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| Stairs leading to the minaret of Imam ash-Shāfiʿī’s Masjid, Cairo |
Islamic Fiqh comprising
everything that mankind needs
There is no doubt that the
life of man has various aspects and that man’s felicity requires that all of
these aspects be taken care of through organisation and legislation, and as
Islamic fiqh is an expression of the rulings that Allah has legislated for His
slaves in order to look after their interests and protect them from causes of
harm, this Islamic fiqh has thus come to cover all of these aspects and through
its rulings organise everything that mankind needs. Here is an elucidation of
this:
If we look at the books of
fiqh that contain the rulings of the Revealed Law derived from the Book of
Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger and the consensus[1]
of the scholars and their personal reasonings,[2]
we find that they are divided into seven groups
The first group: rulings that are connected to the worship of
Allah, such as wuḍūʾ, prayer, fasting, zakāh, Ḥajj and so forth, and
these rulings are called al-ʿibādāt.[3]
The second group: rulings that are connected to the family,
such as marriage, divorce, lineage and fostering, financial support and
inheritance, and these rulings are called al-aḥwāl ash-shakhṣiyyah.[4]
The third group: rulings that are connected to the actions of
people and their transactions with each other, such as buying, putting up
collateral, renting, lawsuits, evidences, judicial decision and so forth, these
rulings are called al-muʿāmalāt.[5]
The fourth group: rulings that are connected to the duties of
the ruler, such as establishing justice, warding off injustice and implementing
rulings, as well as the duties of the ruled, such as obedience in that which is
not disobedience,[6]
and so forth, and these rulings are called al-aḥkām as-sulṭāniyyah,[7]
or as-siyāsiyyah ash-sharʿīyyah.[8]
The fifth group: rulings that are connected to the punishment
of criminals and maintaining security and order, such as punishing the
murderer, the thief, the drinker of wine and so forth,[9]
and these rulings are called al-ʿuqūbāt.[10]
The sixth group: rulings that regulate the relationships of
the Islamic country with other countries, such war and peace and so forth, and
these rulings are called as-siyar.[11]
The seventh group: rulings that are connected to manners and
decorum, good and evil deeds and qualities and so forth, and these rulings are
called al-ādāb and al-akhlāq.[12]
Thus we find that Islamic
fiqh comprises all the rulings that man needs, covering all institutions of
life, at the level of individuals as well as that of communities and societies.
The regard for ease in
Islamic fiqh and the removal of hardship
The meaning of ease:
In legislating rulings,
Islam considers mankind’s needs and ensures their felicity, and that is why all
of these rulings are within man’s ability and within the bounds of his
capacity. There is no ruling that man is incapable of performing and carrying
out, and whenever a legally responsible person[13]
finds hardship that is beyond his capacity, or will bring further difficulty
and an adversity to his particular situation, the religion opens the door of
concession and mitigation for him.
The evidence that Islam is
a religion of ease:
There is no clearer
evidence that Islam is a religion of ease than the Exalted’s statement: “…He
has not placed any constraint upon you in the religion…” (Sūrat al-Ḥajj
22:78) and the Exalted’s statement: “Allah desires ease for you; He does not
desire difficulty for you.” (Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:185) and the Exalted’s
statement: “Allah does not impose on any soul any more than it can bear.” (Sūrat
al-Baqarah 2:186) and his statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
{Indeed the religion is ease.} (Related by al-Bukhārī: 39)
Examples of Islam’s ease:
1 – One can pray sitting if
it is difficult to stand. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, said, {Pray standing, and if you are not able to, then sitting, and
if you are not able to, then on your side.} (Related by al-Bukhārī: 1066)
2 – Shortening four-rakʿah
prayers and combining prayers while travelling. The Exalted has said, “When
you are travelling in the land, there in nothing wrong in your shortening your
prayer.” (Sūrat an-Nisāʾ 4:101]
And al-Bukhārī has related
on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with both of them,[14]
who said, ‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
would combine between the prayers of ẓuhr and ʿaṣr whilst
travelling, and he would combine between maghrib and ʿishāʾ.
[Translated from al-Fiqh
al-Manhajī ʿalā Madhhab al-Imam ash-Shāfiʿī (Damascus: Dar al-Qalam,
1433/2012), p.12-14]
[9] (tn): it
should be kept in mind that for Allah, the Revealed Law applies everywhere, but
for the Muslim ruler, the Revealed Law only applies in the public sphere. If an
individual drinks wine in the privacy of his own home, there is nothing the
ruler can do about it unless there are witnesses or a confession. If not, the
matter is left to Allah.
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