A Simple Guide to ISLAM
Fiqh – Jurisprudence
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these terms were used for those scholars who derived rules from
the Qur'an and the
Sunnah
, to give verdicts on legal matters.
Now in the third stage, towards the middle of the second century
of Hijrah books, began to be written exclusively on
fiqh
.
ORIGINS OF THE EARLY SCHOOLS OF LAW
During the time of the Prophet there was no such science as that
of jurisprudence. The only ideal for them was the conduct of the
Prophet. They learnt ablutions, saying prayers, performing Hajj etc
by observing the Prophet’s actions under his instructions. On
occasion, cases were brought to the Prophet for his decision.
Prophet’s decisions were taken as models for similar decision in
similar cases.
The companions occasionally asked him questions relating to
certain serious problems, as we learn from the Qur'an the Prophet
gave suitable replies to them. People in his lifetime were not
interested in unnecessary philosophical discussions or in
meticulous details. The Companions generally asked the Prophet
very few questions. On one occasion when some person put
unnecessary questions to him, the Qur'an asked the companions to
desist from doing so. The result was that the Sunnah remained
mostly a general directive, interpreted by the early Muslims in
different ways. People did not know the details of many a problem
even in the lifetime of the Prophet.
Of course the Prophet laid down certain regulations, but the jurist
elaborated them with more details. The reason for this further
