Faqīh

"Fuqaha" redirects here. For the village in Libya, see Fuqaha, Libya.

Usul al-fiqh
Part of a series on Islam
Fiqh
Taqlid Ijma Madhhab Qiyas Urf Bid‘ah Madrasah Ijazah Istihlal Istihsan
Ahkam
Sawab Halal Fard Mustahabb Mubah Makruh Haram Batil Fasiq
Theological titles
Ulama Faqīh Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Grand Mufti Hafiz Hujja Hakim Imam Khatib Marja' Mawlānā Mawlawi Mufassir Mufti Muhaddith Mujaddid Mujtahid Qadi Sheikh Shaykh al-Islam Ustad

A Faqīh (plural Fuqahā') (Arabic: فقيه, pl. فقهاء‎) is an expert in fiqh, or, Islamic jurisprudence.

A faqih is an expert in Islamic Law, and, as such, the word Faqih can literally be generally translated as Jurist.

The definition of Fiqh and its relation to the Faqih

To understand the Faqih, one must have a base understanding of Fiqh..

Fiqh linguistically means "understanding". As a technical term it is defined as "Knowledge of legislative rulings, pertaining to the actions of man, as derived from their detailed evidences."

"Legislative rulings..." here excluded rulings that are purely theoretical in nature, such as those found in the science of Usul Al Fiqh, as well as those theological in nature, generally discussed in the books of Aqidah or Kalam.

" ...as derived from their detailed evidences." here connotes two things:

1- that there is a method of derivation; and,
2- that the source for such derivation are the various evidences considered valid Islamically.

Methods of derivation and evidences derived from

Methods of derivation are laid out in the books of Usul Al Fiqh, and those evidences which are deemed valid for deriving rulings from are many in number; Four of them are agreed upon by the vast Majority of Jurists, they are:

The Qur'an
The Sunnah
Ijma' or Consensus
Qiyas or Analogy

These four types of evidence are seen as acceptable by the vast majority of Jurists from both the schools of Sunni Jurists (the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali and sometimes the Zahiriyah), as well as Shi'a Jurists.

Questionable evidence among various schools of Fiqh

Various other evidences are debatable, such as Qiyas, which the Zahiriyah or Literalists do not see as valid.

Issues such as the edicts of the Twelve Imams holding the same weight as the Quran and Sunnah, are largely seen as debatable and at times unacceptable by Sunni Jurists.

Conditions for being a "Faqih"

The Faqih is one who has fulfilled the conditions for Ijtihad either in their entirety or in piecemeal.

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

One who is still below the level of Mujtahid Mutlaq will generally be referred to as Mujtahid Muqayyad or a Restricted Jurist-Scholar, passing rulings according to the confines of his particular madhhab, or particular area of specialization. This is according to the view that Ijtihad or the ability of legal deduction can be achieved in specified areas, and does not require a holistic grasp of the Shariah and its entailing Laws and legal theory.

Thus those working in occupations which entail knowledge of Fiqh, such as the Judges, Lawyers, and Court Scribes are expected to have knowledge of Fiqh, either advanced or rudimentary respectively.

In the Sunni point of view it is generally held that there are either no (or very few) Jurists or Fuqaha that have reached the level of Mujtahid Mutlaq in our day and age. In the Shia Ithna Asheri view, each of their Maraja have reached this level.

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