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{{Short description|Expert in Islamic jurisprudence}}
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{{Usul al-fiqh}}
A '''''faqīh''''' ({{plural form}}: ''fuqahāʾ'', {{langx|ar|[[wikt:فقيه|فقيه]]}}; {{plural form}}: &rlm;{{lang|ar|فقهاء}}&lrm;) is an [[Islam]]ic jurist, an expert in ''[[fiqh]]'', or Islamic [[jurisprudence]] and [[Islamic law]].
== Definition ==
{{main article|Fiqh}}
[[File:Sunni Streams of Doctrine.png|thumb|Main schools of thought within Sunni Islam, and other prominent streams.]]
[[Islam]]ic [[jurisprudence]] or ''fiqh'' is the human understanding of [[Sharia]], which is believed by Muslims to represent divine law as revealed in the [[Quran]] and ''[[sunnah]]'' (the practices of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]]).<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/207723/fiqh Fiqh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426123044/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/207723/fiqh |date=26 April 2015 }} [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]</ref><ref name=vogel>{{cite book|last=Vogel|first=Frank E.|title=Islamic Law and the Legal System of Saudí: Studies of Saudi Arabia|date=2000|publisher=Brill|pages=4–5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-PfDuvnHMGoC&q=vogel+islamic+law|isbn=9004110623|access-date=5 October 2020|archive-date=22 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222050209/https://books.google.com/books?id=-PfDuvnHMGoC&q=vogel+islamic+law|url-status=live}}</ref> Sharia is expanded and developed by interpretation (''[[ijtihad]]'') of the Quran and ''sunnah'' by Islamic jurists (''[[ulama]]'')<ref name=vogel/> and implemented by the rulings (''[[fatwa|fatwas]]'') of jurists on questions presented to them.
''Fiqh'' deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam. In the modern era there are four prominent schools (''[[madhhab]]'') of ''fiqh'' within [[Sunni]] practice and two (or three) within [[Shia]] practice.<ref>Glasse, Cyril, ''The New Encyclopedia of Islam'', Altamira, 2001, p.141</ref>
The historian [[Ibn Khaldun]] describes ''fiqh'' as "knowledge of the rules of God which concern the actions of persons who own themselves bound to obey the law respecting what is required (''[[wajib]]''), sinful (''[[haram]]''), recommended (''[[mustahabb|mandub]]''), disapproved (''[[makruh]]'') or neutral (''[[mubah]]'')".<ref>Levy (1957). Page 150.</ref> This definition is consistent amongst the jurists.
== Methods of derivation ==
Methods of derivation are laid out in the books of ''usul al-fiqh'' (principles of fiqh), and the types of evidence 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 [[Quran]]
* ''[[Hadith|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 Islam|Sunni]] jurists (the [[Hanafi]], [[Maliki]], [[Shafi'i]], and [[Hanbali]] and sometimes the [[Zahiriyah]]), as well as [[Shia Islam|Shia]] jurists. However, [[Zahiriyah]] or Literalists do not see ''[[qiyas]]'' as valid.
While Twelver Shia see edicts of the [[Twelvers|Twelve]] Imams as holding the same weight as the Quran and ''sunnah'', this is not accepted by Sunni jurists.
== Conditions for being a ''faqih'' ==
A ''faqih'' is one who has fulfilled the conditions for ''[[ijtihad]]'' either in their entirety or piecemeal. In the Sunni view it is generally held that there are no or very few jurists that have reached the level of Mujtahid Mutlaq (see below) in our day and age. In the [[Twelver]] Shia view, each of the [[Marja']] have reached this level.
The ''faqih'' who fulfills all conditions of ''ijtihad'' is sometimes referred to as a Mujtahid Mutlaq or Unrestricted Jurist-Scholar, while one who has not reached that level generally will have mastered the methodology (''usul'') used by one or more of the prominent ''madhhab'' and will be able to apply this methodology to arrive at the traditional legal rulings of his/her respective madhhab. According to the Sunni Muslim website Living Islam, "There is no mujtahid mutlaq today nor even a claimant to that title."<ref name=Haddad>{{cite web|last1=Haddad|first1=GF|title=What is the definition of a mujtahid mutlaq, and are there any today.|url=http://www.livingislam.org/fiqhi/fiqha_e60.html|website=livingislam.org|access-date=9 September 2015|archive-date=18 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118132431/http://www.livingislam.org/fiqhi/fiqha_e60.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Below the level of Mujtahid Mutlaq is the Mujtahid Muqayyad or Restricted Jurist-Scholar.  A Mujtahid Muqayyad must pass rulings according to the confines of his particular ''[[madhhab]]'' (school of jurisprudence), or particular area of specialization.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Sunni Path|publisher=Hakikat Kitapevi.|page=33|edition=15th|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RsuasOoNH0C&q=%27%27%27Mujtahid+Muqayyad%27%27%27&pg=PA33|access-date=9 September 2015}}</ref> 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.
== Iran ==
According to Article 5 of the [[Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran]], in the present time of the [[Major Occultation]], the [[head of state]] that must administer the ''[[Ummah]]'' is required to be a ''faqih''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Islamic_Republic_of_Iran#Article_5 | title=Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran | access-date=21 May 2023 | archive-date=5 March 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305102724/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Islamic_Republic_of_Iran#Article_5 | url-status=live }}</ref> He has to be [[Fear of God#Islam|god-fearing]].
== See also ==
* [[List of Islamic studies scholars]]
* [[Ayatollah|Grand Ayatollahs]]
* [[Sanatul Fuqaha]]
== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
== References ==
{{reflist}}
* {{Cite book |last=Levy |first=Reuben |title=The Social Structure of Islam |location=UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1957 |isbn=978-0-521-09182-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/socialstructureo0000levy }}
== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060926083948/http://www.balagh.com/english/articles/WHO%20IS%20A%20FAQIH.htm ''Who is a Faqih'' - balagh.com]
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