form rather than back-translated. If you prefer a literal back-translation of the English wording instead, let me know.

“And each soul will be recompensed for all its actions.” (TMQ An-Nahl:111)

التَّكْلِيفُ قَدْ جَاءَ فِي النُّصُوصِ بِصُورَةٍ حَاسِمَةٍ، فَالْمُسْلِمُ مُكَلَّفٌ بِأَنْ يَلْتَزِمَ بِأَحْكَامِ الشَّرْعِ حِينَ يُقْدِمُ عَلَى أَيِّ فِعْلٍ. وَبِنَاءً عَلَى ذَلِكَ يَصِيرُ وَاجِبًا عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ أَنْ يَعْرِفَ أَحْكَامَ الشَّرِيعَةِ الَّتِي يَلْتَزِمُ بِهَا فِي هَذِهِ الْحَيَاةِ. أَمَّا تَحْصِيلُ الْعِلْمِ فِي سَائِرِ مَجَالَاتِ الشَّرِيعَةِ الْأُخْرَى فَهُوَ فَرْضُ كِفَايَةٍ لَا فَرْضُ عَيْنٍ، أَيْ: إِذَا قَامَ بِهِ بَعْضُ النَّاسِ سَقَطَ الْوُجُوبُ عَنْ بَاقِيهِمْ.

Accountability (Takleef) has come in a decisive manner in the texts, so a Muslim is accountable to restrict himself to the Shar‟a rules when he undertakes any action. Consequentially it becomes obligatory upon every Muslim to know the Shari‟ah rules with which he is bound by in this life. As for gaining further knowledge in other areas of the Shari‟ah this is a collective obligation (Fard ul Kifaya) not an individual duty (Fard ul Ayn) i.e. if some people fulfil this, then the obligation is lifted from the rest.

وَيُقَوِّي ذلك ما رواه أنس بن مالك رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله ﷺ:

This is strengthened by what was narrated by Anas bin Malik who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

"طلب العلم فريضة على كل مسلم."(ابن ماجه)

“Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.”(Ibn Majah)

الفقه جزءٌ من الأحكام التي يلتزم بها المسلم في حياته، كالعبادات والمعاملات الاجتماعية. ومن ثَمَّ فإنّ دراسة الفقه من الأمور الواجبة على المسلمين، وقد وردت أحاديث شريفة تحثّ على دراسة الفقه.

Jurisprudence (Fiqh) is part of the rules with which a Muslim is bound by in his life such as ritual worships („Ibadat) and social transactions (Mu‟amalat). Hence studying Fiqh is among the compulsory matters for Muslims. There are noble Ahadith encouraging the studying of fiqh.

عن معاوية بن أبي سفيان أن رسول الله ﷺ قال:

It is narrated from Mu‟awiyya bin Abu Sufyan that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

«مَنْ يُرِدِ اللهُ بِهِ خَيْرًا يُفَقِّهْهُ فِي الدِّينِ». (البخاری)

“The one for whom Allah wills good, He grants him fiqh in the deen.” (Bukhari)

وَعَنْ حَزَّامِ بْنِ حَكِيمٍ، عَنْ عَمِّهِ، عَنِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ:

Also Hazzam bin Hakeem narrated from his uncle from the Messenger of Allah (saw) who said:

"إنَّكم في زمانٍ كثيرٌ فقهاؤه، قليلٌ خطباؤه، كثيرٌ مُعطوه، قليلٌ سائلوه؛ فالعملُ فيه خيرٌ من العلم. وسيأتي زمانٌ قليلٌ فقهاؤه، كثيرٌ خطباؤه، كثيرٌ سائلوه، قليلٌ مُعطوه؛ فالعلمُ فيه خيرٌ من العمل." وهذه الأحاديثُ صريحةٌ في فضلِ الفقه والحثِّ على دراسته. وقد رُوي أنَّ عمرَ بنَ الخطاب قال:

“You are in a time of many jurisprudents (fuqaha), few speakers, many who give and few who ask; so action in this time is better than knowledge. There will soon come a time of few jurisprudents, many speakers, many who beg and few who give; so knowledge in this time is better than action.” These ahadith are explicit in the virtue of fiqh and encouraging its study. It was narrated that Umar bin al-Khattab said:

"موتُ ألفِ عابدٍ يقومُ الليلَ ويصومُ النهارَ أهونُ من موتِ عالمٍ بصيرٍ بحلالِ اللهِ وحرامِهِ." (أحمد).

“The death of one thousand worshippers who pray at night and worships in the day is less serious than the death of one intelligent knower (Baseer) of the halal and haram of Allah.” (Ahmad).