Importance of Fiqh

• Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence or Islamic Practical Legislature) means to understand the orders of Allah.
• Fiqh is the most important thing after belief in Allah, the Prophets(A) and the Aimmah(A).
• Getting knowledge of Fiqh is wajib (mandatory) on all Muslims
• According to the ahadeeth, if we do not acquire knowledge of fiqh, we may die as big kuffar (those who conceal the Truth, disbelievers), or as infamous hypocrites (munafeqeen (singular - munafeq)) - actual word used in the lecture was “a’araabi” (a term used to describe the pagan bedouin Arabs, and synonymous with hypocrisy and superficial character traits).
• Islam reminds us that our real life is the life hereafter; which is forever.  Our current life on this Earth, is nothing more than a short and temporary trial period, which we should be preparing in for the next and permanent and real life.  This life is a transit point, in our ultimate destination to heaven or hell.  This present life is a test period; that Allah may judge us based on who obeys and who rejects his commandments.
• Therefore it is necessary to understand and obey the orders of Allah (Allah’s Rules, or Laws - Fiqh)
• There are two sources from where the Islamic Legislature (Fiqh) is derived:
  • The Holy Quran
  • The Sunnah
• The Holy Quran is the Word of Allah, as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad(S), and the Sunnah means the sayings, actions and silent approvals of the Prophet Muhammad(S) and the Aimmah(A) from his family(A).  There are over 6,000 Quranic Ayaat (or Verses) and around 70,000 ahadeeth (traditions which make up the Sunnah).
• Both the Holy Quran and the Sunnah have equal status as far as wajibaat (mandatory actions/tasks) are concerned, if one wajibaat act is mentioned in the Sunnah alone, it has the same weight as a wajibaat mentioned in the Quran only.
• Dreams; wherein people say that they have seen the Prophet(S) or the Aimmah(A) appear, have no meaning in Fiqh, and cannot over rule laws of fiqh.  However, such dreams can support existing laws of fiqh.

Fundamentals of Islam

• There are THREE Usul-e-Islam
  • Tawheed (Unity of God, Monotheism)
  • Nubuwwah (Prophethood - sometimes referred to as Risalah)
  • Qiyamah (Judgement/Day of Judgement)
• There are TWO Usul-e-Eiman
  • Adalah (Justice of Allah / Divine Justice)
  • Imamah / Wilayah (Belief in the Aimmah al-Athaar(A) / Belief in the 12 Imams(A))
• A Muslim is one who believes in ALL THREE Usul-e-Islam and a Shia Muslim or Mu’min is one who believes in ALL FIVE Usul-e-Din (Three Usul-e-Islam PLUS Two Usul-e-Eiman)
• A kafir is one who does not believe in or who denies any of the following four concepts:
  • Tawheed (Monotheism / Unity of God)
  • Nubuwwah (Prophethood)
  • Qiyamah (Judgement)
  • Necessities of Religion (Established tenets of Islam).
• Necessities of religion are those things on which all Muslims agree as established commandments of Islam, for example:
  • Salaat (The Daily Prayer)
  • Sawn (Fasting in the month of Ramadhan)
  • Hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah)
  • Hijab (Modesty - both for men as well as for women)
  • Finality of the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad
  • and so on
• Any sect that might claim to be Muslim, cannot be Muslim if they reject any of these concepts; for example, a group that considers that there was a Prophet after Prophet Muhammad(S), as rejected the concept of Finality of Prophethood, as a result they cease to be within the scope of Islam.
• Furu-e-Din are wajib (mandatory) on a person who possesses these four conditions/qualities:
  • Alive (Zinda)
  • Mature (Baligh)
  • Sane (Aaqil)
  • Capable (Mukhtar)
• There are differences in Fiqh between the Shia and Sunni Islam, an example of such a difference is: In Sunni Fiqh, eating the meat of Rabbits and Crabs is halal (permitted), whereas in Shia Fiqh, they are haraam (forbidden).

These notes were taken on the First Lecture on Fiqh by Maulana Sadiq Hasan(HA) at the Panjatan Center, Melbourne, Australia on Friday, February 16, 2001. 

It should be noted that the discussions here are based on the rulings of Ayatullah al-Udhma Sistani(HA), unless otherwise stated.  The official site for Ayatullah al-Udhma Sistani(HA) is http://www.sistani.org/.